The Watts family The textile firm,
S & J Watts Limited was founded by
James Watts, a Mancunian industrialist and entrepreneur, whose textile business had started in a small weaver's cottage in
Didsbury. His success as a cotton trader was part of the commercial boom of the 19th century that gave Manchester the name "
Cottonopolis", when the city was a global centre for the
cotton trade. Watts became an important figure among British industrialists, socialising with politicians and churchmen at his home,
Abney Hall, in Cheadle.
Prince Albert chose to stay with him when he visited Manchester to open the
Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857. Watts' descendants include British businessman James Watts,
Conservative party politician
James Watts and
air commandant Dame Felicity Peake. The Watts family is also distantly related to the family of novelist
Agatha Christie.
Construction The sandstone ashlar warehouse was built by local architects Travis & Mangnall in 1851–56 at a cost of £100,000. Its ornate style typifies the extravagant confidence of many Mancunian warehouses of this period, but the Watts Warehouse is notable for its peculiarly eclectic design. Designed in the form of a Venetian
palazzo, the building has five storeys, each decorated in a different style –
Italian Renaissance,
Elizabethan,
French Renaissance and
Flemish – and roof pavilions featuring large
Gothic wheel windows. The interior was similarly lavish in its decoration, with a sweeping iron cantilever staircase, balconied stairwell, and mahogany counters for displaying merchandise.
Conversion to a hotel The textile industries that built Manchester eventually dwindled and, like many other industrial structures in the North of England, Watts Warehouse fell into disuse and was derelict for many years. The building was threatened with demolition in 1972, but was spared. In the 1980s, the building underwent conversion, retaining many of the original interior features. In May 1982, the Britannia Hotel opened as part of the
Britannia Hotels chain initially with 25 rooms and a nightclub, eventually expanding to 363 bedrooms. The building was
Grade II* listed in 1952. ==See also==