VICTORIAN shopping arcades were the precursors of modern out-of-town shopping malls like Meadowhall. Brian Elliot reports on the early history of the town’s own Victorian Arcade.

IN Britain, rows of posh shops sheltered by glazed roofs began in London in 1819 when the Burlington Arcade was established. By the end of the century many towns and cities, especially those that aspired to be ‘fashionable’, had one or more shopping arcades.

Like the moguls of the great shopping malls of today, the Victorian ‘arcade entrepreneurs’ had visions not only of shops but associated entertainment and services - performance and meeting venues, eating and drinking establishments.

The requirements for building a new arcade were straightforward. First of all a suitably elongated and narrow piece of land in a prime location that could be linked from one street to another over a short distance had to be found. Access of course was needed at both ends.

In relatively compact town centres such as Barnsley, where much of the medieval street pattern remained intact, the most promising site was off Market Hill.

Once selected, ‘leading citizens’ were needed to get the development moving.

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