Woolstaplers' Hall is part of city's past

From the archive, first published Friday 14th Mar 2003.

Des res, excellent views of Guildhall and cathedral, lots and lots of space, but could be haunted....

It could easily be a property developer's advertisement for Woolstaplers' Hall, Winchester, at some time in the future.

It is the Victorian building at the heart of the Friarsgate area, just off the Broadway, and what to do with it is one of the things on the minds of planners as they get to grips with the major redevelopment.

The woolstapler was the middleman between the grower and the clothier.

He received the wool in huge bales and then graded it according to length and fineness, before despatching it to the cloth-maker or dealer.

The building, at present owned by Marks and Spencer and used for storage, could eventually provide housing, restaurant or an arts facility.

But the ground floor will have some commercial use, Steve Bee, Winchester director of development services, told the Hampshire Chronicle.

This means that, to some extent, members of the public will be able to see part of the large building as it once was.

It is a 19th-century building and though not listed, will be retained in the planned £90m development. But the later, less attractive two-storey addition is likely to go.

Large iron support columns run right through the four floors. They bear the inscription, "J. Hodgkinson, Engineer, Southampton".

The upper floors are now unused but, about 12 years ago, when Marks and Spencer carried much more stock, there were a dozen or so people working there.

Now, though, most of the company's food and clothing stock is delivered on a daily basis.

Karen Page, store services manager at Marks and Spencer, said the ground floor was used for storage, including a cold store.

"Some people say it's supposed to be haunted," she smiled.

The solid, high building - it's easy to miss since it's surrounded by others - is an important part of Winchester's industrial history.

It was a wool store, owned by the Forder family.

Photographs of the interior and a mounted one of a wool store in a marquee were left in the Forder Papers, which were deposited at the city record office in 1958.

They are now part of the Hampshire Record Office's Winchester archives.

All the photos - one was published in the Hampshire Chronicle last week - are labelled in pencil on the back as Mr W. H. Forder's wool store in Lower Brook Street, Winchester.

Warren's directory for 1915 lists W.Howard Forder's stores as being at 19, Lower Brook Street.

The Forders were a well-known family in the city and three generations each provided a mayor: William Forder in 1862; his son, Robert Poulsome Forder in 1871-72 and his grandson, William H. Forder, was mayor twice, in 1898-99 and 1907-8.

Another member of the family was well-known locally for her artistic skills.

Miss Beatrice Forder was responsible for rebinding the Winchester Bible in the cathedral and, for a time, was employed to repair some of the city archives.

Shortly before her death in 1976, Beatrice and her sister, Mildred, recorded their memories of Winchester and of their family.

The tape has now been transcribed and is also deposited in the Winchester city archives.