King Street is one of the most important thoroughfares of Manchester city centre, England. For much of the 20th century it was the centre of the

north-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

ing industry but it has become progressively dominated by expensive shops instead of large banks.

History

King Street began in the 18th century at the Spring Gardens end when the Jacobite party in the town created James's Square and to the west of it a fine street. Beyond what is now Cross Street it was much narrower and one 18th century building remains (a former District Bank). Further west beyond

Deansgate Deansgate is a main road (part of the A56) through Manchester City Centre, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile ...

is King Street West on a different alignment. By the 1970s there was a clear demarcation between the eastern section of mainly financial and office buildings and the narrower section to the west a mostly up market shopping street (later pedestrianised). Subsequently, the eastern section had the monumental National Westminster Bank offices built at no. 55 and some years later further changes brought more and more retail outlets of the expensive sort. In 2008 the grand Midland Bank of

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

was vacated by the

HSBC Bank HSBC Bank may refer to any one of the following principal local banks or divisions of the HSBC Group: Asia-Pacific * HSBC (Hong Kong) ** PayMe, its local payment service * HSBC Bank (China) * HSBC Bank Australia * HSBC Bank India * HSBC Bank Mala ...

Old Town Hall

Manchester's original civic administration (a commission of police) was housed in the Police Office in King Street from 1772; it was near the junction with Deansgate and Police Street is so called because of it. It was replaced by the first Town Hall, to accommodate the growing local government and its civic assembly rooms. The Town Hall, also located in King Street at the corner of Cross Street, was designed by Francis Goodwin and constructed during 1822–25, much of it by

David Bellhouse David Bellhouse (February 8, 1764 – 1840) was an English builder who did much to shape Victorian-era Manchester, both physically and socially. Biography Born in Leeds, Bellhouse received no formal education. An autodidact, he taught himself t ...

. The building was designed in the Grecian style and Goodwin was strongly influenced by his patron John Soane. As the size and wealth of the city grew, largely as a result of the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

, its administration outstripped the existing facilities and a new building was proposed. The King Street building was subsequently occupied by a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

and then Lloyds Bank. The facade was removed to Heaton Park in 1912, when the current

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exten ...

building was erected on the site (No 53 King Street).

Notable buildings

Many notable buildings survive and are preserved in a conservation area. In King Street there are 11 buildings listed Grade II, two listed Grade II* and one Grade I; in King Street West is one at Grade II and in South King Street nearby three more at Grade II. *

53 King Street 53 King Street is an Edwardian Baroque bank on King Street in Manchester, England. Designed by architect Charles Heathcote, it opened in 1913 and was granted Grade II listed building status in 1974. It used to house a branch of Lloyds TSB. In 200 ...

by Charles Heathcote, (1913) *74 King Street - Northern Rock Building Society by Heathcote and Rawle, (1896) *76-80 King Street - Prudential Assurance Offices by

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

, (1888) *81 King Street -

Manchester Reform Club The Reform Club in Spring Gardens, Manchester, England, is a former gentlemen's club dating from the Victorian era. Built in 1870–1871 in the Venetian Gothic style, it was designed by Edward Salomons, in collaboration with an Irish architect, ...

Edward Salomons Edward Salomons (1828–1906) was an English architect based in Manchester, active in the late 19th century. He is known for his architecture in the Gothic Revival and Italianate styles. His prominent commissions in Manchester include the Manchest ...

, (1870) Listed Grade II * 82 King Street - Former

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

Manchester branch, by

C.R. Cockerell Charles Robert Cockerell (27 April 1788 – 17 September 1863) was an English architect, archaeologist, and writer. He studied architecture under Robert Smirke. He went on an extended Grand Tour lasting seven years, mainly spent in Greece. H ...

, (1845) Listed Grade I *84–86 King Street - Former Manchester and Salford Savings Bank by Richard Lane, (1842) * 88-96 King Street - ''Ship Canal House'', headquarters of the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

, by Harry S. Fairhurst, (1927) *98 King Street - ''Atlas Chambers'' by Fairhurst and Michael Waterhouse, (1929) *

100 King Street 100 King Street, formerly the Midland Bank, is a former bank premises on King Street, Manchester, England. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1928 and constructed in 1933–35. It is Lutyens' major work in Manchester and was designated a G ...

- Midland Bank (

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

) by Sir

, (1929) No longer occupied by HSBC; listed Grade II*.

Shopping area

King Street (along with Bridge Street) is considered Manchester's most upmarket shopping area; it has included the Manchester branches of

Hermès Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...

Whistles Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

Gant Gant may refer to: * Gant (surname) * Gant (retailer), an international brand of clothing and accessories Places * Gant, Poland * Gánt, a village in Hungary * Gant, the Catalan name for Ghent, Belgium Entertainment * 187 Lockdown, a 1990s Briti ...

, Karen Millen, King Street Grooming, Emporio Armani,

DKNY DKNY is a New York City–based fashion house for men and women, founded in 1984 by Donna Karan. History Karan worked for 15 years at Anne Klein, including 10 as its head designer. In 1984 Karan and her late husband Stephan Weiss were offered t ...

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

, Timberland, Calvin Klein Jeans, Polo Ralph Lauren, Max Mara,

T. M. Lewin T. M. Lewin Shirtmaker, commonly known as TM Lewin, is a British online menswear retailer. It was started in 1898 by Thomas Mayes Lewin who opened his first shop on London's Panton Street and later moved to Jermyn Street, renowned as a base f ...

, Jaeger, Cecil Gee, Agent Provocateur,

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

Thomas Pink Thomas Pink Limited is a British shirt-maker. It was established in London in 1984 by three Irish brothers – James, Peter and John Mullen. From 1999 it was part of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group. In 2018 it lost £23.5 million. The c ...

, Crombie. (However some of these are on Bridge Street to the south of King Street West.) The part west of Cross Street was already a shopping street in the early 20th century.

Roger Oldham Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

's 1906 ''Manchester Alphabet'' booklet includes the following lines:

References

External links