Train shed and undercroft at Manchester Piccadilly Station

Manchester Piccadilly Station comprises a Victorian train shed built over an extensive rail-served undercroft. The original train shed dates from 1866 and was extended in 1883, with significant remodelling carried out in 1958-1966 and 1998-2002.

Layout and General Arrangement

The passenger platforms sit above the general surrounding street level within a Victorian train shed which forms a rail terminus approached from the east. Beneath the station, at street level, lies an extensive undercroft including a cast-iron colonnade which supports a former unenclosed goods yard deck to the north side of the train shed. The undercroft extends between Store Street, Sheffield Street, Travis Street, Fairfield Street, and the separately listed goods office on London Road (listed Grade II).

The train shed is attached on its west side to the 1998-2002 concourse range (incorporating a reclad 1960s tower block). To the east are 21st-century gull-wing shelters covering the external part of platforms 1-12. To the south-east is an early-21st-century mezzanine-level satellite lounge on concrete and brick pillars linked by a footbridge to an island platform (platforms 13 and 14) set on a pre-stressed concrete bridge over Fairfield Street. These additions are not of special architectural and historic interest and are not included in the listing.

To the north of the train shed, above the undercroft, are detached 20th- and 21st-century railway maintenance buildings, prefabricated office buildings, car-park infrastructure and the car-park surface, none of which are of special architectural or historic interest and are not included in the listing.

The Train Shed

The train shed has a roughly rectangular plan which is staggered at the east end, with side walls to the north (built mainly 1866) and south (mainly 1883), and is open to the approaching railway lines to the east.

The side walls are built of polychrome brickwork including moulded brick and stone ashlar dressings. The roof has a modern covering supported by wrought-iron roof trusses set on cast-iron pillars.

The four-span train shed has two long multi-window brick elevations to the north and south. The northern 1866 English-bond red-brick elevation has a brick plinth with ashlar capstones. The windows are divided by flat brick pilasters. Each recessed window bay consists of a painted, round-headed, six-pane cast-iron window topped by a brick-voussoir arch with an over-sized keystone, and a stone sill below. Above each window are stepped brick corbels supporting a parapet decorated by two stone platbands. One of the window bays near the wall's east end has been blocked and refaced in brick with a vent above. A blue-engineering brick pilaster finishes the elevation's east end.

The southern 1883 Flemish-bond yellow-brick elevation has a similar arrangement with matching metal windows and stone detailing; however, this elevation also utilises polychromatic blue- and red-brick decoration to the banding, voussoirs, and corbels.

The roof is clad in toughened glass and each span is topped by long pitched-roof vents. At the east end, three of the spans are open below the trusses.

Interior of the Train Shed

The internal elevations of the train shed's brick walls are both yellow-brick with polychromatic brick decoration and chamfered detailing. The interior faces of the cast-iron window frames each incorporate a slender central ironwork column. The northern wall incorporates a red-marble water fountain inscribed '1865'. The southern wall has internal painted cast-iron-clad buttresses. The southern wall extends west beyond the end of the train shed roof (which was shortened in the mid-20th century) and into the 1998-2002 concourse building (the 19th-century wall is included in the listing).

The four-span train shed roof is supported by rows of cast-iron columns. There is a row along each of the side walls and there are further rows of columns located along the centre of the station platforms: two single rows and one double row which marks the original south side of the train shed. The columns (repainted in the early 2000s in the original paint scheme) have foliate-decorated bases, composite capitals and are topped by pairs of large brackets with decorative spandrels. The columns support the roof's longitudinal-lattice girders. Each of the four roof spans has a series of curved wrought-iron trusses with ties and cast-iron struts.

The 1960s footbridge at the south end replaces an earlier one in a similar location. It is clad in large panels, and, to the south-east, it is covered with a curved late-20th-century awning; the 19th-century cast-iron columns that rise through the middle of the bridge have lost their decorative brackets. The platform lamps were added in the late 20th century. At the southern end of the train shed are 21st-century moving walkways which lead up to the satellite lounge. The platform tiles are understood to have been relaid during the 1998-2002 refurbishment although some fragments of 19th-century platforms may survive below within the train shed.

The Undercroft

Below the passenger concourse and train shed is an extensive undercroft originally including railway sidings and facilities for the unloading, movement and storage of goods. The undercroft is roughly split into two sections either side of a skewed underground railway tunnel (now part of the Metrolink route) which originally ran north-east to south-west under the station.

The western undercroft mainly sits below the concourse building and the western end of the train shed; it is enclosed by retaining walls to the south-west and west, otherwise it is open. The eastern undercroft consists of interlinking partitioned bays which mostly run north to south, and is enclosed by retaining walls to the north, west, and south.

Exterior of the Undercroft

The retaining walls to the western undercroft run along London Road (south-west) and Store Street (west). The London Road wall includes a brick pier with ashlar detailing and a section of 19th-century brick retaining wall. The wall consists of a large rounded arch with a rusticated-ashlar entablature, boarded fanlight and a late-20th-century shop front (disused); above is a section of decorative cast-iron railing. Further east are two late-20th-century masonry flat arches which were inserted as part of the Metrolink station and are not included in the listing. The Store Street retaining wall extends under a bridge; it contains evidence of further blocked arches, including one at the southern end which is thought to be the original mid-19th-century street level access to the station above. The northern end of this elevation has been partially rebuilt at parapet level in blue-engineering brick.

The undercrofts that run beneath the train shed are mainly open along Sheffield Street (north) and Fairfield Street (south).

The eastern undercroft is mostly enclosed by retaining brick walls. The Sheffield Street (north) elevation incorporates a flat-arch former goods tunnel which is now part of the route of the Metrolink line. The rest of the elevation is articulated by a regular arrangement of rounded arches; most of which have been reused in the 20th century as the entrances to business units; although at least one arch retains its original brick and glazed façade and another retains a set of metal gates that provide access to the undercroft. The retaining wall along Travis Street (east) has further blocked arches. The east end of the Fairfield Street undercroft arches is open. Further west the undercroft is enclosed by a yellow brick retaining wall which incorporates a set of 1960s metal gates decorated with lettering reading 'MANCHESTER PICCADILLY STATION' in front of a partially-glazed door that leads into a disused lobby, and a broad set of timber-plank doors which provide access to the undercroft.

Interior of the Undercroft

Part of the western undercroft lies under the concourse building, and includes a former 19th-century railway staff dining and refreshment area. Some of the arches in this area have been removed to create foundations for the various phases of 1998-2002 concourse rebuilding, and contemporary partitions and lift shafts have been inserted to create service areas; this 20th- and 21st-century building fabric is not of special interest.

Under the train shed the undercroft is mostly open. On the north side (visible from Sheffield Street), are the remains of two rows of large red- and white-painted cast-iron columns supporting an iron-girder and metal-plate that lies under the former goods yard deck (since the late 20th century the deck above has been a car park). A section of the original iron-girder parapet walls survives to the east end of the deck. Other parts of the deck's parapet walls have been replaced in concrete and blue-engineering brick.

Beyond the painted cast-iron columns is the brick undercroft that lies beneath the 1860s train-shed phase. It is constructed of brick-vault arches on brick piers (a few of which are rusticated). Most of the brick rows are open, apart from the two most easterly rows which have blocked triple-arches supported by small cast-iron columns at the north end. This undercroft area is used for car parking. There are blocked gaps in the brick vaulting which are interpreted as the former shafts for goods hoists.

To the south is the 1880s train-shed undercroft which consists of three rows of large cast-iron columns supporting a brick jack-arch roof set on riveted girders. Within the part of the 1880s cast-iron undercroft, late-20th-century and early-21st-century modifications have been made relating to the 1998-2002 concourse building and the Metrolink station (including the insertion of mezzanine levels, partitions, escalators, stairs and lift shafts, track, siding and associated plant); this late-20th-century and early-21st-century building fabric is not of special interest. Some of the original cast-iron columns have been encased in concrete.

The eastern undercroft retains most of its original layout as well as several sidings, former stairways, cast-iron columns, some timber rolling doors and shutters, and sections of rail track and cobbles. Several tunnels have been subdivided by concrete-block partitions, particularly at their northern end to create business units; the concrete partitions and the interiors of the business units are not of special interest.

Exclusions from the Listing

Pursuant to section 1(5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the following features are not of special architectural or historic interest: the north-west end of the former northern colonnaded goods yard deck which has been rebuilt in concrete (to the north of the train shed); the late-20th-century Metrolink double-flat arch section of retaining wall on London Road; the sections of the 1998-2002 concourse building and satellite lounge on Fairfield Street which have been built beyond the extent of the 19th-century undercroft; and the brick wall to a former private goods yard at the corner of Fairfield Street and Travis Street.

Within the mapped area at platform level, the following are not of special architectural or historic interest: the 1998-2002 concourse building (and the incorporated reclad 1960s tower block); the external platforms to platforms 1-12 and their 21st-century shelters attached to the east side of the train shed; the 21st-century satellite-lounge structure attached to the east end of the southern train-shed span; the part of the 20th-century station footbridge which lies beyond the extent of the 19th-century train shed; the platform island known as platforms 13 and 14, its 1960s concrete platform bridge and the linking covered footbridges; and the 20th- and 21st-century maintenance buildings, prefabricated offices, car park infrastructure and car park surface above the undercroft to the north side of the train shed.

Within the mapped area at undercroft level, the following are not of special architectural or historic interest: the 20th-century and early-21st-century building fabric beneath the 1998-2002 concourse building and the infrastructure relating to the Metrolink station (including mezzanine levels, partitions, escalators, stairs and lift shafts, track, sidings and associated plant); and the 20th- and 21st-century partitions and interiors of the business units in the eastern undercroft.

The mapped extent of the listing largely relates to the extent of the undercroft at street level, reflecting that the listed part of the station is on two levels with the train shed above and the undercroft below.