Central Stores, Park Road, Hartlepool was Grade 2 listed in Dec 1985.

TAKEN FROM BRITISH LISTED BUILDINGS:

'Department store, 1913-15, by Lionel G. Ekins. Portland stone ashlar and slate roof. Occupies large corner site. Baroque style. 3 storeys andattic storey; 4 bays to ground floor, 8 bays to upper floors, and curvedquadrant bay to right angle. Ground floor: stone fascia and cornice on rusticated piers flanking mid C20 shop fronts and doorways. Giant IonicOrder through upper floors. Windows recessed behind single and pairedcolumns. Moulded, mullioned-and-transomed casement windows to first floor;
moulded mullioned casements to 2nd floor, with glazing bars and swags tornamented aprons. Recessed 2-storey bay window to quadrant, with banded concave splays. 5th bay has Diocletian window over mullioned 3-light casement window in round-headed arch of banded rustication with convex chamfer, keystone and pediment having an embellished tympanum. Short,square clock tower rises above 5th bay, with banded rusticated antae and urn finials at angles. Masonry domed, octagonal cupola has convex sides alternated with Ionic, open-pedimented aedicules. Balustraded parapet withraised pedestal over quadrant, inscribed : 'HARTLEPOOLS COOPERATIVE SOCIETY.' Low-pitched mansard roof. The 7-bay right return is similar, butlacks a clock tower. Later extension to west side (rear) is not ofinterest. Clock tower is an important townscape feature in the town-centre area.'

Park Road Hartlepool is a mile long. The lower part, in particular from Stockton Street to York Road, has always been largely a business area, whereas the upper part is mainly residential. There are many substantial detached and semi detached homes, mainly of Victorian and Edwardian build which are fairly expensive properties.

When first developed, it was named Commercial Street, but this was changed in the mid 1880s because when Ward Jackson Park was opened in 1883, it literally became a road to the park from the centre of town.

Central Stores and other Co-Op premises and staff in Hartlepool. See the Note 'The Co-Op in Hartlepool' (below), for a more complete history.