Main Hangar And Workshops At Barton Aerodrome

1481/0/10010 09--APR-03

Main Hangar and Workshops at Barton Aerodrome

GV II

Aircraft hangar and attached workshops. 1930, with late C20 alterations. Steel-framed structure with red brick external walling and sheet roof covering. Built for Manchester Corporation as part of Manchester's municipal airport. Exterior. Tall main hangar structure with wide gabled end walls, the north gable formed by the main hangar doors occupying the full width of the frontage, and set on rails. Metal-sheeted gable apex, with projecting canopy above central opening. 13 bay structure, approx. 70 metres by 35 metres wide and 10.5 metres high. Pier and panel brick side walls, with 2 tiers of 24 windows with stone sills to south-west side. Some upper floor openings retain metal frames. Single tier of 24 blocked windows to north-east side, the lower part of this wall concealed by a single storey gabled workshop extending the full width of the building. South gable incorporates an ashlar plaque bearing the coat of arms of Manchester City Council. INTERIOR: Undivided interior space, with side and rear end wall with exposed steel wall framing carrying 14 braced steel roof trusses spanning the full width of the building. HISTORY: The development of an airport site at Barton Moss began in 1928. In 1929, the landing field was officially approved by the Air Ministry, and the airport was officially opened on 29th January 1930. In June 1930, Imperial Airways inaugurated services between Croydon, Barton, Birmingham and Liverpool.

The earliest civil aviation aircraft hangar in England, dating from 1930, and built to house the then most advanced passenger aircraft at England's first municipal airport, which also housed the first passenger terminal, the first flight control tower, and the first designated runways, all of which survive as components of a unique historic aviation landscape. A recommendation informed by Current English Heritage research.