One of the most handsome and remarkable buildings in Hull looks to have an uncertain future, reports our shuttered heirlooms correspondent Angus Young.
The sudden closure of the Late Night Pharmacy last summer left a question mark over one of Hull’s most unusual landmarks. The business had occupied ground floor space at the Annison Building in Witham for the previous 12 years. When the closure happened the pharmacy was also the only tenant left in the old parade of seven shops which curve around the junction overlooking North Bridge.
Built around 1900, the original wooden shop fronts are still intact as is the stunning glazed dark red brickwork. A wet fish shop, a newsagents and a photographic studio were among the businesses to have traded there in the past. When they were built the new shops enclosed an existing livery yard and blacksmiths to the rear while stables for horses were constructed on the upper floor accessed via a covered gallery and a broad sloping wooden ramp.
Over the years the yard, stables and the ramp were used by horses belonging to funeral directors T.S. Annison, tea company Rington’s and the mounted police. These remarkable surviving original features are believed to be unique and are made all the more atmospheric by a series of large glazed skylights on the roof. There’s certainly nowhere like it locally or even, perhaps, nationally and it’s no surprise to learn that the entire property was awarded Grade II listed building status back in 1990.
More recently, the upper floor stables also hosted ghost tours and various paranormal events as part of the boom in haunted tourism. The stables also attracted a wider audience during the annual Heritage Open Day weekend.
However, since the pharmacy shut last July access to the internal yard and the stables has also closed. Whether they re-open for this year’s heritage event in September remains uncertain and probably depends on the immediate fate of the unique property which is currently up for sale or to let.
As yet, we’ve been unable to track down any details of the asking price. It appears to be a word-of-mouth private sale with no commercial advertising involved. However, we did manage to chat to the developer behind the facelift project currently being carried out on next door property which is actually older than the Annison Building, dating back to 1870. The empty property is being converted into six upper floor flats with three new flats being created in a rear extension. There will also be three revamped ground-floor shop units.
“I did look at next door but eventually decided it’s not for me,” he told us. “Because it’s a listed building, the cost of doing anything to it is probably too much for most people to make it worth it. People don’t realise how much money is required to do everything in line with what the conservation people say have to be done with a listed building refurbishment. Pretty much everything has to be like for like if you’re replacing fixtures and fittings and that isn’t cheap if you’ve got something like next door.”
For now, the empty landmark awaits a new owner and a new future. Let’s hope it’s not a long wait.