Queen's Stores Co (Liverpool)
66 Bridgewater Street, Liverpool
The photo shows a remaining part of the Queen's Stores Company's premises in Bridgewater Street.
The surviving building is a warehouse with loading bay doors on all floors at the front (Bridgewater Street) and rear (Kitchen Street). Built c.1857, by William Culshaw for Stuart and Douglas, who were merchants trading with Africa, ship owners, coopers, sailmakers, and chandlers. 66 Bridgewater Street was their head office and merchandise store, and they had a cooperage located immediately to the south-west with buildings located around a large yard (all now demolished). They continued to use a old-fashioned letterhead into the 1970s which showed an artist's bird's eye view of extensive premises.
In 1909 the business at No. 66 was renamed as the Queens Stores Company where it traded as a ship's chandlers and sail makers. In 1934 the building was sold to S. R. Manufacturing Co Ltd who made sacks, bags, lifebelts, soaps and disinfectant, and also continued to trade as the Queens Stores Company.
Note: In 1909 Stuart and Dougls established the largest machine cooperage in Europe, at Horsfall Street, producing over 1,000 palm-oil casks per week.
Much of the above information is condensed from the British Listed Building webpage for '66 Bridgewater Street'[1]
For much more information on the Queen's Stores Co and Stuart and Douglas, see here [2]
It is probable that the Horsfall Street cooperage was on the site of the Mersey Forge,and utilised some of the buildings.
1939 Trademark application by S. R. Manufacturing Co Ltd and Queens Stores Co, 66 Bridgewater Street, Liverpool: 'KOLAKARBA', for liquid disinfectant soap [3]
Note: The 1890/1893 25" O.S. map here shows 'Queen Soap Works' on the opposite (northern) side of Kitchen Street, extending to Blundell Street. Immediately east of the soap works was a narrow building identified as a foundry. The former foundry building still exists (February 2022).