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The Arndale Centre, in Headingley, Leeds, in April 2011

Arndale Centres were the first "American style" malls to be built in the United Kingdom. In total, twenty three Arndales have been built in the United Kingdom, and three in Australia. The first opened in Jarrow in 1961, as a pedestrianised shopping area.

History

The first Arndale Centre, in Jarrow, opened in 1961. It is now known as the Viking Centre.

The Cross Gates Centre in Cross Gates, Leeds was an Arndale Centre until 2000.

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, Arnold Hagenbach, a baker with a talent for property investment, and Sam Chippendale, an estate agent from Otley, set up a company called the Arndale Property Trust, the name being a portmanteau of "Arnold" and "Chippendale".

The Trust purchased Bradford's Victorian Swan Arcade in 1954, with the intention of demolishing it and developing a new shopping centre, but it took eight years before leases expired and building work could commence, so in the meantime it developed a site in Jarrow, South Tyneside, which became the first Arndale Centre when it opened in 1961. Its trademark Viking statue, built by the Trust, was unveiled on 17 February 1962.

When the Wandsworth Arndale opened in 1971, it was the largest indoor shopping space in Europe.^[1]

The largest Arndale Centre built was Manchester Arndale. It was redeveloped in 1996, after being badly damaged in an IRA bombing, and the centre has been owned by Prudential since December 1998.^[2]
The centre suffered minor damage during the riots of August 2011.^[3]

Criticism

The Arndale Centres attracted a great deal of criticism as they often involved demolishing old buildings – particularly Victorian buildings – and replacing them with modern concrete constructions in a brutalist style.

"There are people today amassing stupendous fortunes by systematically destroying our historic centres," wrote architectural writer James Lees-Milne, in 1964. "Eventually, all the buildings of the area – good, bad and indifferent – are replaced with chain stores, supermarkets and blocks of flats devoid of all distinction, and all looking alike."

— Christopher Middleton, The Guardian, 4 April 2001^[4]

The value of the Wandsworth Arndale was maximised by the high rise tower blocks built on top of the mall, which helped it to become, according to some commentators, "one of London’s great architectural disasters".^[1]

List of Arndale Centres

United Kingdom

• Aberdeen


• 
  Accrington, Arndale House built 1961 on Broadway; Arndale Centre opened October 1987.^[5]
  


• 
  Blackburn Arndale House, Church Street. Demolished 2008 for extension of The Mall Blackburn
  


• 
  Bolton, now known as Crompton Place Shopping Centre
  


• Bradford


• 
  Dartford, now known as Priory Shopping Centre
  


• 
  Doncaster, now known as Frenchgate Centre
  


• 
  Eastbourne, now known as The Beacon^[6]
  


• 
  Jarrow, now known as Viking Centre
  


• 
  Keighley, now knoen as the Airedale Centre


• 
  Lancaster Demolished to make way for a market building,^[7] later replaced by Primark store
  


• 
  Leeds, Armley shopping precinct no longer carries a name, Shop addresses usually referred to as Town Street
  


• 
  Leeds, Cross Gates, now known as Crossgates Shopping Centre
  


• 
  Leeds, Headingley
  


• 
  Liverpool, Arndale House on Pembroke Road, Liverpool.


• 
  Longbenton, West Farm Avenue, Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne. Built 1962, demolished 2004
  


• 
  Luton, purchased in 2006 by The Mall Company, and now known as The Mall Luton
  


• 
  Manchester, the largest of the Arndale Centres
  


• 
  Middleton, now known as Middleton Shopping Centre
  


• Morecambe


• 
  Nelson, now known as the Pendle Rise Shopping Centre, previously Admiral Shopping Centre
  


• 
  Poole, now known as the Dolphin Shopping Centre
  


• Shipley


• Sunderland


• 
  Stretford, now known as Stretford Mall
  


• 
  Wandsworth, now known as Southside
  


• 
  Wellingborough, now known as Swansgate Shopping Centre
  

Australia

• 
  Adelaide – Kilkenny, now known as Armada Arndale


• 
  Adelaide – Oaklands Park previously known as Marion Arndale, now Westfield Marion ^[8]
  


• 
  Frenchs Forest, now known as Forestway Shopping Centre
  


• 
  Springwood, Queensland^[9]
  

References in popular culture

The phrase 'the Arndale Centre wasn't built in a day' (in place of 'Rome wasn't built in a day') was used in the film Little Voice. A sketch in an episode of A Bit Of Fry And Laurie about greetings cards with very specific tailored messages inside features a card with the greeting "Sorry to hear your teeth fell out in the Arndale Centre". Numerous other references to Arndale Centres exist in the show.

In an episode of The Royle Family, Nana is said to have a "spin out" outside Timpson's Shoe Shop (now closed) in the Stretford Arndale or precinct as it is known locally. British band Squeeze referenced the mall in the song "It's Not Cricket", from their album of 1979, Cool for Cats, with the lyrics: "at the Arndale Centre, she's up against the wall."^[10]

In the first Christmas special episode of The Worst Week of My Life, "The Worst Christmas of my Life", Howard refers to visiting Santa's Grotto at the Arndale Centre. In series four, episode four "It's Only Rock and Roll" of Only Fools And Horses, an Arndale Centre is mentioned, but it is not specific as to whether it is the Wandsworth or Dartford centre that is being referred to.

Characters in the television series of ITV, Coronation Street, characters occasionally reference going shopping in the Manchester Arndale Centre, the television series being set in Manchester.

References

External links

• The Times - Arnold Hagenbach Obituary

Arndale in Partnership - Yorkshire Film Archive