Thread by @bulgetemptingly

25/56 Thomas Mawson Thread Part 2. Firstly, the Parish Church and Church Wharf. Mawson was quite impressed by the Parish Church, but was disappointed that it was all but invisible save from within Church grounds.

26/56 This "fine open vista" is now St Peter's Way - the main dual carriageway heading towards the M60.

27/56 The only view that he deemed acceptable was from the wharves down by the Bolton and Bury canal - now a dual carriageway serving the M60.

28/56 Another Church that Mawson used to illustrate his points was the Mawdsley Street Congregational Church. He described this as a fine building, built in the wrong place.

29/56 The location reduced its visibility and it would need to be demolished if Great Moor Street was to receive much needed alterations.

30/56 He wasn't particularly complementary about Mawdsley Street or Great Moor Street - despite liking the ability of Bolton's second train station, (on Great Moor Street,) to serve the steel works on Black Horse Street.

31/56 The "new" Town Hall, completed in 1873, was much smaller than the Town Hall of today - it wasn't extended until the 1930s.

32/56 The Town Hall Square was barely larger than the footprint of the Town Hall and it sat in the midst of slum dwellings, dereliction and advertising hoardings.

33/56 It was also blighted by "miscellaneous erections." (Okay, now you can snigger.)

34/56 The claim that part of the Grapes Hotel obscured the view of the Town Hall from Bradshawgate is slightly disingenuous, considering the fact that this picture is from Exchange Street and Bowker's Row also prevented a clear view from Bradshawgate.

35/56 When The Grapes was demolished in 1960 the replacement building compounded this problem.

36/56 Howell Croft, in particular was singled out as an unfitting backdrop for the Town Hall. (This is now the site of the former Lloyds Bank - now student accommodation.)

37/56 Which brings us to the Post Office. By 1916 it was in the process of relocating from Bradshawgate / Silverwell Street to Deansgate. But Mr Mawson had choice words about the planning involved.

38/56 The design of the building was perfectly acceptable to Mawson. As with the Congregational Church, it was the site that was the problem. You simply couldn't see the building from anywhere in the town centre. This photograph appears to be taken from Queen Street.

39/56 Slum clearances around Howell Croft North were an ideal opportunity to offer a little greenery, he thought, to offer better views of the Post Office and to support the Aspinalls Building / Aspin Hall.

40/56 Speaking of gardens, Mawson also lectured on the provision of parklands, gardens and open spaces around Bolton.

Mawson's background in landscaping and gardening was apparent in his interest in redeveloping both Queens Park, more about this later, and Moss Bank.

41/56 By 1910 Moss Bank's time a private residence was drawing to a close, from the 1790's to the 1870s it was attached to Ainsworth's bleachworks which extended down Smithills Croft Road. From the early 1880's it had been rented out - eventually becoming a public park in 1926.

42/56 From 1900 William Lever and Thomas Mawson advocated for its conversion into a public amenity, as William Lever had done with Hall i'th' Wood in 1902. Mawson submitted plans for redevelopment. Notable here is the fact that "Captain Clough Road" is still under construction.

43/56 As an aside - speaking of Captains Clough, he very much approved of plans for Woodstock Drive and Abbotsford Road, even if they weren't realised as intended.

44/56 At this time Queens Park was home to the town's main museum, the Chadwick Museum, which would influence Mawson's plans to redevelop Bolton's town centre.

45/56 If you've stuck with me so far, thanks. Your pay off is coming...

...in PART THREE of this series.

@threadreaderapp unroll

Part 3 of Thomas Mawson's lectures on Boltonian Town Planning

https://twitter.com/bulgetemptingly/status/1388940800545988611?s=19