Charlotte Street - Victoria Station

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

The biggest change to Nottingham was when the Victoria station was built a whole area of "slum"? housing went to build this station.

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=printdetails&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM018072&prevUrl=

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=printdetails&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM018070&prevUrl=

[poohbear 1,360]

At least they still had public bloody toilets...

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

There were similar ones on Manfers Street & Canning Circus(opp the Alms houses)

And there were two smaller ones on London Road.

[barclaycon 569]

With reference to that picture that Bubblewrap linked to (NTGM018070 Charlotte St 1896), which direction is that looking to?

Towards Mansfield Road or away from it?

And does anyone know what the name of the street that is to the left.

I can't quite make it out and haven't managed to find a map that goes into enough detail to show what it is.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

This view was taken from Mansfield Road

Charlotte Street was about opposite Shakespeare Street & ran through to Glasshouse Street.

Here's another view from Glasshouse Street

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=printdetails&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM018069&prevUrl=

The second view was also taken from the Glasshouse Street end

The street off to the left would be Mount East Street which ran down to Parliament Street just west of Newcastle Street.

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

Charlotte Street. The much-photographed Gents is clearly marked. Almost exactly where the Clock Tower is today.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

It's interesting to see how much was demolished when the Victoria station was built

1,200 back to back houses 24 public houses, the ragged school, St Stephens Church & The Union Workhouse.

The list of streets,alleys,yards etc runs to about 50 names.

I have a kelly's directory for 1891 and it's interesting to see what was there before the railway

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I did a talk a few years ago about the social effect of building Victoria Station. The info that I got hold of was a real eye opener. The cost of building it was over a million pounds which was a helluva lot of dosh in the latter years of the 19th century.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

There's a good account about the building of Victoria Statiopn and the Great Central through Nottingham in-:

Victorian Nottingham (volume 5) by Richard Iliffe & Wilfred Baguley .

Published in 1971 copies are still around "Blores" had a copy the last time I went in their shop.(cost about £7.50)

There are some nice photos of Charlotte Street,Milton Street,Parliament Street &The Middle Hill/Weekday Cross area.

[DAVIDW 1,683]

I know it's a shame the station has gone but also what a loss this street was that the station replaced . Full of atmosphere !

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

Nice to look at David..................... BUT it was a bad "slum" area & the town council were only too glad to be rid of it.

Another bad area was Narrow Marsh(Red Lion Street) which did not get redeveloped till the early 1930s when it became Cliff Road

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=printdetails&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM014791&prevUrl=

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

I've enlarged the Charlotte Street map because it's a good demonstration of something which has been mentioned here before, the number of pubs in Nottingham in those days.

Plough and Harrow (lower left):

Pheasant Inn (above the Plough):

Coach and Horses (north of "Urinal"):

Alderman Wood (middle of Charlotte St):

Queen Caroline (opposite Ald Wood):

Old White Hart (far right):

Wallace Hero of Scotland (below White Hart)

And you have to admire the sense of humour of the builder who named his location "Pleasant Square". I'll bet it was.

[barclaycon 569]

Thanks for tha map Cliff.

I'm guessing that the picture in #10 is the view from Glasshouse Street looking uphill towards Mansfield Road.

Any idea what the street is first left as you go up Charlotte Street ?

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

Starting at Glasshouse Street coming in, the streets are Newcastle Street; Mount East Street; Sherwood Lane; Lamb Lane.

[ChrisB 150]

I may be wrong but I'm sure I've read somewhere that you can't just do away with a street which may be in the way of a railway station or shopping centre etc.

This would explain why a public thoroughfare had to be maintained across Victoria Station and, after a fashion, still exists today from the clock tower through to Glasshouse Street.

[barclaycon 569]

Thanks Cliff.

Yep that makes sense.

It looks like the street says Mount East St. in that picture.

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

I may be wrong but I'm sure I've read somewhere that you can't just do away with a street which may be in the way of a railway station or shopping centre etc.

This would explain why a public thoroughfare had to be maintained across Victoria Station and, after a fashion, still exists today from the clock tower through to Glasshouse Street.

A few photos on the RCTS site show that point during the station demolition. Slightly surreal.

[barclaycon 569]

Astonishing really. Such a massive excavation and development - and that was in the 1890's !

Hard to imagine anything like it happening now.

It's true that 'right of way' was considered to be very important.

Nowadays they just stick things up without any public consultation or consideration.

I read that of the £1,000,000 that it cost to build Victoria, £500,000 of that went on buying the land and compensating people who occupied the buildings that were swept away.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

Compensation?

The slum landlords were compensated & the owners of the properties(public houses etc) that had to be demolished were also compensated.

But the people who lived in the back to backs were "moved" to other parts of Nottingham.

[Merthyr Imp 729]

The following is from a book I've quoted from several times before on this Forum and is well worth getting if you can find a copy - 'Rail Centres - Nottingham' by Michael A. Vanns, first published by Ian Allan in 1993.

'...the environmental cost of the site and the route of the GC through Nottingham had been the demolition of 1,300 mainly slum houses, St. Stephen's church and schools the 1840 Union Workhouse, the Guildhall, the ragged school, at least 24 public houses, and six years of disruption. It was a fact that 125 new houses were erected around Woodborough Road and 175 in the Meadows area...but as 'The Nottingham Daily Guardian' recorded at the opening of Victoria station: '...scarcely any of these houses has been occupied by the people who were dispossessed of their old dwellings, the rents of the new cottages being at least double those of the old.''

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

The people displaced just disappeared, even though new dwellings were built. It was not what they wanted. Many of them were ladies from the world's oldest profession. If they had not built the station, I dare say they would soon have demolished the whole area.

[barclaycon 569]

I'm sure that this has been done before here, but is there a map (like the one cliff has posted in #6) that shows the boundary of Victoria station over the streets it displaced.

Like a red line or something over the map showing Charlotte Street and all the others that disappeared.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

There is a map in the book mentioned by Merthyr Imp in #20

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

I'm sure that this has been done before here, but is there a map that shows the boundary of Victoria station over the streets it displaced.

Like a red line or something over the map showing Charlotte Street and all the others that disappeared.

There is a map in the book mentioned by Merthyr Imp in #20

Some of the detail gets lost at this size, so I've added a few markers. I'd never realised until now that York Street continued on to Glasshouse Street. The present line of Glasshouse Street has that kink which follows the outline of the station.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

I have the south part of the area only in very large scale(1/500)

On the same map is the old house of correction(prison)

Plus the bit not mentioned yet The bit between Cilnton Street East(Haughton Street) and Clinton Street West

Watson Fothergill had his office on Clinton Street West(was just Clinton Street)till the G.C.R. was built.