Former Cattle Lairages

Former cattle lairages to Tranmere Abattoir, built in 1886, possibly to the designs of TW Cubbon. The buildings are constructed in mellow red brick with terracotta dressings and a Welsh slate roof.

The structure comprises two tall, single-storey gabled ranges built end-on to New Chester Road, with the southern range being slightly taller and longer than the northern. Both ranges feature raised, louvred roofs (the louvres of the north range have been removed and boarded over), connected by a short linking section.

On the west end elevation, both ranges display large blind arched windows. The north range has paired arched windows, while the south range has three blind windows with a raised centre light incorporating a glazed lunette to the upper part. Each gable incorporates a glazed sexfoil roundel window; the south range gable also features stepped, raised brickwork. Terracotta window surrounds and copings ornament the exterior.

The north elevation contains a blocked-up doorway to the ground floor, with the remainder of the wall blank. A modern range dating from 2009 adjoins the east of the north range but is not included in the listing.

The south elevation presents the most elaborate treatment. The main wall is set back underneath the roof, forming a canopy supported by carved and chamfered timber brackets carried on carved stone corbels. A roundel window with pressed brick surround sits to the upper right, positioned between two brackets. Below this are a small blind arched window on the left and a small glazed arched window on the right (boarded over to its lower part). Two tall arched entrances occupy the centre of the elevation; both feature glazed overlight panels above and decorative semi-circular windows at the head with cast-iron tracery. The doors have been replaced by roller shutters. A later lean-to extension extends in front of the south elevation, with an open-sided east elevation and mezzanine floor providing access to a later-inserted first floor.

Internally, the north range has replaced roof timbers and a blocked-up arched doorway to the north wall. The south range retains its original timber and metal tie bar roof structure, with a concrete floor and a later-inserted first floor accessed via the external lean-to mezzanine.

Tranmere Abattoir was constructed in 1886 as a municipal abattoir and is believed to have been one of the earliest civic slaughter houses in the country. By 1900 it was handling over 500,000 animals per year, with most imported from America and Ireland. A glue works and tannery originally located to the south have since been demolished. Three further sheep and cattle lairage ranges, originally positioned at right angles to the rear, have also been demolished. The two surviving ranges described here were used for cattle, including animals suspected of disease.

Following declining livestock imports due to improved indigenous farming techniques and refrigeration, the abattoir was sold to a private company in 1988. In 1993, several buildings were demolished, including the original slaughterhouse; terracotta bull and sheep heads that had adorned the slaughterhouse were sent to the Wirral Museum. In the mid-late 1990s the site was divided into two separate ownerships. In 2007 the entire abattoir complex was severely damaged by fire, resulting in the subsequent demolition of the majority of the north abattoir structures and some of the south abattoir structures.