2-854-355 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

Watts Warehouse, 47 Portland Street, Manchester, 1942. A detailed view of Watts Warehouse, now the Britannia Hotel, showing three bays of the basement to second floor. Formerly a general warehouse built between 1851 and 1865 by Travis and Mangnall, the building has since become a hotel. It has five storeys with a basement and roof pavilions, 23 bays to the east and west, and seven bays to the south. The south facade has rustication up to the second floor, with round-headed ground floor windows with voussoirs and keystones. The first floor has four pane sash windows with balustraded balconies and decorated pediments. The second floor windows are supported by three slim columns. In the image the basement windows have been bricked up and the upper floors have blackout fabric. The building was bought in 1979 to be renovated into a hotel.