An early photograph of Stockton High Street, which we believe to be c1900. Some of the buildings you might recognise as they are still part of the High Street today. ‘Blackett’s Buildings’ completed in 1824 was taken by a North Shields firm of general dealers and later taken over by a Stockton firm called ‘Carters’. Until the turn of the century many of the staff lived on the premises. Holmes General Dealers and the Arabian Cafe were established c1898 and Hodgson and Downs, a wine and spirit merchants c1876. The people gathered in the High Street seem to be selling/buying furniture…
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
This photograph appears to have been taken on a very warm day, at sometime in the mid-afternoon. The shadows are lengthening, the sun-awnings are all drawn-out and many of the sash-windows in the upper facades of the High Street, have been thrown up, possibly for better ventilation.
One wonders, if the furniture sale is actually a ‘spot-auction’ of the contents of some unfortunate family’s home? This often happened when ‘hard-times’ hit some households, it being almost mandatory, before Parish Relief monetary-assistance could be granted. I see several of the familiar High Street ‘hand-carters’ are available to instantly transport any purchases to their new homes.
In the bottom left hand corner, there appears to be two young women, dressed very smartly for the warm-weather in blouse-tops and straw hats, pushing a pair of ‘perambulators’. I wonder if these were ‘nannies’, heading with their infant charges for the small secluded park adjoining the Parish Church? The earlier formal tree-lined green space, known as The Square on Church Row, having already been converted to the Cattle Market by this date.
I’d also be interested to know what the large illustrated panel, high up on the front of Holmes’s general-dealers, is selling. The ‘Arabian Café’ also sounds very exotic, I’ve not seen this particular establishment featured in any other photographs or historic publicity material.