Looking up Snow Hill from Dudley Street. On the far right is Cliff and Halifax who were a television rental company, and next door is C & A. The trolley bus is a number 58 which went to Dudley via Sedgley. Behind the trolley bus is Bell Street which was shortened when the Wulfrun Centre was built. On its far corner is the old Coach & Horses which was an Atkinsons pub. The turning into Cleveland Street is behind the No Entry sign.

The Wulfrun Centre divided the street into two halves, as can be seen from the photograph. The only building that is recognisable is the C & A shop. All of the other shops up to Cleveland Street were demolished to make way for the new shopping centre.

 

The view looking towards Dudley Street from Snow Hill in late 19th century. The statue is of Charles Pelham Villiers who was MP for Wolverhampton from 1835 to 1898. The statue was erected in 1879 and was moved to West Park in 1931. Behind the statue was the premises of Nokes & Company who were house furnishers.

 

Today's view is dominated by the Wulfrun Centre which makes the previous photograph unrecognisable.

 



Snow Hill in 1902, just after the completion of the library which was designed by H. T. Hare, and built by Henry Willcock & Co. of Wolverhampton. On the right is the Agricultural Hall which was built in 1863 and was converted to a cinema in 1913. In 1931 it was demolished to make way for the Gaumont Palace. The large building on the left housed J. H. Barnett Ltd who were agricultural engineers. They must have recently vacated the premises as there is a 'To Let' sign in the window. Next door is a confectioners advertising Cadbury's chocolate and selling ice cream. On the corner is a Butlers pub which advertises Glen Doone whisky.

Garrick Street is now much wider than in the previous photograph and so only the library remains. Luckily it has changed very little in the 98 years since it was built.

 

This view looking up Snow Hill was dominated on the left by church buildings. Apart from the still existing Catholic church of St. Mary & St. John, there were two non conformist churches. The first was the old Irvingite Chapel and the second was the Congregational Church, which was demolished in 1941 after the west gable collapsed. The trolley bus is on its way to town from the Fighting Cocks. Trolley buses replaced trams on this route in October 1925 and in December 1926 the route was extended to Sedgley Bull Ring.

Although the left hand side of the street is now dominated by modern buildings, the right hand side looks much the same. Over the last few years most of these shops have been refurbished, and some rebuilt internally. Excellent work has been done as the buildings still look the same externally and have retained their original character.

 



 

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