Bank Street, Bradford in 1875

2.174   BRA 1875 DIX   BHM 1873 B28 

Commercial Banking Company v Bradford Corporation (Dixon & Hindle)

Material: tracing paper   Scale: 10 yards per inch   Size: 70*70 cm

Condition: poor

Keywords: Banks, Piece Hall, Corporation, Commercial

This is an undated map, in very poor condition, marked ‘draft’ in pencil. It is clear that the Bradford Borough Corporation intended the compulsory purchase of some land belonging to the Commercial Banking Co. which is connected with the creation, or enlargement, of Bank Street. The map is centred on Piece Hall Yard and names the location of other city centre banks, and also the property of JH Blackburn and Messrs. Taylor and Pearson. The map was produced by Dixon & Hindle and is not very different from the 1871 Borough plan. The Wool Exchange is mapped therefore it must be later than 1867. Fortunately the specific case features in press reports and so can be accurately dated to 1875.

The Commercial Banking Company had been in existence since the 1830s. In 1874 the Bradford Corporation wished to purchase a strip of its property to aid the development of a linking road between Hustlergate and Darley Street. The bank had only owned this piece of land since since 1865 so the under-sheriff and a special jury were simply called on to assess how much compensation needed to be paid. If the bank was to be believed Bradford centre land values had almost trebled in a decade. An architect, TG Andrews, spoke about the bank’s plans for enlargement which could now not take place. Whether such plans would have affected the right of way for Mr JH Blackburn was discussed, which probably explains his appearance on the map. The Corporation’s case was that the land was of no real benefit to the bank who moreover would gain an additional frontage from the development. In any case the Corporation stated that they would never give planning permission for the proposed bank extension since this would affect the building line. The outcome seems to have been that the bank accepted £14 per yard from the corporation rather than the £30 they had initially wanted. The plan producers, Dixon and Hindle, were well-known Bradford land agents and surveyors who were responsible for many of the maps in the LSL collection. In 1850 Thomas Dixon practised at Bridge Street Buildings. By 1880 Dixon & Hindle were in partnership at 24 Bank Street which is incorporated into this plan.