Deansgate Goods Station And Attached Carriage Ramp

The building comprises a goods station and warehouse, with an attached carriage ramp, now used as a car park. Constructed between 1885 and 1896, with the carriage ramp added in 1899, it was originally built for the Great Northern Railway Company. The structure employs steel-frame construction with red brick cladding accentuated by blue brick bands, and a slate roof.

The goods station has a rectangular plan, measuring 267 feet long and 217 feet wide. It rises to five storeys, featuring 27 windows on its east and west sides, and 17 on its north and south ends. The windows are segmental-headed with cast-iron glazing bars. A brick frieze displays the inscription "GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY'S GOODS WAREHOUSE" on all four sides, topped by a brick bracketed painted cornice with a blocking course. The east facade, facing Watson Street, has five wide cart entrances at ground floor level, each with deep iron lintels. The north end has three similar entrances. The west side and south end incorporate entrances at first-floor level, with two located where the carriage ramp connects at the north end of the west side, and three offset to the left in the south end, where a former railway viaduct entered the building. Further features on the west side include four bays of tiered segmental-headed loading doorways with cast-iron surrounds, interspersed with pairs of windows. The interior features brick jack arch, fire-proof construction.

The carriage ramp, located on the west side and connecting to the upper floor of the goods station, was completed in 1899. It is constructed of brick, iron, and steel, and paved with granite setts. The ramp extends west, then north, and finally east in a three-sided configuration. The lower portion is supported by four semicircular vaults of blue engineering brick. The western portion and short return to the building have an iron deck supported by four steel stanchions, with a blue brick parapet.

The building forms a group with numbers 235-92 Deansgate. Detailed information about the original construction and operations can be found in "The Railway Engineer" (January 1899) and "The Engineer" (September 2nd, 1898). This unique survival represents a goods exchange station serving railway, canal, and road networks in the Manchester region, incorporating a complex hydraulic haulage system between subterranean canal access, street level access, and upper storage levels. Built to be fully fireproof, it was considered one of the most advanced railway goods exchanges in the country at the time.