A NATIONAL architecture charity has included Cannington Shaw on its annual Top 10 Endangered Buildings list, which recognises at-risk Victorian and Edwardian buildings and structures throughout England and Wales. 


All of the buildings on the Victorian Society’s list have been neglected for up to fifty years and have now reached a critical point of dereliction. Only urgent action to repair and renovate the buildings can save them from being lost forever.


Griff Rhys Jones, Victorian Society Vice President, said: “The Victorian Society’s Top 10 Endangered Buildings campaign is now in its tenth year and over the years we have seen what a difference it can make to the future of Victorian and Edwardian buildings in peril.


“All of the buildings on this year’s list have local, even national, importance in terms of their history and/or architecture. To have let them fall into their current state is deplorable, but there is still time to save them for future generations to enjoy.


“Many of the buildings have committed community groups rallying behind them, but I know from experience that funding can be difficult to secure.
“We need local authorities and private investors to recognise the potential of these buildings and take steps to secure and revitalise them before it’s too late.”


Cannington Shaw no.7 Bottle Shop, (Grade II, 1886, architect unknown) The Bottle Shop is all that now remains of what was once claimed to be the largest bottle making factory in the country. 


The abandoned building has gradually been surrounded by a new development and now lies forgotten in the middle of a Tesco car park.
Its plight has been featured on regional television and in the local press, and English Heritage have highlighted its international importance in the field of glass-making, and yet it continues to deteriorate with its survival as an important heritage asset in doubt.”


Our Friends of Cannington Shaw secretary, Caroline Platt, is aiming to increase the archive on the bottle making site.


She said: “I need your help having been inspired by news of bottle findings and family links to John Shaw.

We desperately want to develop our archive on Cannington Shaw so that we can use this to raise public awareness. 


“We are in talks to move this into Libraries before Christmas, and by 2018 to develop this into a larger exhibition at Central Library. Our vision is to integrate Cannington Shaw alongside other events being developed to celebrate St Helens 150th anniversary. 


“So I need to hear your family links and histories. Any family associations with Cannington Shaw or UGB? You may be a former worker of the factory.

Would you be willing to be interviewed as part of an oral histories project? I am particularly interested in the role of women and why women worked at this factory more than any other in St Helens. 


“I need photographs, memories, film, diaries, records, news articles, any memorabilia that you may have that can contribute towards an exhibition – I need you to se what hidden treasures you have stored away.”