Exploring Manchester's Abandoned Debenhams: Found 1930s Secrets
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- In this video, we explore the abandoned Debenhams department store in Manchester city centre. Despite closure only in 2021, it appears that sections have been derelict for decades containing incredible architecture left unscathed from the 1930s!
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Although we are gone physically, we are still here digitally :)
Colab?
How Debenhams treated their Irish workforce was a disgrace.
Like a ghost. 👻
@@Natashahoneypot 😂
@@margaretf667 How were they treated?
I'm not from Manchester, i think it goes for the whole of the UK, but I think the larger department stores seem to ignore the beauty of the buildings they're in. They seem to hide it, paint over it. 😢😢 Thank you for taking the time to show us what we haven't seen. Xx
It’s a massive problem honestly they tend to all go for this ultra modern all white walls with no details when we could have some real old school cool vibes instead with tons of personality.
Sadly, period features are too distracting for the modern eye and don't sell the merchandise; a crisp, clinical and minimalist environment focusses one's attention solely on the merchandise with only a dab of colour for distraction. At least these period features have not been ripped out, as is sadly the case with many refurbishments, rather they have been covered and protected so that we may marvel at them once again in all of their magnificent beauty.
Would make a great hotel night club. Bring back a building thats worth bringing back. If not turn it into art deco apartments wish i had the money i would love to turn this building into something people love and stay in. What a shame!!
Yes, there's still this 1960s type obsession with modernity: false ceilings and and constant re-fits. The Debenams building in Chester (where I live) is steeped in history too. It occupies the old Brown's dept. store that pre-dates me, but cannot be ignored owing to the name inlaid in tiles at the entrance. The whole place creaks under foot. It's a very old building, and part of our rows - the buildings and walkways above street level, which date back to the 1600s.
I live in London and they did the same to our local Debenhams,it was much more beautiful when the store was open it brought life to high street
This is amazing. I worked in Debenhams in the early 2000s. The fourth floor with the colourful pillars was the stock room. The floors above that were all off-limits. But a mate and I went exploring once (with the permission of store security) and we got to have a poke around those upper floors and go to the roof. I believe one of the upper floors contained a ballroom and dancefloor and the dancefloor was still there back then. I think one of those wood-panelled rooms on the second was also the HR office where I had my job interview. I think the room at 5:18 is the staff room. Just incredible.
My dad also worked there in the early 2000's and was wondering do you remember the guys name? Might have been my dad!
I was just about the say the same - worked there part time in 2003 and we were told there was a ballroom / dance floor that had been closed since the 1950s which is why I clicked to see it!
You know the restoration means they’re gonna smash out every unique window and those two rooms upstairs. Gone.
@beef business My dad and his mates who used to work there wold bring nerf guns and play full on nerf battles on the empty floors. It sounded sick when he told me the stories!
But they wouldn't have coloured the pillars for a stock room, it must have been a sales floor earlier.
Imagine if someone took the time effort and had the money to restore the top floor to its original state and turned it into a restaurant/wedding venue, absolutely beautiful.
I think there are plans to restore this with shops offices apartments
Would cost millions!
@@paulmason6474 i’d hope so, always need more affordable apartments
@@niamhc7369 Affordable 🤣
@@niamhc7369 Yeah absolutely the problem is they likely won’t be affordable. I’m sure Manchester’s gentrification isn’t as bad as London but when a new apartment gets built in London everyone rolls their eyes as the prices are often over £700k and just unaffordable.
Brilliant video but it breaks my heart that our heritage buildings are often left to rot like this. I think there are floors like this in the old Lewis's building which is now Primark. Amazing to see what was hidden all those years though.
At the top of Lewis's is a full ballroom...
@@PennyLane1 was gonna say this!!! So sad how it’s probably just left there to gather dust. I bet it’s beautiful. I really want to go in 😩
I think it's because as soon as something is listed there are strict rules on even renovating the building, so it's much more costly and time-consuming to get plans approved and carried out. Only small repairs can be done without consent (as far as I know).
Videos like this give a lingering feeling of sadness and reminder of an old world fading away almost
In this one, mostly because of the closure of so many big department stores that used to be so popular, but also how interior design and architecture shifted massively in the post-war era and intricate, small details, such as in the top floor, became unfashionable and everything became more simple and modernised with the style and use of different materials
As a ex debenhams worker in Sheffield seeing this brings back so many memories of the 14 years I was there.
Watching slowly disappear in the weeks before closing was hard but seeing this,just reminds me of how we lost another great store and the history we will never see again.
Great memories. I was a manager there and was one of the lucky few to be able to access the upper abandoned floors. A lot has been removed but the ballroom up those iron stairs used to be intact and was legendary. The small room you went in first with the clock was the conference room where we would have managers meetings and the room adjoined was the store managers office. There were many ghost stories of which I was not a believer but I did a night shift once and something happened in the sub basement (2 levels below ground) which I will never forget!
What happened? Did you see an apparition?
@@mysticallymerry5523 long story but basically something moved at about 4am which couldnt possibly move on its own and there were literally 4 of us in the entire building so wasnt a person 😐
What was the upper part with the stunning sky light ? Was that level used when it was a shop ?
Tell us more!"
I worked in Primark on Church Street in Liverpool and I'd swear it was haunted too given some of the strange shenanigans on night shifts too.
Its wild growing up in our generation where we saw the complete demise of retail stores. They were just so nice to wonder around unlike shops these days which are stupidly bright and sterile. Would love to experience a shop like this again.
And normally blasting the top ten pop songs on repeat
If we don't support the high street then this is what will happen. In the case of Debenhams I think it was as much mismanagement as the public's choice. My town lost a large Debenhams and I was disappointed. I shopped there from time to time, and enjoyed regular visits to the café, but it was often light on customers and of they're not making enough money to pay the rates on this size of building then it's no longer viable, sad as that may be.
This video gave me flashbacks basically to memories as I child I haven't recalled in years. A day shopping with my grandmother on a rainy day, finding refuge in Woolworth's in which they used to have a cafeteria/ where you could have lunch. Almost laughable.
John Lewis is still around
@@DrQupax As someone who works there they’re barely hanging on this year 💀 Mainly the fault of the economy and stock issues etc but now they’re petitioning to get rid of the CEO as she removed so many things eg performance-based pay rises that have led to demotivation. We’re also ridiculously short staffed but they’re trying to save money by not hiring anyone or handing out overtime and putting all the pressure on us.
I’ve walked past a thousand times always wishing to do what you’ve done. Thankyou so much for giving us these stunning images of a more beautiful, and elegant time gone by.
My Father used to work here around 2004 and when I found this video and showed it to him I could see how happy he was to see his old work place again.
The amount of stories he began telling me such as the toilet you found with the urinals were actually staff toilets. He even said that one day with his friends he opened a box of nerf guns and they just had a nerf war on the empty floors. Man I could just see the happiness in his eyes. He also said that the floor you saw with the green pillars was not a kids floor but a storage room where they kept all the stock. Another thing he said was that the room where it had the taken down clock was where he had his interview to work there! He even said that their are many places you didn't see such as Basement under the main one where there was a hatch which lead to the underground sewers (He said he had a little cubby area where he used to hide stuff and whenever they needed some racks or such he would go get them so he became the go to man if you needed something) and a corridor with doors which connected to the adjoining buildings. My dad is currently in the process of contacting the man who is foreman and to try and get me and him access to inside so he can relive his old memories and show me the secret places I never got to see when I went shopping there.
Thank you so much for bringing back my dad some amazing memories!
Growing up in the Greater Manchester area, my earliest memories of Manchester itself were going on the train with my mum to shop at the Debenhams in the late 90s/early 00s. I'm so glad you managed to document some of the older parts of the building I never got to see!
Omg so many memories, I used to work on the 3rd floor restaurant for 6 years before it all closed in 2020. We were never allowed to go above the 3rd floor unless we had security with us. They only used those floors as a storage area.
Thank you , 10:13 I used enjoy coming to the restaurant on my many trips to Manchester
@Alan Green
But why ?????? Thats well strange
@matthewc.419 I guess you could say there were security reasons for anyone going up there. We were always told not to go up there with a security guard with us, i guess they would know if anyone went there because the doors had code locks on them and I'd imagine that every time doors were opened they knew in the office.
@@alangreen9966 well werid ......security issues ......🤷🏼♂️
M15 camped upstairs ???? Dont make sence to me
@@matthewc.419 Having worked in retail, I imagine that is where the documents, records and accounts were kept. In the days before digital, the paper records were vulnerable to theft or unauthorised viewing, so confidential information had to kept secure.
Lovely video, heartbreaking to watch as an ex Debenhams staff. The top floors were out of bounds and I did get to see some of the top floors, but never got to see the ball room, we knew it was up there and all wanted to see it but it was locked off. They was a couple of ghost stories, which I'm unsure even today whether some were based on the truth or made up by staff. I really hope the building doesn't get too modernised so we don't see it, hopefully it gets done lovely and you can still see all its history, hopefully not offices/apartments, would be nice for it to still used by the public! It's an iconic part of Manchester. Thanks great video 🥰
Thats so annoying to know that , u wasnt #allowed up there !!!!!
I used to work at Piccadilly 21s the 3 story nightclub.......we used to stand up on the roof on a saturday ......its quite high up !!!!
The basement is well freaky !!!!
Apparently they're keen on keeping the old art deco style, so don't worry :-)
was that the ballroom with the glass skylight?
He said it was listed. So they have to keep at least some of it.
@@marljusweety if it's grade 2 listed, all they have to keep is the outside appearance. Unfortunately there are little grade 1 listed buildings outside of London. In my town for example there is a grade 2 listed ex factory and they have turned it into a shell with four walls.
I used to work at the old Paperchase (now End) and there was a massive spooky abandoned bank vault in the basement. It’s crazy how much history Manchester has hidden away. Great video!
Indeed, and underneath it too!🤔👍
I used to enjoy shopping in my local Debenhams (now closed) and I’d like to give a big thank you to all the staff who were so helpful, across the country, and were part of a great icon of retail history. It was a gentle and peaceful experience for the shopper and the store would most likely have what you needed.
My Father in Law was contracted to carry out the installation of the safety railing on the roof ( 14 minutes into the video ) He was a welder and fabricator who made and installed the majority of the metalwork. He took plenty of pictures of the hidden gems contained within the building. Shame as I have no copies to look at now, as the pictures were lost or thrown away in a house move.
When humans cared about craftsmanship and quality. This building is 100 times better than anything built the last 50 years.
Agreed!
so 100 times better than the Burj Khalifa 💀
@@mandalorian1282 comparing like for like of their time. Yes. Im much more impressed by the craftsmanship and attention to detail in the empire state building.
How about comparing the average Street building in those times with the average modern apartment building. It's no contest. Yes we have a few technically impressive buildings like the Burj but the other 99.9 percent of buildings are cheap poorly made trash.
Beautiful, thank you. I worked here in 1992/93, and on occasion we managed to gain access to lesser-used and unused floors of the building. This video brings back so many memories.
That skylight was definitely a jewel 💎 in the building and what a extremely beautiful and interesting building it is.
They definitely don't build them like that anymore.
Thank you for the brilliant video.
I love how respectful you are of the building and the history. Thanks for showing us round the hidden gems!
Someone has to be! No problem at all
Oh man, you just lived one of my dreams - for years when I lived in Manchester I looked up at that building and thought "There must be several floors of unused space above what Debenhams is using, I wish I could go up there." Thank you for sharing. 😍
As someone that lives in Manchester and always loved wondering through this shop because of its architecture, I appreciate this video so much. The building though a shop always felt special, so to be able to see it and more than any of the public got to see is incredible. Thankyou
I appreciate your respect for the building and your appreciation of it’s beauty.
It is clear from this video that you are living your passion. Your enthusiasm comes through loud and clear. I hope these features will be preserved for whatever comes next for this building.
That's great to hear, because it is genuine :)
I can see why it's listed, without such protection it would already be gone. And your film makes more people aware of its existence, which means more people will keep an eye on what happens to it.
Thanks for preserving the history of this building. I fell off the urbex wagon over 10 years ago after a botched attempt at a well known place led to us being arrested and spending the night in the clink. But videos like this make me want to shake it off and get back into it again.
I'm from Manny and to see this building give up its hidden stories is fascinating. i pass this building every time I'm in town and now i have a better sense of it history. the upper floors where amazing to see. i hope when this building is refurbished they use it to its maximum potential without distorying its history,
Research mud floods and the resets..fascinating
That was fun, and sad. I grew up in that era before the internet, when searching through shops for specific merchandise could take days, if not weeks and might even require travel to a larger city. Department stores sifted through the world's merchandise and presented a curated version to the consumer. I remember those stores fondly...
Once again Alistair you have not disappointed us! The two rooms in particular with the lantern skylights were stunning and the winding room with the old lift motors just amazing. Like you said, I do hope that all the architecture is kept by the new developers and better maintained than it has been in the past. Loved that you managed to skip past the security to gain access. Thanks as always for a great video.
Buildings like this need to be preserved. Very good video and you lingered on the details.
What THEY have planned, wud make u ill ,!!!!!!
Who will pay for it?
@@golden.lights.twinkle2329 As it's a listed building then I suppose whoever owns it has to pay for it's upkeep and preservation of certain features... that's how it works if you have have a listed house anyway.
I was born in Manchester and used to often visit this lovely building when it was still Pauldens. We would go to the toy department at Christmas which I seem to recall was on one of the upper floors. Then one day, I was walking up Market St with my mum and my big brother, when we noticed it was no longer Pauldens but Debenhams! As an impressionable 9 year old, I was thrilled to see that I shared the first three letters of the new name.
I've said this before, but I still don't understand how the algorithm has ignored you. You have some of the best urbex videos on youtube, you should have a million subs easy with this content. Keep up the good work, hopefully yt catches up
I worked in a department store that unfortunately shut down in 2021, it really saddens me to think of it being completely silent inside... when I think of how busy it was with thousands of customers every week passing through the doors and now nothing.. I pass it occasionally and think of the good times 😔
For anybody that isn't aware, that building was home to Paulden's store before it was Debenhams. Manchester had some really good shops back in the day. Lewis's, Wiles' toy shop, Henry's, Affleck & Brown (saw Santa there via Torchy's rocket ship), Kendal Milne (for posh people), Boots, C&A, Marks & Spencer (if you only wanted clothes that were grey, black, blue or white), Masters on Cambridge St, Woolworths on Piccadilly (major fire in 1979, 10 fatalities that led to the banning of polyeurethane foam in furniture) plus loads of other, smaller but no less important outlets scattered across town.
Every city in the UK had similar stores at one time.
I remember this specific store being part of a disaster mini documentary told by this UA-camr
I remember the Woolworths fire on the news. Shocked everybody. The fire was bad enough but they can happen anytime. What really got to people was that those who died were crushed to death underfoot as people panicked and rushed out out of the building. Some of them were on the escalators. Survivors who had fallen told us exactly what it was like.
Wasn't just furniture foam that was improved. Fire escape routes were upgraded by law too.
Department stores were de riguer shopping of its day...dragged around by your parents for hours.
There was also a second Woolworth Store when I was young on St Mary's Gate right at the bottom of Market Street passed St Ann's Square.
I worked in the restaurant as a supervisor for 2 days, then I quit because of their ethics.
They closed the restaurant at 5pm, and if the fridges weren’t all fully stocked at around 3pm, we would be made to make up fresh sandwiches etc.
then at 5pm we had to throw away so many sandwiches- we weren’t allowed to take them home or give them to homeless people, we had to throw them in the bin. And I just couldn’t do it.
I walked past around 5 homeless people walking from Debenhams to my bus stop, and the guilt I had after throwing those sandwiches away was exponential.
No wonder they went bust.
Tbf that’s a legal thing, food that is given away to staff or the homeless has to go through certain procedures, imagine if something given away for free and due to allergies or bacteria it killed someone - and before anyone says that’s unlikely, Pret A Manger was in the courts last year for just this - a young woman had a sandwich with badly/incompletely labelled ingredients and sadly died. Food wastage is built into the cost of restaurant and cafe prices, and as always - never give homeless people food, they don’t know if it’s been tampered with, give them money so they can buy food safely themselves
Working in the Morrisons Café, it was the same up until recently. We would throw away all remaining cakes and hot food at the end of each day. Before it went in the bin, sometimes we would go out back and cheekily scoff a couple of cakes. Luckily, it's got a bit better, we now sell most of it using the "too good to go" app.
Anyway, my point is I think a lot of Café's work like this unfortunately.
I've lived in 5 western countries and worked in many restaurants and grocery stores, I feel like it's the same everywhere.
@@mrhaltonok naaa. Greggs gives loads of stuff away to homeless people.
I worked there in the seventies - three floors and the basement were used for sales - the fourth for cutting carpet to size ready for fitting and also for storage. I remember a badminton or some sort of tennis court marked out on one of the upper floors - in early days along with the ballroom obviously used as a social space for Rylands as well as for business. Strange for all those decades those upper floors were left empty.
So interesting, thanks.
I worked there with you and Caroline, I knew about the ballroom, we used to have netball practice up there for the store team.
Also the fire brigade would give extinguisher train there too.
Are you still as tall ?
I used to work there back in 2004 and sneaked off a couple of times to take the lift up to to the ballroom on the top floor and see the view of Manchester from the office next to it. Such a beautiful building
was the ballroom the one with the skylight
Did you know my dad? His name was Naheem he worked there around 2004
Wow, that top floor was just to die for! Insane find 🙌🏼
This was great to watch -- thanks. I worked here in the late 70's in a concession shop in the basement but we weren't there for long so I didn't get much chance to explore so it was fun seeing the upper floors. Because all the concesson shops had small storage cages in the basement, I explored that a bit more, but it was defo dark and creepy! I got to know the store opposite in much more detail. It is now a large Primark. I explored best when I was an evening cleaner when it was Lewis's department store and I was doing the 5th and 6th floors. Like Debenhams, there was a massive domed ballroom and really old offices up there, all unused for many a year. There was an old staff canteen and the remains of the kitchens - all sorts of interesting stuff.
Thank you for making this aware for us all. I absolutely love these details from long ago, in fact I find it fascinating. The beautiful Arc Deco is something that is irreplaceable and I hope this extraordinary Art is never destroyed.
We can thank Noah for Arc Deco.
@@golden.lights.twinkle2329 😆
Absolutely stunning and thank you so much for filming this. I’ve lived in Manchester all my life and been through that Debenhams across my life… a lot of the time we used it to walk through to avoid the rain to get to the other side 😂
It’s really heartbreaking to see even the downstairs left… time stood still, but that at the top the history just left alone for all these years. It makes me so sad, that it’s been alone for all those years but at the same time that has allowed it to be saved from being destroyed before now. It’s remarkable. 😨
I've seen this building no end of times and often wondered what they're going to do with it. In the heart of the city, this magnificent place wants a good refurbishment without ruining any of the art deco architecture. Many thanks for showing this fantastic video.
Nice video,so sad to see the building lying empty i used shop in there when i visited manchester from edinburgh,i feel sorry for all the staff who lost their jobs,it was such a lovely shop and the workers so friendly,your typical mancurian,i still love visiting the best city in england😀👍❤️🏴
Superb explore, very glad you ventured up that interesting wooden staircase to the 1930’s above!
Beautiful building and i hope whoever renovates it is respectful of its history. I regularly got the train from Bolton into Manchester to go shopping. A friend and i got stuck in the lift in Debenhams..we had to be manually lowered down by firemen down to two floors below ground level..interesting experience..lol
When I was a child in the 1950s and 60s this Debenhams store was called Pauldens. A big treat was to go their Verandah cafeteria to have tea and a chocolate éclair. The Verandah overlooked the ground floor, but eventually it was closed and blocked off.
The last time I was in there about 10 or 15 years ago, the store was sadly in need of a complete refurb.
Im so excited that you got in and found this for us!
I so wish developers couldd and would embrace and bring to life the old style buildings. There is an unquestionable (in my own opinion) charm and beauty that ought to be kept and enjoyed.
WOW! To see somewhere I used to go into on a weekly basis empty and down to bare bones is fabulous. All the original features on the upper floors are beautiful. Even the toilets! Thank you for doing this. It will be kept for posterity, I'm sure.
So sad to see such an iconic Manchester building gutted and abandoned. I hope something is done with it soon, rather than letting it rot. It would be nice if the remaining features could be included in any future projects. It's a prime spot, right on the corner of the main shopping street and the main city square. But I imagine the rent/tax was colossal on such a massive plot.
It's not really a prime spot though anymore, foot traffic is none existent compared to what it used to be. It's sad, but I do worry for the future of great buildings like this.
Impressive building inside and out, remember going in there years ago, good to see buildings I recognise from the area, hope the upper floors are restored and not ripped out.
I’m originally from Manchester (moved to New Zealand about two weeks before the pandemic kicked off) but this is really interesting to see parts of the inside of a building that I’d never have had a chance to see back when i walked past probably hundreds of times, it’s a shame that some of this beautiful design have been left unseen for so long.
I’m from the bury new road. Area I lived next to strangeways for many years in a pub I would visit theses buildings on a daily basis as a child I’m now in my 60s and long so much to walk theses old streets and buildings before it’s lost forever it breaks my heart to see how much has changed and how many more are coming to the bury new road area so sad it was once an amazing place 🥲😞
I used to use that shop, it 's so sad that these historic businesses in these lovely buildings are no longer there.
Best thing I've watched for weeks (telly included!) Well done for penetrating the building as far as you did. Those domes were such a treat, and so quintessentially deco. There was even the remains of the parquet floor. The attention to detail and quality of these old buildings will never be seen again, and must be respected. People like us were born too late for this world!
This does make a change from all the dull, negative crap on YT.
Note to self….
Retrain my algorithm
I was absolutely glued to my screen throughout this video. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm glad it's going to be saved (re-purposed), but just like you said, it would be wonderful if they kept and restored the upper floors to their former glory. Even if they remained private.
I visited the store many times as a child and as I grew up it's sad to see it empty, thank you I enjoyed the tour.
Thank you for this. I don't know why bit I get emotional when I see past architecture and decor. I get even more upset if it gets destroyed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, I found it fascinating. Thank you for sharing something that most people would never get to see.
Gentlemen I salute you , your skills and delivery are amazing , your respect and sympathy of what you encounter are to be desired. Thankyou Charlotte and Charles.
♥♥ Thank you for sharing this gem. It was exciting to watch. It is nice to see someone else that appreciates the beauty in this era.
Thank you for revealing these hidden treasures. I hope the developers have your eye for beauty and conserve these features for the future.
Thank you for this video. I remember going to Debenhams with my late mum as a child in the 70s.
You are very cheeky, security guard, construction workers, don’t put you off 🤣🤣 some lovely old features, I hope they keep them
Hi Alan, it's the unseen top floors that are the most extraordinary areas, especially the board room and the lantern roofed towers. Most folks only know the much modernised lower/basement floors. They just paint a minds eye of the TV Grace Brothers store in Are you being served series. I was also under the impression that most of the outside was a newer recreation after war damaged it in the Manchester Blitz, the same with the Lewis store. That store also had an atrium domed roof exhibition/concert hall up in the rafters too. I once went to a 'light show' with projector images set to music, now the norm at concerts. For the experience you sat in deck chairs, head back watching the projection and music tracks. Mind you, you need to be a certain age to remember these things 🥴 Cheers DougT
The demise of the once bustling and beautiful department stores is heartbreaking.
That Debenhams is a statement of my childhood, I'm glad you could unvail the secrets behind the department store < 3
This is my favourite urban explorer video, to know such history was there and how amazing the store stood with hidden areas untouched. Slightly sad there wont be anything as fancy in years to come, as online purchasing has taken over.
Some absolute gorgeous gems hidden away here.
This is a totally epic video!! Thank you for this! We got taken to this Debenhams store every Xmas, I remember it being the biggest shop I'd ever seen with the most floors in, it's just excellent finally seeing all the areas we never got to see before
I walk past this building every day so glad I have got to see what’s inside !
Love Art Deco and this building is magnificent. Hope any future renovation and development is sympathetic to both the interior and exterior of this stunning structure.
I’m a Mancunian and can remember going to Debenhams as a child in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. I never knew about the 1930’s colourful glass in the domes although have seen an aerial shot in the past and the domes are visible on that.
I once went for a job as a sales assistant working in the Royal Doulton department in the basement - I didn’t get the job !
My mother and older siblings used to go to Paulden’s
Wow please don’t let this be destroyed, this deserves to be used and loved
Wow those top floors are just beautiful! What a fantastic building. I remember going in there in the 70s and still seeing the old floor tiling on the ground floor and the old wooden lift doors. !
Great that you capture all this on film. So sad that this department closed, but thats what's happening to the high streets now. You could just see and hear the people working there and customers shopping lots of history. Amazing, thank you.
Looking forward to watching this. In my home town of Folkestone, our Debenhams building is from two eras. The Art Deco section from the 1930s which is listed and has the most beautiful sweeping staircases, and the Edwardian section from the turn of the century, with towers and balconies, which for some reason is not listed. Our local council wants to tear down the Edwardian section and build a GP surgery! In a prime retail location! Mental isn't the word.
I worked in the Folkestone Debenhams in the early 80s when I was 16 - its a stunning building, lots of even nicer parts like the tower, that the public never saw - it will be a crime if they dont retain that history!
Those skylights are beautiful. What a shame they are hidden away.
Really happy this was suggested to me, I am not from Manchester but live nearby & have walked past that store many times. Amazing to see the beauty hidden behind the closed doors.
Thank you so much for posting this! My mum worked at Pauldens in the late 50’s. She loved it there! Beautiful building!
It's wonderful too no all about abandoned places I think the details on the floors nearer the top of the building are mind blowing 🎉
Hi guys another excellent video and thanks for making it and showing us the beauty of the building parts not seen by the public.
Thanks for covering this. I always loved the old place since I worked there in the 70s. Theres a lot of nooks and crannies and weird old fixtures I can recall and I spent many hours stock taking tiles and paint in the sub basement. There are at least 2 or 3 floors below the basement which are pretty creepy. Also I worked on the vans delivering furniture etc from the loading bays round the back. I hope it doesnt go the same way as a lot of other characterful buildings. It would be tragic if it was turned into yet another hotel or apartments.
My dad used to work here and he said there was a hatch on one of those lower floors where if you opened you could hear the Sewers! He also said he had a little cubby there where he kept stuff that he may need to use in future!
I worked in a Debenhams a couple of years back, just before the pandemic. They were barely holding on as is, but the Covid lockdowns were the nail in the coffin. The building wasn't quite as old (I think it was built just after the war, but can't be sure), but the building was falling apart inside and they had no money to maintain it. For a couple of months the fire system broke so each floor would take turns having someone patrol around the entire place in case there was a fire. Behind the scenes a lot of things were cobbled together. False walls and pokey storage rooms where it looked like they'd altered the lay out through the years without any real construction taking place. The very very top room that I found was up some tiny walled-in stairs that led into a tiny closet sized room. Completely covered in these old orange ceramic subway tiles. It's where they kept the HiFi for the entire department store lol.
Used to go there in the 70s, never thought I'd see the day when it closed.
Absolutely glorious the higher you got! Those windows were outstanding! Loved the building on top of the building with the amazing spiral staircase, I expect hardly anyone knows it's there. I'm so glad you grabbed the opportunity to pop in and go around 😊 Just realised too why your channel was recommended, you're the ones who Hell on Earth had to tow 🤣
Fantastic video as always! Stunning Architecture! Like you said in the video I hope they keep all the rare architectural features. 😁
Walked past it many times. Glad you had the chance to uncover the amazing top floor.
Brilliantly respectful explore. Those upper floor rooms are just out of this world. Well done and thanks for sharing.
The number of times I walked through that store when it was open wondering what was on the inaccessible floors above... some stunning features!
Hello. That is a true historical building that needs to be preserved.👍
I remember being in Debenhams in the 80s. Been away since then. The lovely carved tops to the pillars still existed on the ground floor back then. The modern white paint and advertising casing was used at eye level, but if you looked up you could still spy the original details.
Those lovely circular rooms at the top would have been used to display textiles to fashion executives and possibly later for seasonal fashion shows. It would be great to see them used that way again. Artists studios on the top floor using those rooms as gallery space would add to the proposed development.
Those sun skylights are amazing; I wonder what was in those alcoves around the edge of the rooms.
I'm curious to know if debenhams employees had access to or used those upper floors above the restaurant. Absolutely fantastic video. Love your content. One day, we will be watching your explores on T.V.
No only certain staff as top floor had a lot of asbestos and anything over 5th floor was disused
They sometimes close off upper floors to avoid paying more in rates. The council sometimes allow special discounts if they mothball space and prove it to the council officials.
I know some of them didn't. I used to be a security guard in a shopping center, We used to patrol the upper floors of some department stores (we had two in our shopping center) as they were completely disused, both around 3 floors of unused space. About half the shopping center I worked in had upper floors that was all unused space. Took us several hours to do the overnight patrol to ensure no-one was sleeping there,
This is beautiful, gave me goosebumps!
Would be amazing if you did a series on every Debenhams abandoned stores around. There’s one in Ayr. Plus there’s loads of shops that have closed down too which is so sad to see 😔😢
I remember it in the early 70’s when my Mother would take us into Manchester on the bus - Pauldens back then.
Later in my teens I would frequent City centre most weekends to buy record’s .
Fabulous video and what a stunningly Artdeco period building it still is.
Great work
Beautiful 😍 thank you for sharing this with a fellow Mancunian! Fabulous work!
So glad you've done this coz there's a building in Southampton called the bargate which is sadly knocked down now but I wish it had more in depth videos exploring it's inside and of era architecture
It's a magnificent building. The upper floors would probably have contained the executive's offices and dining room. I'm sure the executives would also have had their own toilets and private lift. I hope they are able to save the architectural details when they renovate this building.
Superb video, nice narration, well researched, very impressive. Being a Mancunian, I know this building well, having spent many a Christmas seeing father Christmas in there. It is indeed a lovely building. Having worked in the city centre, all you need to do is to lift your head up to see the beautiful architecture around manchester. Many don't and continue to look at their phones lost in their own worlds, whilst another is right in front of them. I would also suggest you research the underground tunnels around deansgate and King street, The secret passage from St Anns passage to the Hidden Jem, The Ecclesiastical Court on South King street near cross street. Plenty of Interesting building down Blackfriars as well. Thank you, you brought back some memories there.