Restoration of the Victoria Club

Historical Background

Victoria club has its origins going back to 1842 when the local Methodists built a chapel. By 1877 they found that the building was too small for their needs and built a new chapel in Station Road, putting the former chapel up for auction. In the same year the tradesmen of Northwich got together to form a gentlemen’s club – The Northwich Victoria Club Company (it is one the oldest registered companies and one of the first registered clubs). They moved into the chapel, extending it with a billiard room, reading room, library, bar and function room.

By the turn of the century, Northwich was suffering from large scale subsidence problems (from the extensive salt mining in the area). The local masonic lodge was based nearby and their building had to be taken down because of subsidence issues. It was agreed that they could hold meetings at Victoria Club.

After the Second World War, membership of the club dwindled leaving the Freemasons in charge of the tenancy. The building was sold to GESols in February 2014 after the upkeep had become too expensive for the Freemasons. An extensive renovation programme has taken place and is due for completion approximately Summer 2016.

The Renovation / Restoration

• Extended to appox 7000 sq feet to form the new Head Office for GEsols
• Sympathetically restored to retain the original 1877 character but updated internally with state of the art modern systems and technology.
• 3 phases to the renovation – rear section / extension / front hall & mezzanine