1-11, THE CORRIDOR

This is an arcade of shops built in 1825 and altered in 1870, designed by Henry Edmund Goodridge. It comprises two parallel rows of shops, of which this is the south range, forming a glass-roofed arcade that runs from High Street to Union Passage. The terminal blocks on High Street (numbered 18 and 19), and on Union Passage (numbered 11A and 12A), along with a later extension to Union Street (numbered 16-19), are listed separately.

The arcade is constructed from painted limestone ashlar, with iron and glass roofing. It has two storeys. The ground floor features a continuous range of timber shopfronts with occasional entrances to the upper floor, featuring plate glass windows with narrow, widely spaced mullions. These shopfronts are divided by pilasters and have a wreathed entablature. An arched glass roof rests on a cornice. The upper floor has alternate tripartite and single sash windows. A central portion of the arcade demonstrates how the roof was raised to eaves level and pitched to the centre, revealing a gallery with a cast iron balustrade and plaster classical statues at either end.

The arcade was originally known as Goodridge's Corridor and was a personal investment for the architect. It is an early example of a shopping arcade outside London, contemporary with similar developments in Bristol. Originally, the roof was glazed with coloured glass and had heavy timber skylights. The arcade occupies the site of a medieval close called Marchant's Court, as shown on a map from 1694. The present shopfronts date from the 1870 alterations, with those of numbers 8, 9 and 10 being circa 1900. The original shops were open stalls, similar to those in London's Lowther Arcade. The arcade suffered damage from an I.R.A. bomb in 1974, resulting in much of the glazing being replaced. This is a notable late Georgian retail development, demonstrating Goodridge's characteristic Greek Revival style.