The opening of the Teanlowe Centre on 26 March 1974 represented one of the largest changes to the centre of Poulton-le-Fylde during the twentieth century. Built as a modern covered shopping precinct immediately behind the historic Market Place, the development transformed an area that had previously contained houses, narrow streets, older commercial buildings, allotments and land with connections stretching back to Poulton’s medieval past.
The redevelopment had begun to take shape well before the shopping centre itself was constructed. Queensway was created around 1960, opening up land on the western side of the town centre and providing a new route around Poulton. During the following decade further clearance took place as the area was prepared for redevelopment. Houses on Blackpool Old Road were demolished in 1968, while the old tithe barn on the south side of Tithebarn Street was demolished in 1969 to make way for the Teanlowe car park.
The Enormous Teanlowe Car Park
The loss of the tithe barn represented a particularly significant break with Poulton’s past. The site had been associated with St Chad’s Church for centuries, with a tithe barn used for storing agricultural produce collected from local farmers as part of the system of tithes that supported the church. Its disappearance was one of several examples of historic features being sacrificed as Poulton adapted its centre to accommodate increasing traffic, car parking and modern retail development.
Burlington Avenue was another casualty of the scheme. The narrow street ran from the Church Street and Market Place area into the land subsequently occupied by the shopping centre. It was demolished during the early 1970s, and much of the present covered shopping arcade occupies its former course. Buildings elsewhere around the development site were also cleared, including older properties behind Market Place and houses along Blackpool Old Road. Lancashire County Council’s photographic archive records an old mortuary and lock-up behind Market Place among the buildings subsequently demolished for the Teanlowe development.
Construction of the shopping centre was well under way during 1973. Contemporary photographs show the large new structure rising behind the traditional streets and buildings of Poulton, creating a striking contrast with the historic Market Place and St Chad’s Church nearby. The development incorporated a covered pedestrian shopping mall and provided access from the Market Place, Blackpool Old Road and the large car park to the west. The centre was officially named on 26 March 1974. The name Teanlowe was itself intended to retain a connection with local history. It was derived from Teanlay, the name associated with an old Fylde tradition held around Halloween, and the name Teanlowe was reportedly selected following a suggestion by a pupil at Hodgson School. Despite the thoroughly modern appearance of the new development, its name therefore deliberately reflected an older local tradition.
The Teanlowe quickly became a major part of Poulton’s shopping centre. Its enclosed mall offered a very different retail environment from the traditional shops around Market Place, Church Street and Ball Street, while its large adjoining car park reflected the growing importance of the motor car to town-centre shopping. The development effectively linked the old commercial centre of Poulton with the newer roads and residential areas expanding to the west. For around four decades the basic form of the original Teanlowe remained familiar to generations of Poulton shoppers. Businesses changed over the years, with national retailers and independent shops occupying its units, while the upper floor also accommodated entertainment and leisure uses at different periods. By the early twenty-first century, however, the appearance and layout of the 1970s centre were increasingly dated and proposals began to emerge for substantial redevelopment.
A major change came after Booths acquired the Teanlowe Centre and its car park. Plans were developed to relocate the supermarket from its long-established premises on Ball Street and create a much larger food store as the centrepiece of a wider regeneration scheme. The project involved retaining and modernising part of the existing shopping arcade while demolishing a substantial section of the original 1970s development. Work gathered pace during 2014. The Market Place section of the mall was refurbished and businesses were relocated before demolition began on the western part of the centre. Among the premises removed were the former Co-operative Food and WHSmith units. The redevelopment also included improvements to the Teanlowe car park, new road arrangements and the reconstruction of entrances to the shopping centre.
During 2015 a new glazed atrium and entrance were constructed and the remaining shopping mall was given a substantially different appearance. The wider redevelopment represented an investment of approximately £19 million, with the new Booths supermarket occupying around 33,500 square feet and becoming the principal retail anchor for the centre. Improvements were also made to the surrounding road network, including Queensway, Tithebarn Street, Ball Street and Queen’s Square.
The new Booths supermarket opened on 4 November 2015, marking the completion of the most significant transformation of the Teanlowe since its original construction. The development also introduced an arrangement providing three hours of free parking in the Teanlowe car park. Booths’ move brought an end to the supermarket’s long association with its former Ball Street site, which was subsequently redeveloped for Aldi, although part of the original Ball Street frontage was retained.
Another change to the Teanlowe area came with the arrival of Seniors Fish and Chips. The business took over part of the former Teanlowe Day Centre building on Queensway, close to the shopping centre and its car park. Discussions between Wyre Council and Seniors were under way by November 2016, and by December 2017 the lease for the vacant half of the building had been completed, allowing work to begin on converting it into the new fish and chip shop and restaurant. The other part of the building became the independently operated Teanlowe 60+ Community Centre, following the refurbishment of the former council-run day centre. The development gave the building two new uses and added another established Fylde Coast business to Poulton’s town centre. Seniors continues to operate from 4 Queensway, alongside the Teanlowe complex.
The redevelopment substantially reduced the physical footprint of the original covered shopping centre, but preserved the Teanlowe name and its important pedestrian connection with Poulton’s historic centre. The surviving mall continues to provide a covered route between Market Place and the car park, with the Booths supermarket occupying much of the land once covered by the western section of the original complex.
The Teanlowe Centre represented a major change in the way Poulton approached town-centre development during the 1960s and 1970s. Its construction brought the loss of streets, houses and buildings that had developed over generations, including Burlington Avenue and the old tithe barn, replacing them with the type of purpose-built shopping precinct and extensive car parking being created throughout Britain at the time.
Its later redevelopment reflected another change in retailing. The large enclosed shopping centre created for Poulton in the early 1970s was partially dismantled forty years later in favour of a smaller mall anchored by a large supermarket. Despite these changes, the Teanlowe remains an important part of Poulton’s commercial centre, standing immediately beside a Market Place whose history stretches back centuries and providing a visible record of the dramatic changes made to the town during the second half of the twentieth century.
Images by © Deeper Blue Marketing & Design Ltd
