St Vincents, Oldham Road

St Vincents, Oldham Road. (c) Neil Richardson [1].

St Vincents (here at the archives in 1983) was built around 1797 and named after Nelson's victory at the Battle of Cape St Vincent [2]. It was at the bottom of Oldham Road opposite the Crown & Kettle - you can just about make out the white bank on the corner of Swan Street. There are further photos on the Image Collection from 1958, 1958 again, 1977, 1970, the latter two when the building was not stand-alone and Cable Street wasn't blocked off.

It sounds like a colourful place, as Mick Burke recalls: "The St Vincent was a pub for barrow hawkers and men who made their living any way they could - there would be a crowd of them outside the pub in the morning, leaning on the window sills, waiting for the information on where to find the best bargains. I used the St Vincent and the White Bear (now Bar Fringe) on Swan Street if I wanted to find someone, and so did the police. Two plain clothes men, Page and Sharp, knew where to look for the St Vincent mob. Prostitutes also used the St. Vincent, alternating between here and the Weavers (Angel Street) to avoid being picked up by the police [1]."

Former St Vincents, Oldham Road. (c) FreeFaller @NearDistance at twitter.

St Vincents closed in the late '80s, a few years after the looming St Paul's Church, here in the '80s, was razed. The now nondescript, reclad building is the only reminder of the pub, though it is called St Vincents House, and in place of St Paul's is a car park which was recently subject to wanton graffiti...


Site of St Paul's Church, Oldham Road, 2009. (c) umbrofootball at flickr..

1. The Old Pubs of Ancoats, Neil Richardson (1987).
2. Manchester in the 70s, Chris Makepeace (2007).