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Former printing works in Glovers Court office conversion plan

Posted on - 9th June, 2015 - 12:00pm | Author - | Posted in - Business, Preston City Centre, Preston News, Redevelopment
What used to the printing works in Glovers Court Pic: Middle Miss Ford

What used to the printing works in Glovers Court Pic: Middle Miss Ford

Further plans to regenerate Glovers Court in Preston city centre have been unveiled.

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What used to be part of a printworks is to be converted into office space.

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The dilapidated buildings – previously the Lambert Brothers printing works – just along from the Wellington Inn pub would be smartened up under plans tabled by Glovers Court Preston Limited.

A potted history of Lambert Printworks and Glovers Court.

The origin of Glovers Court is typical of many of the small alleyways leading from Fishergate which were used as burgage plots in earlier times. only as far back as 1913 Glovers Court was not open ended as such at the Fishergate side, instead, the entrance was through a small underpass on on to the narrow roadway. This is illustrated in the two following images of Glovers Court captured in 1910.

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Entrance to Glovers Court, Fishergate, Preston. 1910

Entrance to Glovers Court, Fishergate, Preston. 1910. Pic: Preston Digital Archive

Glovers Court looking towards Fishergate & Cheapside, Preston 1910

Glovers Court looking towards Fishergate & Cheapside, Preston 1910. Pic: Preston Digital Archive

In 1913 the building traversing Glovers Court was demolished and the road at that end was widened to what you can see today.

By the mid 19th century Glovers Court was beginning to become more populated with buildings for various uses, one of these being the premises of a brewery. On the site where the Lambert Bros. Printworks premises now stands there was only one building, a stable range which was probably used by the Wellington Hotel at one time. The construction of a three storey building first appeared in the mid 1840’s and it is likely that this was also connected to the hotel or possibly some type of storage warehouse. In 1899 the Lambert Bros. Printing business had been established at 46 Glovers Court in the three storey building adjacent to the Wellington Hotel and by the 1930’s they had expanded and built the smaller two storey building we see today which was built onto the original printworks. Over time, there were several properties which appeared at the southern end of Glovers Court up to Syke Street, initially owned by Lamberts and eventually all demolished at various periods of time, until 2013 when the land was made into a car park. All that remains in the present are the two and three storey former Lambert Bros properties.

Lambert Bros. Side & Rear Of Old Printing Works, Glovers Court, Preston. Pic: Paul D. Swarbrick

Lambert Bros. Side & Rear Of Old Printing Works, Glovers Court, Preston. Pic: Paul D. Swarbrick

Lambert Bros Printers, Glovers Court, Preston c.1985

Lambert Bros Printers, Glovers Court, Preston c.1985. Pic: courtesy Stuart Dawson via Flickr Preston 1800 – 1990 Group

It is interesting to note in the image immediately above, that even in the 1980’s quite a number of buildings still remained and used for a range of commercial ventures.
To the rear of the printworks there was a small residential street known as Park Place which had a line of terraced houses facing the rear of Lambert’s. One of the houses, 12 Park Place, was possibly the birth place of Hugh Rain; he was certainly recorded as living there with his mother and siblings at the age of two. In later years Hugh was commonly known by his stage name Will Onda and was part of the Brothers Onda, an acrobatic team. He subsequently became Preston’s leading film and cinema pioneer and a  director of Preston North End football team. Although these houses were swept away in the mid 1950’s as part of the town centre population reduction plan, Park Place still officially exists as a thoroughfare within the city.

Park Place, Preston c.1950

Park Place, Preston c.1950. Lambert Bros. Printworks rear to the right. Pic: Preston Digital Archive

 

Artist impression of how the office building would look

Artist impression of how the office building would look

The building is not listed but does sit within the Winckley Square conservation area.

It follows plans being tabled to convert former supermarket offices into flats, restaurants and a shop.

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The full plans are available to view on the city council website and comments can be left there.

Anyone wishing to comment can also email devcon@preston.gov.uk quoting reference 06/2015/0430 by Thursday 25 June.

What do you think of the conversion? Do you support it? Let us know in the comments below

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