Manchester Education Offices, Deansgate, Manchester
MANCHESTER SCHOOL BOARD - TO ARCHITECTS - LIMITED COMPETITION - ERECTION OF OFFICES FOR THE BOARD IN DEANSGATE. The Board are prepared to receive applications from Architects who may wish to compete for the above work. The competition will be limited to seven architects selected from those who apply by letter to the undersigned on or before May 21st 1887. Charles Henry Wyatt, Clerk to the Board, 6 St James Square Manchester
MANCHESTER—The new offices which have been built for the use of the Manchester School Board are now nearly completed. The scheme for the new buildings was approved about the end of 1887, and seven architectural firms in Manchester were invited to send in designs. Mr. Thomas Worthington was called in by the School Board to report upon the drawings, and he selected as the best those prepared by Messrs Royle and Bennett, of Cooper -street, which were adopted. The site of the offices is in Deansgate, a piece of land extending to 400 square yards. The offices, to the string over the ground-floor windows, are of red Runcorn stone, the upper portion being of terracotta with red stone dressings. There is some effective ornamentation of the exterior in terracotta. The principal entrance in Deansgate opens into a spacious hall, well lighted. Upon the right-hand side, on the ground floor, are the general clerks' offices, and an ante-room giving access to the office of the clerk of the Board and the cashier. Upon the left-hand side are the offices of the inspector of schools and his assistants, a small committee room, and a waiting-room for parents having business with the officials of the Board. A handsome staircase leads to the second floor, the larger part of which is occupied by the boardroom. This is a fine apartment 38 feet 6 inches by 22 feet. The upper sashes of the windows—and this feature characterises nearly the whole of the offices—are filled with stained glass. The room is lofty, with a very handsomely designed ceiling and the walls are wainscoted in oak. Adjoining the board-room is a committee-room, 23 feet by 22 feet, with two smaller rooms for the use of members of the Board, lavatories, etc. The third floor contains a large apartment providing accommodation for about 30 school attendance officers, with a private office for the superintendent. There is also an office for the industrial school attendance officer, a dining-room for the use of clerks and officers, and a kitchen. Above this, again, is a room to be used for the storage of papers and documents. The cost of the site is £8,000, and of the building about £12,000. Messrs. R. Neill and Sons are the builders. [Building News 19 July 1889 page 95]
The new offices of the Manchester School Board in Deansgate will be formally opened by the chairman of the Board, Mr Herbert Birley, on Monday, the 23rd September. They have been built from designs by Messrs Royle and Bennett, of Manchester, selected in competition, and were illustrated in our issue of Jan. 27, 1888. The building is Free Renaissance in style, and is faced with Runcorn stone on the ground story, and the floors above with red brick, terracotta being used for dressings . [Building News 30 August 1889 page 284]
THE OFFICES OF THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL BOARD - The new offices of the Manchester School Board, which will be formally opened today, are situate upon a plot of land in Deansgate of about 400 square yards in extent, purchased by the Board from the Improvement Committee of the Manchester Corporation. The main front is to Deansgate, and the building is bounded on either side by Lloyd Street and Jackson’s Row. With a view to possible extension in the future, the Board have secured an extra piece of land adjoining the offices. The building is erected from designs by Messrs Royle and Bennett of this city. The material employed to the “string” over the ground floor windows is red Runcorn stone, the upper portion of the building being of terra cotta with red stone dressings. The principal entrance opens into a spacious well-lighted hall. On the right hand side of the ground floor are the general clerks’ offices, and through an ante-room the offices of the clerk to the Board and the cashier are reached. Upon the left hand side of the hall the inspector of schools and his assistants have their offices, and there is a small committee room and a parents’ waiting-room. The second floor is reached by a wide and handsome staircase. A large part of this floor is given up to the boardroom, a fine apartment 38 feet by 22 feet. The walls are wainscoted in oak, and the ceiling is of handsome design. The windows are in the upper portion glazed with stained glass. Adjoining the boardroom is a committee room, 23 feet by 22 feet, with two smaller rooms for the use of members of the Board. On the third floor accommodation is provided for the school attendance officers, - about thirty in number – and the industrial school officer; and here are also a kitchen and dining room for the use of the clerks and officials of the board. A large room on the upper floor of the building is used as a store for papers and documents, while the basement is used as a store for the storage of stationery supplied by the Board to the schools under its control. The cost of the site was £8,000 and of the buildings themselves £12,000, the money being borrowed from the Public Works Loan Commissioners, repayable in thirty years. Messrs R Neill and Sons are the builders.
The offices will be opened this afternoon by the Chairman of the Board, Mr Herbert Birley in the presence of the members and a number of invited guests. A gold key and an address will be presented to Mr Birley, and at the close of the ceremony luncheon will be served in the boardroom. [Manchester Guardian 23 September 1889 page 8]
The formal opening of the handsome and commodious offices recently erected in Deansgate for the use of the Manchester School Board took place yesterday afternoon. [Manchester Guardian Monday 24 September 1889 Page 9]
Extended a short time prior to 1904 behind the original building and along Lloyd Street. Extended again 1914 to accommodate Medical Department.
"This building is Manchester’s most notable contribution to the Queen Anne style of architecture. Its proportions are excellent and its detailing beyond reproach. The entrance could have been treated more importantly and would have been better placed on centre, but the chamfered corners at street level with their lunettes adorned with sculptured cherubs, are a delightful and original extravagance" [Cecil Stewart;AThe Stones of Manchester.]
Manchester first established the School Board at offices at 20 Cross Street in 1870. Following a temporary removal to St James Square, in 1889 the board moved to specially built headquarters in Deansgate in 1889.
The Queen Anne style first appeared in schools architecture with the founding of the School Boards and the consequent building of the non-denominational as opposed to church schools after the passing of the Education Act of 1870. Enlightened architects steered away from the early barrack-like buildings. In 1889 these spacious new offices of the School Board were the last word in efficiency and dignity. Inside, facing the main entrance giving on to Deansgate, a splendid solid staircase led up to all floors, lit from a stained glass dome above. Walls were panelled and windows filled with deep coloured stained glass. On the first floor facing the stairs was the Board Room - a gracious room, half panelled and lofty, the decorated ceiling pale coloured, enhancing the white plaster relief. For more than 70 years this room was the heart of what Lady Simon of Wythenshaw called the powerhouse of the city’s education system. But the department outgrew the Deansgate offices despite the addition of two extensions In the1967-8, Manchester Education Committee Report, Lady Simon wrote AI was one of a sub-committee appointed to look round our present premises and I was thoroughly shocked and ashamed to see the conditions under which our headquarters staff worked. This was hardly surprising, since, when the Deansgate Office was built in 1889, we employed only 61 members of staff. Today we employ 300. The building was re-named Elliot House in honour of John Kenneth Elliot, Chief Education Officer of Manchester from 1955 until his sudden death in 1968. J K Elliot spent his entire working life in the city from the time he was appointed an assistant master at the old North Manchester High School for Boys in 1928. The name became the sole connection between the building and its original use. The move of the Education Department to its new offices in Crown Square was the third since Manchester established the School Board at offices at 20 Cross Street in 1870. The departure of the Education Department could have been the end for the gracious Board Room, but someone with a sense of occasion made the inspirational decision to install the Register Office in the building, together with some other local government departments. As a result, the Board Room became the main Wedding Room. Busiest on Saturday mornings, when decorated with fresh flowers provided by the department, it became the setting for the many civil marriages performed there each week. [ MEN Heritage Series No 10]
Reference Manchester City News Saturday 7 May 1887 Page 1 Column 2 (Advertisement)
Reference Manchester Guardian 7 May 1887 (Contracts)
Reference Building News 27 January 1888 with illustration
Reference Building News 19 July 1889 page 95
Reference Building News 30 August 1889 page 284
Reference Manchester Guardian 23 September 1889 page 8 with illustration
Reference Manchester Guardian Monday 24 September 1889 Page 9 - opening
Reference Cecil Stewart Stones of Manchester
Reference MEN Heritage Series No 10
