Compton House is a grade II listeddepartment store building located on Church Street in Liverpool, England. The building is noted as being one of the first purpose built department stores in Europe.[3] As of today, it forms part of Liverpool's biggest retail areas centred around Church Street.[4]
Rebuilt in 1867, after a fire destroyed the original building two year previously, Compton House was at the time the world's biggest store with 5 floors.[citation needed] After the store's closure in 1871, the building was converted into a hotel and renamed Compton Hotel. At its height, the hotel was described as the finest and most central hotel in the city, catering mainly for American guests. A decline of Liverpool's economy in the early 20th century led to the hotel closing in 1927, Retailer Marks & Spencer subsequently moved into Compton House in 1928 becoming their flagship store in the city.
Today's Compton House stands on the site of a former building by the same name, having been destroyed by a fire in 1865. The original Compton House was owned by Plymouth born brothers William and James Reddecliffe Jeffrey who set up their company Jeffery & Co in 1832. The premises contained within a clothiers, cabinet makers and Liverpool's largest drapers, with around 180 staff living in the upper floors.
On the night of Friday 8 December 1865 at 10am, two police officers walking their beat discovered smoke coming from the basement of the nearby Compton House cellar of Basnett Street.[5] Local residents and staff in the building were quickly evacuated as a team of firefighters with a newly purchased steam-powered fire engine began to tackle the fire. News spread quickly about the fire with engines being called in from the West of England Fire Brigade as well as 40 men from the nearby HMS Donegal offering assistance. The building's floors gave way around midnight with blacken walls all that remained.[6]
Destruction of Compton House 1865
Although originally thought to have been an accident an investigation and later hearing at Liverpool assizes found that the fire was purposely started by 20 year old Thomas Henry Sweeting, an apprentice to Messrs Jeffery after accusation of stealing 6 months previously. A confession by Sweeting detailed how he had started the fire by throwing a lit match amongst goods in the building's cellar.[7]
In the aftermath of the fire, the business was assessed for damages with a loss of £200,000 for stock plus £100,000 for the building.[8] A further 1,200 jobs were also lost.[9] Owing to much of the company's stock being insured James Reddecliffe Jeffery went ahead and bought Woolton Hall and made plans for Compton House to be rebuilt. A design for the new building was completed within just two weeks by architecture firm Thomas Haigh and Company. Construction of the building was fast and the business re-opened just 18 months later in 1867. After some time William Jeffery developed Apoplexy leaving his brother to run the store alone. Eventually the cost of running the store outran the income and in March 1871 the store closed.
Compton House - Plaque
In 1873, two years after being abandoned, Compton House reopened as Compton Hotel under the management of William Russell. Although a hotel, the ground floor featured a number of different shops including a hatters, a hosiery and a drapers. The hotel itself consisted of 250 rooms with numerous more including a saloon, coffee room, billiard room, reading room, writing room, smoking room, dining room as well as adjoining ladies and gentlemen's drawing rooms.[10] A main focus of the hotel was in accommodating for American guests arriving via Trans-Atlanticsteamers at Liverpool's landing stage. This appeal to Americans is reflected by the inclusion of symbolic eagles within the building's architecture. In 1927, as Liverpool's economy began to decline the hotel closed and was replaced two years later by retailer Marks & Spencers' who occupied the building until 2023.[11][12][1] In January 2024, it was announced that Frasers Group had purchased the lease.[2]
^ ab"'Range of options' for Compton House, says M&S". Liverpool Business News. 4 September 2023.
^ ab"Sports Direct acquires former M&S building, Compton House". Liverpool Bid Company. 24 January 2024.
^"Opened 1867 Compton House Designed by Thomas Haigh & Co One of the earliest purpose built department stores in Europe". Open Plaques. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
^(PDF). Liverpool Vision. Liverpool City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
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Historical England
January 01, 1970
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This article is about a department store in Liverpool For other uses see Compton House disambiguation Compton House is a grade II listed department store building located on Church Street in Liverpool England The building is noted as being one of the first purpose built department stores in Europe 3 As of today it forms part of Liverpool s biggest retail areas centred around Church Street 4 Compton HouseCompton House Church Street LiverpoolGeneral informationTypeCommercial StoreLocationCompton House Church Street Liverpool United KingdomCoordinates53 24 19 N 2 59 01 W 53 405357 N 2 983614 W 53 405357 2 983614Current tenantsFrasers Group 2 Construction started1865Completed1867OwnerLiverpool City Council 1 Technical detailsFloor count4Design and constructionMain contractorThomas Haigh amp Company Rebuilt in 1867 after a fire destroyed the original building two year previously Compton House was at the time the world s biggest store with 5 floors citation needed After the store s closure in 1871 the building was converted into a hotel and renamed Compton Hotel At its height the hotel was described as the finest and most central hotel in the city catering mainly for American guests A decline of Liverpool s economy in the early 20th century led to the hotel closing in 1927 Retailer Marks amp Spencer subsequently moved into Compton House in 1928 becoming their flagship store in the city Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory editToday s Compton House stands on the site of a former building by the same name having been destroyed by a fire in 1865 The original Compton House was owned by Plymouth born brothers William and James Reddecliffe Jeffrey who set up their company Jeffery amp Co in 1832 The premises contained within a clothiers cabinet makers and Liverpool s largest drapers with around 180 staff living in the upper floors On the night of Friday 8 December 1865 at 10am two police officers walking their beat discovered smoke coming from the basement of the nearby Compton House cellar of Basnett Street 5 Local residents and staff in the building were quickly evacuated as a team of firefighters with a newly purchased steam powered fire engine began to tackle the fire News spread quickly about the fire with engines being called in from the West of England Fire Brigade as well as 40 men from the nearby HMS Donegal offering assistance The building s floors gave way around midnight with blacken walls all that remained 6 nbsp Destruction of Compton House 1865Although originally thought to have been an accident an investigation and later hearing at Liverpool assizes found that the fire was purposely started by 20 year old Thomas Henry Sweeting an apprentice to Messrs Jeffery after accusation of stealing 6 months previously A confession by Sweeting detailed how he had started the fire by throwing a lit match amongst goods in the building s cellar 7 In the aftermath of the fire the business was assessed for damages with a loss of 200 000 for stock plus 100 000 for the building 8 A further 1 200 jobs were also lost 9 Owing to much of the company s stock being insured James Reddecliffe Jeffery went ahead and bought Woolton Hall and made plans for Compton House to be rebuilt A design for the new building was completed within just two weeks by architecture firm Thomas Haigh and Company Construction of the building was fast and the business re opened just 18 months later in 1867 After some time William Jeffery developed Apoplexy leaving his brother to run the store alone Eventually the cost of running the store outran the income and in March 1871 the store closed nbsp Compton House Plaque In 1873 two years after being abandoned Compton House reopened as Compton Hotel under the management of William Russell Although a hotel the ground floor featured a number of different shops including a hatters a hosiery and a drapers The hotel itself consisted of 250 rooms with numerous more including a saloon coffee room billiard room reading room writing room smoking room dining room as well as adjoining ladies and gentlemen s drawing rooms 10 A main focus of the hotel was in accommodating for American guests arriving via Trans Atlantic steamers at Liverpool s landing stage This appeal to Americans is reflected by the inclusion of symbolic eagles within the building s architecture In 1927 as Liverpool s economy began to decline the hotel closed and was replaced two years later by retailer Marks amp Spencers who occupied the building until 2023 11 12 1 In January 2024 it was announced that Frasers Group had purchased the lease 2 See also editGrade I listed buildings in Liverpool Architecture of LiverpoolReferences edit a b Range of options for Compton House says M amp S Liverpool Business News 4 September 2023 a b Sports Direct acquires former M amp S building Compton House Liverpool Bid Company 24 January 2024 Opened 1867 Compton House Designed by Thomas Haigh amp Co One of the earliest purpose built department stores in Europe Open Plaques Retrieved 30 October 2016 LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE MAIN RETAIL AREA REVIEW PDF Liverpool Vision Liverpool City Council Archived from the original PDF on 13 December 2014 Retrieved 28 October 2016 Great Fire at Liverpool Illustrated Usk Observer 9 December 1865 Retrieved 24 October 2016 The Great Fire At Liverpool No page 4 The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser 8 December 1865 Retrieved 24 October 2016 Trial of an Incendiary No p2 The Aberdare Times 18 August 1866 Retrieved 24 October 2016 DESTRUCTION OF COMPTON HOUSE lma gov uk Retrieved 25 October 2016 Great Fire In Liverpool No page 2 Monmouthshire Merlin 9 December 1865 Retrieved 24 October 2016 Compton Hotel Liverpool Historical Society Retrieved 25 October 2016 Hodgson Neil 7 May 2013 Multi million pound facelift starts at M amp S Church Street site Liverpool Echo Retrieved 25 October 2016 M amp S on the move in Liverpool 13 May 2022 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Compton House Liverpool Historical England Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Compton House Liverpool amp oldid 1200076562, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
