NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE POST OFFICE
St Nicholas Street
Photograph © John Fitzgerald via Flickr
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Architect: James Williams Year 1874 (?1891 extension; 1911 enlargement, architect Walter Pott) Listed building status: Grade II Archive sources National Archives: WORK 13/343; 69/6 (photograph) Selected bibliographical references Building News 2 Jun 1911, p. 767 (enlargement) Newcastle Courant 28 Apr 1876, p. 5; 28 Dec 1889, p. 3 (extension) History Closed Current use: Office and residential accommodation |
Building description
From: Newcastle Courant 28 December 1889, p. 3
Those who have traversed the lower parts of Westgate Road, Newcastle, within the past few months must have observed the immense chances which have been effected and which are still in progress. The premises now in course of construction are an extension of the Newcastle Post Office will be of an imposing character, though its facade will not be in any way marked by efforts at ornamentation. This increase of accommodation at the Post Office has been necessitated by the steady and continued growth of the business in the telegraphic and postal departments and the development of the comparatively new parcels post business ... When the new extension is completed, which will not be before 1891, the Post Office buildings, will occupy an uninterrupted stretch from St. Nicholas' Buildings to Westgate Road, and there will be a road all the way by the side of the south premises for mail carts, thus shortening to some degree the route to the Central Station. The exterior frontage to Westgate Road will be about 160 feet in length, with a return of about 26 feet on Denton Chare. At the highest part the facade will be 69 feet above the pavement level, the material being stone from the Denwick quarries of Messrs Douglass and Green, this being a stone noted for its extreme durability. It will be an exterior in the Italian style, or rather it would be more correct to say the Perpendicular style, since it is not characterised by much decoration. The entrance doorways are to be made of Aberdeen granite, thus adding to the imposing appearance of the front. There is to be a basement floor over the whole area, and this will be used for parcel post stores, a boiler and engine room, postmen's kitchen, lavatory, and stores, also dining rooms, and various other apartments for the convenience of the postal staff. On the ground floor the principal apartment will be the sorting office, which is to be 240 feet in length and 75 at the broadest and 40 at the narrowest pert. The sorting office will be increased from 4,000 to 12,000 square feet, and the instrument room from 4,000 to 8,000 square feet. This hall will be joined to the sorting room at present in use, and will, when com bined, be one of the best of its kind ia the country. There will also be to this floor a separate public entrance for the Parcels Post Office, near to the corner of Westgate Road and Denton Chare. Upon the first floor will be the instrument room, also to be joined to the present telegraphic operating chamber. There are, further, to be retiring rooms for the clerks, and also offices for the superintending engineers and other officers. The second floor will be devoted to the engineering department, and there are to be rooms also for the medical officer and the various inspectors employed in connection with the work of the Post Office. Kitchens, too, will be located in this part of the building, as will also the telegraph school. The attic storey the caretaker will occupy, and stores, too, will be kept here. Heat will be obtained by hot air apparatus, and supplied from the engine house, in connection with which department a chimney 90 feet in height has already been built. The ventilation will be carried out on the most approved modern principles. All the walls of the kitchens and lavatories are lined with ivory white bricks.
Those who have traversed the lower parts of Westgate Road, Newcastle, within the past few months must have observed the immense chances which have been effected and which are still in progress. The premises now in course of construction are an extension of the Newcastle Post Office will be of an imposing character, though its facade will not be in any way marked by efforts at ornamentation. This increase of accommodation at the Post Office has been necessitated by the steady and continued growth of the business in the telegraphic and postal departments and the development of the comparatively new parcels post business ... When the new extension is completed, which will not be before 1891, the Post Office buildings, will occupy an uninterrupted stretch from St. Nicholas' Buildings to Westgate Road, and there will be a road all the way by the side of the south premises for mail carts, thus shortening to some degree the route to the Central Station. The exterior frontage to Westgate Road will be about 160 feet in length, with a return of about 26 feet on Denton Chare. At the highest part the facade will be 69 feet above the pavement level, the material being stone from the Denwick quarries of Messrs Douglass and Green, this being a stone noted for its extreme durability. It will be an exterior in the Italian style, or rather it would be more correct to say the Perpendicular style, since it is not characterised by much decoration. The entrance doorways are to be made of Aberdeen granite, thus adding to the imposing appearance of the front. There is to be a basement floor over the whole area, and this will be used for parcel post stores, a boiler and engine room, postmen's kitchen, lavatory, and stores, also dining rooms, and various other apartments for the convenience of the postal staff. On the ground floor the principal apartment will be the sorting office, which is to be 240 feet in length and 75 at the broadest and 40 at the narrowest pert. The sorting office will be increased from 4,000 to 12,000 square feet, and the instrument room from 4,000 to 8,000 square feet. This hall will be joined to the sorting room at present in use, and will, when com bined, be one of the best of its kind ia the country. There will also be to this floor a separate public entrance for the Parcels Post Office, near to the corner of Westgate Road and Denton Chare. Upon the first floor will be the instrument room, also to be joined to the present telegraphic operating chamber. There are, further, to be retiring rooms for the clerks, and also offices for the superintending engineers and other officers. The second floor will be devoted to the engineering department, and there are to be rooms also for the medical officer and the various inspectors employed in connection with the work of the Post Office. Kitchens, too, will be located in this part of the building, as will also the telegraph school. The attic storey the caretaker will occupy, and stores, too, will be kept here. Heat will be obtained by hot air apparatus, and supplied from the engine house, in connection with which department a chimney 90 feet in height has already been built. The ventilation will be carried out on the most approved modern principles. All the walls of the kitchens and lavatories are lined with ivory white bricks.
