Deansgate Conservation Area - Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

4.6 Character areas
The Deansgate conservation area contains two contrasting character areas, Deansgate
itself and the Old Market Hall Area.
a) Deansgate
Deansgate has long been the principal shopping street in Bolton and is a wide
gently-curving street lined with nineteenth and twentieth century commercial
buildings. Despite the diversity of architectural treatments, most building
frontages are no more than three storeys high, which results in a fairly unified
scale and appearance to the main streets. Frontages have a generally vertical
emphasis, due to the rhythm of narrow plot widths and formal architectural
elevations with pilasters and other tall windows on upper floors (Figs.8 and 9).
The rich architecture of many buildings includes decorative parapets and corner
turrets (Fig.8). The pedestrianisation of the central portion of the street and of
other streets to the south including Old Hall Street, Market Street, Oxford Street
and Mealhouse Lane, allows Deansgate to function rather like a city square.
Fig.11: view south across Deansgate
towards Whitakers
b) The Old Market Hall Area
The area around the old Market Hall has a more diffuse character, with some
very large buildings dominating the streets. The 1850s market hall has an
imposing pedimented entrance on Knowsley Street, and a strong presence on
Corporation Street, with historic shop fronts. The classical architectural style of
the market building is echoed in adjacent commercial buildings, many with
Italianate details. The market hall, its external shops and the 1990s New Market
Place are pedestrian magnets; the pedestrianised Corporation Street to the south
of the market hall and the paved and landscaped area to the east of the hall
above Bridge Street together form another pedestrian centre.
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