Description and History of Site:-
The two-storey building has a frontage of 110ft on Manningham Lane, with Springlodge Place to the south and Hollywell Ash Lane to the north, thus having easy access for vehicles. The ground floor has been fitted with large plate-glass windows though retaining the central entrance; the first floor retains the original classical-style stone walls and large rectangular windows. The Thornton Engineering Company moved from Humboldt Street, Bradford, to a purpose-built showroom / garage / workshop at 150 Manningham Lane in late 1919. The site had previously been occupied by Hewitt & Co. motor body builders. Thornton sold and repaired cars and commercial vehicles mechanically and bodily. They undertook some coachbuilding, building all-weather bodies on Vauxhall chassis in 1921. They held the Yorkshire agencies for Lacre, Pagefield,Tilling-Stevens and Ford light commercial vehicles. Thornton were still at this address in 1968. By at least 2016 the premises had been taken by Al-Falaah Supermarkets.

Further Reading and References:-
An up-to-date Yorkshire depot. Commercial Motor, 6th March 1919.
Kellys Directory for Bradford.
Walker, N. A-Z of British coachbuilders 1919-1960 and the development of styles & techniques. Revised ed. Herridge & Sons, 2007.

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Key Words :- commercial vehicles cars retail repairs coachbuilding coachbuilders

Viewing the Site :- Visible from pavement / road

Address :- 150 Manningham Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8 7DT
Grid Ref :- SE 15815 34108
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.803033 , Long -1.761352
Local Authority :- City of Bradford
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Site refurbished to industrial / commercial use
Site Dates :- 1919 -
Record Date :- 17 March 2017

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Robert Vickers