Cole Brothers, was it built on a cemetary?

[Harry1000]

I have heard that way back to (maybe) before castle times, the site of the cathedral was taken up by a burial ground / holy site of the Saxons (Ancient Britons anyway). The burial ground streched passed the confines of todays cathedral grounds and almost all the way up Fargate and down Chapel Walk area. When the European Christians came to convert the local people from their own Pagan beliefs, a group of knights butchered a large group of captured locals (men, women, children and babes in arms) for not converting to Christianity (they did not understand the high Latin of the knights). This took place on a grassy mound covered with small trees and bushes, or a "campo". The blood soaked the area red and ran down to the nearby river. Wanting to break the power of the local religion, the christians built a church on the site, and now it is our Cathedral.

[Arfer Mo]

Ithink the present coles shop occupies the site of the old Albert Hall which was destroyed by fire in the early 30ties

[pressy]

books i have state that the cole brothers was built on the original site of the city hall, the old organ was removed and then placed in the now city hall and then it was demolished because of a fire that made it impossible to restore

 

It was the Albert Hall Theatre that was destroyed by fire in 1937 & was derelict until 1963 ......thats where Coles is now.

[heeley boy]

i worked at coles in barkers pool during the 70's.

it opened in 1963 and was built on the site of a church.the land is owned by the salvation army and until recently coles always closed on religious days ...i.e good friday due to that connection.it was a fantastic place to work and holds many memories for me

[Plain Talker]

the City Hall was not in existence in any form, before the current one was built, in the 1930s. (partially as a memorial to the war dead of the 1914-18 war)

 

there was a cinema/theatre called the Albert Hall in the vicinity of the Gaumont in Barkers Pool., this may have been confused with the City hall...

 

re the bodies excavated near the HSBC when the supertram works were under way:-

 

there were rules about who could, and who could not be buried in a churchyard (hallowed ground...).

 

Suicides, the hanged (that's judicial hangings btw), and unbaptised infants are three categories that I can think of. (I think non-members of the chuch would find it difficult to obtain burial there, too)

 

Way back when, if someone could not actually obtain burial in the Churchyard itself, then their families would bury them outside the churchyard, as near as possible to the boundary. I believe that this may have been the background to the bodies found on Church Street.

[oshaugh]

From books i have read, i know that coles stands on the site of the old city hall, apparently there was a fire, the only thing remaining was the large organ that was relocated to the city hall as it is now, don't have dates off hand, just know it was around the turn of the century, when the site of the alexander pub near the market was a theatre,, bit of useless info towards the end but hope it helps....

[Puffin4]

I recall the present John Lewis site being a car park when I was a teenager but that was probably a result of it having been bombed during the war. I actually have a photograph of myself which shows the car park in the background.

[muddycoffee]

From books i have read, i know that coles stands on the site of the old city hall, apparently there was a fire, the only thing remaining was the large organ that was relocated to the city hall as it is now, don't have dates off hand, just know it was around the turn of the century, when the site of the alexander pub near the market was a theatre,, bit of useless info towards the end but hope it helps....

I don't know who told you all that but it is all completely wrong.

 

The city hall was built and officially opened in September 22nd 1932, complete with organ.

 

The Albert hall Where (John Lewis now stands) burned down later in the decade On the 14th of July 1937

[muddycoffee]

I recall the present John Lewis site being a car park when I was a teenager but that was probably a result of it having been bombed during the war. I actually have a photograph of myself which shows the car park in the background.

 

See my last post above, the Albert hall burned down in 1937, and nothing was built to replace it until Cole Brothers in the 1960s. That must have been the carpark.

[Puffin4]

Could well be, there wouldn't have been time to rebuild between 1937 and the start of WW2 in 1939.

 

Regards, Mike