Post Office

Stalybridge General Post Office

Stalybridge Post Office was constructed between 1899 and 1900 by Her Majesty's Office of Works, designed by architect William Oldrieve, who created numerous post offices across the United Kingdom during this period. The foundation stone was laid on 14 October 1899, and the building opened on 3 March 1902. The structure emerged during a period of significant growth for Stalybridge. In 1881 the town had expanded by incorporating the villages of Millbrook, Heyrod and Carrbrook within its boundaries. The east side of Stalybridge grew rapidly at the end of the 19th century, with prominent local mill owner, philanthropist and politician John Cheetham driving the development of Trinity Street by widening the road to accommodate the new public library he financed. Alongside the town hall, war memorial, library and market, the Post Office contributed to the creation of a new civic centre for the town.

The building is L-shaped, comprising two storeys plus basement and attics. It is designed in Renaissance Revival style with later 20th-century additions, and is constructed of ashlar and red brick with plain tile roofs. An office range occupies the front of the building with a sorting office and service range to the rear. The building features a plinth, sill band, intermediate and eaves cornices, coped gables and parapets. The main windows have stone mullions and transoms.

The front elevation has three bays with a slightly projecting central bay containing a three-light window flanked by single lights and a small segmental-arched door below the right light. Between the floors is an enriched cartouche inscribed 'POST OFFICE' with the royal monogram 'VR'. The first floor has similar fenestration, while the second floor contains a three-light window in a formal surround with cornice, broken segmental pediment and finial. The left side bay contains a doorcase with pilasters, bracketed cornice and finials, enclosing a door in a rusticated round-arched surround with a fanlight. The right bay has a round-arched doorway with a hood on brackets and 20th-century glazed doors with a fanlight. Above each side bay is a stone mullioned and transomed window. The attics have shouldered pedimented dormers with two-light casements.

The north elevation features a gable with three windows to the ground and first floors, with the central windows in the upper two floors flanked by pilasters. The second floor window has a round pediment bearing the royal monogram. At the rear (east elevation) is a single-storey sorting office with basement, eight windows and a lantern roof behind a parapet topped with a tent-roofed ventilator. Behind this is a boiler house and service wing, also of single storey with basement and lantern roof, comprising two bays, one of which has segment-arched windows.

The interior of the front office features egg-and-dart cornices to the ceiling, cross beams and single pilasters. The counters and screen date from the late 20th century. The first-floor offices retain cornices and original doors. The basement contains a strong room with a steel door. The sorting office has a steel truss roof with tie rods and numerous wall ventilators.