The five-storey Grape Street bonded warehouse is a former HM Customs warehouse built on the site of a pig station between 1867 and 1869, replacing one of two cotton warehouses that had burnt down in 1866. The new warehouse was known as the Charles Street warehouse until the street was renamed Grape Street in the 1890s.
Granada Television acquired the warehouse building in 1981 (following its closure in 1975) and converted it into studios, associated facilities, and offices in 1982.
The warehouse itself, its two adjoining stable blocks (c.1891-1908), and the interconnected railway viaduct (known as the Pineapple Line) have all been used for Coronation Street filming over the years. The latter was the original on-screen viaduct of the 1970s set, and The Stables were used by Granada as far back as 1968 when they became a staff bar and experimental theatre.
Sets inside these Victorian buildings included:
– ‘Barlow’s Buys’ office
– ‘Fare Ladies’ taxi office
– Highfield Prison
– Rosamund Street Medical Centre
– Weatherfield Council offices
– Weatherfield General Hospital
– Weatherfield Police Station
– Weatherfield Precinct (including ‘Davenports’, ‘Valandro’s’, ‘The Sunset Casino’)
– Replica Rovers Return Inn (built for the Granada Studios Tour).
For the Weatherfield Precinct set, the Victorian arches of the viaduct were dressed as various shopfronts. For reference, arch 4 can be seen on the far right of the below photo from 1969 which shows the viaduct beside the original outdoor set:
| Original arch number | Modern arch number | Former uses | Coronation Street set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 (west side) | [Bricked & disused] | Railway infrastructure | |
| 13 | [Bricked & disused] | Railway infrastructure/stores | |
| 14 | 8 | Disused GST*: Sooty Show | Tutu Bar |
| 15 | 7 | Disused GST: Cadbury shop & Sooty shop | Unsworth News newsagents |
| 16 | 6 | Brewery GST: Tour merchandise (part of Madisons) | Bar |
| 17 | 5 | Brewery GST: Madisons | Solitudes tanning salon |
| 18 | 4 | Beer store GST: Theatre entrance | DSA Associates solicitors (original 1970s set arch) |
| 19 | 3 | Beer store GST: Burger King | Nightclub/ disused |
| 20 | 2 | Beer store GST: Burger King | ‘Britney’s’ lapdancing club |
| 21 (east side) | 1 | Disused/gas repair workshop GST: Tour departures | Nightclub/ disused |
*’GST’ = Granada Studios Tour use
Gallery
