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The opening of the Bridgewater Canal in 1764 meant that coal, from the mines at Worsley, could be brought into Manchester by barge. Manchester’s new industries now had a cheap supply of coal to fuel the Industrial Revolution. The Grocer’s warehouse built in the early 1770s, next to the coal wharf, was one of first large warehouses at Castlefield. It was probably the first British warehouse where the barges were unloaded inside the building by a water-powered crane. In 1811, it was sold to the Manchester Grocers’ company and that is how it got its name.

The original building was demolished in 1960 and a partial reconstruction, which incorporated a water wheel driven hoist, was completed in 1967. The Grocers’ warehouse is commemorated by this waterwheel which bears the inscription:

“Built on the site where coal was first brought to Manchester by canal for the 1st Duke of Bridgewater. The warehouse marks the location where coal was transferred to street level using water wheel driven machinery designed and built by James Brindley. The delivery of cheap coal marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and helped establish Manchester as a principal manufacturing centre.

As a result of increasing trade and success of the scheme a warehouse for the storage of provisions was constructed on the site of the coal wharf”.

SJ8397 : Grocers' Warehouse Cog Wheel Inscription