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Snow Hill |
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| Snow Hill was originally an extension of
Dudley Street until the building of the Mander Centre. Prior to about 1760
it had very few buildings, in fact there were open fields stretching down to
Worcester Street and the west, which were known as the Cock Closes. Temple
Street was known as Grey Pea Walk and was just a footpath in between the
fields. After 1760 when St John's Church opened Snow Hill was quickly
developed. |
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The Central Library opened in 1902. It replaced the
former library which had been housed in the old police station in
Garrick Street since 1872.
The new building was built on the site of the
Theatre Royal and was designed by H. T. Hare, and built by Henry Willcock & Co.
The opening of the building had been planned to coincide
with Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee but in reality it opened in time
to celebrate the coronation of her successor. |
| The poster that was produced to advertise the laying of the
foundation stone for the new library. |
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| I have included one of my own photographs as it shows
the front of the Gaumont Cinema that used to be on the corner of
St George's Parade.
The cinema was built on the site of the Agricultural
Hall and opened on 5th September 1932.
It was very successful and became well known in the 1960's for a series of Rock & Roll concerts
that featured some of the most famous artists of the day.
This photograph was taken a little while before it finally closed on
10th November 1973. |
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This photograph shows the Gaumont in September
1975 just before demolition. |
| These shops on the eastern side of Snow Hill are empty
and awaiting demolition.
The lettering on Hill's Snack Bar window lists
many of the items that were sold off when the shop closed.
The
"Everything Must Go" sale included a fridge, freezer and two gas
cookers. Next door used to be Janet Sale's Hair Stylist shop. |
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On the left is David Hough gents hairdresser who moved
to Victoria Street. A. Gorway sold coins, medals, antiques and was a
licensed dealer in gold coins.
On the extreme right is Barclays Bank
which was built on the site of the old Snow Hill Congregational Church
which partially collapsed in 1941 and so had to be demolished. |
| The pied Bull Inn on the corner of Temple Street used to
be called the Coach and Horses, which for a long time was a coaching
inn.
Originally it was a fine Georgian town house but has since lost its
upper storey. Temple Street took its name from the Independent Chapel
which opened there in 1782. |
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These shops on the western side are currently being
renovated, and still retain their original character. On the extreme
right is a venetian blind shop and David of London who was a ladies
hairdresser.
Next is the Imperial Gardens Chinese restaurant and Jeff
Ling's Radio & Electronics shop. He was a keen angler and once the
conversation got around to fishing it would continue for sometime. His
original premises were in Fryer Street. |
| On the left is the corner of George Street. The fine
Georgian house on the corner is occupied by the Cheltenham and
Gloucester Building Society.
The second shop on the right used the
be the Bandbox which for many years was Wolverhampton's premier music
shop selling guitars, amplifiers, drums and accessories.
It greatly
benefited from the pop music boom in the early 1960's. In 1999 it
finally moved to Worcester Street but sadly closed a few months later. |
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George Street was and still is a fine example of
Georgian housing.
Its the only remaining street of its type in the town.
The Villiers Reform Club met here from the early 1880's. |
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Return to
Darlington Street |
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Return to the
beginning |
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Proceed to
Dudley Road |
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