Victorian Buildings - Deansgate area
Victoria Station is at the end of Victoria road which leads off from Deansgate. It was built in 1844 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway. As population in Manchester increased, so did passenger traffic so the station was enlarged on several occasions with 8 platforms and an impressive entrance.
In the last half of the 20th century the increased use of private car had resulted in a sharp decline of the amount of people traveling by rail. The station became under-used so it was decided to reduce the number of platforms and simplify the station. Part of the station was turned into the MEN arena (left half in photo above).
The John Rylands Library (above photos) was designed in 1889 by architect Basil Champneys, and built ten years later in 1900. It was founded by Enriqueta Ryland in memory of her husband. John Ryland (1801-1888) was Manchesters first multi-millionaire, he was one of the most successful buisness men of Victorian England. He founded a textile buisness (Ryland and sons) with his father and two brothers and 8 years later he took complete control of the buisness. In 1834 he moved to Manchester which soon became the heart of the cotton industry.
There are a few buildings still surviving in and around Deansgate, including Victoria station and John Rylands Library, that were built in Victorian times. I really like the attention to detail in Victorian architecture and would like to look more into Victorian way of life (culture) - looking more into there styles and fashions-colours and patterns. I think the Victorian era was a really important time in history for Manchester as this is when the industry really took off, making Manchester develop and grow, bringing people from different places over the world, into this distinctive city.

