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Windsor Arcade in Penarth is another late-Victorian arcade along this stretch of the South Wales coast with so many vintage arcades. None of the original tenants from 125 years ago are still there, but some of the things they sell and trades they practised are still the same in 2024 as they were in 1899:…
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Wyndham Arcade was one of many arcades in Cardiff built in the 1880s. Thankfully it survived suggestions that it be demolished 100 years later, and now stands as a busy walk-through from St Mary Street to near the main Cardiff Library. It doesn’t have the grandeur of the Castle Arcade, nor the splendour of the…
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Ayr’s Lorne Arcade has had a new lease of life this year, with a complete makeover, newly-renovated shop units and almost full occupancy in an arcade that has good footfall through from Ayr’s main shopping street to a large car park. There aren’t many original features left from this arcade’s late 19th century days, except…
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The Victorian Arcade in Walsall, just north west of Birmingham, was built in 1896, though it was originally known locally just as The Arcade, and then Digbeth Arcade. It has three entrances and is in the form of a T, the most impressive facade being on Bradford Street, which has a first floor verandah with…
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Hitchin’s little arcade near the town’s market place dates from the mid-1920s. Footfall was good at the time of my visit on a mid-summer Friday morning, though the presence of eateries in the arcade suggests it might be just as busy in the evenings, too. It’s not named after a local dignitary or businessman; in…
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Letchworth’s arcade, like its neighbour Hitchin, dates from the mid-1920s, but this is a bright, cheerful arcade, well-looked-after and has the feel of a real, functioning arcade, with its glass ceiling all along its length, which bends in the middle, and has a glass roof also over the central section, in the same style as…
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The Arcade in Barnsley dates from 1891 and is basically a cobbled street with a glass roof over most of it. A blue plaque at one end of the arcade tells us that you once had to mind your back, and your toes, as horses and carriages would pass down this passage like a normal…
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Byram Arcade in Huddersfield is unique in having three storeys, all of which have active businesses operating still today, unlike the handful of other arcades around the UK which can claim to climb up three floors. The glass ceiling was repaired in 2024, bringing brightness and light back to this thriving arcade full of independent,…
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The Royal Arcade in Cardiff dates from either 1859 or 1870, depending on sources. It’s a long, relatively-narrow arcade running over 100m from St Mary Street to The Hayes, but very light due to the glass ceiling running virtually the full length and across the whole width of the arcade. It has a mix of…
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Morgan Arcade in Cardiff was built in the late 1890s in a rather unique form with one long passageway from St Mary Street then two arms, with one curving pleasantly round to the left, ending at The Hayes, and the right arm ending in an alleyway, though not to be missed, as it has a…
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The Grand Arcade in Leeds is about five minutes walk from the other arcades in Leeds, but it pre-dates most of them and still has the original clock from 1898, though the imperial characters who used to mark every hour by marching across the front no longer move, even though the clock does still tell…
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This 1880s arcade in the Westbourne district of Bournemouth was built by the same man as had been behind Bournemouth’s first arcade in the town centre. It’s a lovely arcade, with a slight bend in the walkway – and glass ceiling – along its 100 metres plus length. It’s one of the few fully-tenanted arcades…
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County Arcade is the glamorous member of the Leeds Arcade family of five. It’s certainly an impressive building still today, almost 125 years after it first opened. With its neighbour and close sibling Cross Arcade, it now forms part of what has been dubbed the ‘Victoria Quarter’ of Leeds. I actually like what Leeds (and…
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The original Passage Lemonnier in Liege was built in the 1830s, making it almost 10 years older than its neighbours in Brussels. But this arcade in Liege was completely rebuilt in Art Deco style 100 years later, so the passage today has more of a 1930s feel. RAF bombing in May 1940, followed by 1960s…
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Queen’s Arcade in Leeds has a classic glass ceiling with solid, but decorative ironwork holding everything up, and an attractive series of vintage lamps hanging down from the ceiling. There is an upstairs balcony with more wrought-iron railings running the length of both sides, though no longer accessible to the public these days. My favourite…
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The oldest arcade in Leeds, Thornton’s Arcade was opened in 1877. The Yorkshire Post newspaper at the time saw it as “Leeds catching up with the great cities of Europe.” And it’s still up there among the great arcades of the UK, with its curved glass ceiling, supported by beautiful blue ironwork and a red…
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Reliance Arcade is Brixton’s own bit of Art Deco. There’s no grand entrance here, and it’s easy to walk right on past the front of this arcade on Brixton’s high street in south London, unless you spot the (almost) rainbow-themed decoration forming an arch over the way in, flanked by a very modern vaping shop…
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The Galerie St Francois in Lausanne is an art nouveau arcade built in the first decade of the 20th century. It slopes downhill, connecting the busy shopping street Rue du Bourg with the main road heading down towards Lausanne train station, the Avenue Benjamin-Constant. The arcade is covered by a curving glass ceiling, with simple…
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The highlight of Geneva’s Passage des Lions is surely the glass ceiling, with its intricate ironwork support and the dome in the centre, even if this is not original from the arcade’s origins in 1910. The four lions that guard the two entrances and give the arcade its name are also star attractions, two of…
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Built in the 1870s, Imperial Arcade is the oldest arcade in Huddersfield, beating its more glamorous and illustrious neighbour, Byram Arcade by half a dozen years. It has a classic glass ceiling, with ironwork to give structure and decoration above eye level. It’s only a short arcade these days, with signage in Market Street indicating…
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Chester’s history goes back to Roman times, with many of the shops in the city centre under cover along raised walkways in Tudor buildings lining the main streets. The city’s only arcade, in An Arcades Project’s sense of the word, is St Michael’s Row, which runs off Bridge Street and through the façade of a…
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The highlight of Charleroi’s Passage de la Bourse is surely the curve in the length of the arcade, which means the glass ceiling not only curves up to form a rounded roof, but it also curves round the length of the passage. It’s a striking feature as you enter the arcade from the red brick…
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Argyll Arcade in Glasgow is approaching its bicentenary, making it one of the UK’s oldest arcades. These days the arcade is home virtually exclusively to jeweller’s, some of whom have been in business in the arcade for over 150 years. It also has the entrance to one of Glasgow’s culinary institutions, Sloan’s restaurant, with its…
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This 1882 arcade lies just north of the city centre in Brussels. With grand columns marking its entrance on the Boulevard, and high ceilings almost as impressive as its neighbours in the Galeries Royales, the Passage du Nord is a three-storey building decorated with nymphs and cherubs, lovely hanging lamps, and an impressive clock up…
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The highlights of North Bridge Arcade in Edinburgh are overhead. The round, dome-like stained glass ceiling in the middle of the arcade is magnificent, but the sparkling gold leaf mosaic on one of the ceilings gives the feel of a starlit night for those entering the arcade from the Old Town of Edinburgh. There are…
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Cathedral Arcade in Melbourne is one of the Victorian capital’s hidden gems. It runs through the ground floor of the 1926 Nicholas Building, famous today for its vintage lift and for its arty studios in the offices upstairs. The arcade is in an L-shape with entrances on Swanston Street and Flinders Lane. The highlight is…
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Central Arcade in Newcastle is a superb two-storey building dating from 1906, with lots of original features on the inside, including the ornate brown tiling, the upstairs balcony, entrances onto three streets in the centre of Newcastle, and one shop that has been there almost since the beginning. Windows Music Shop is a beautiful place,…
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Shackleton Hall – or the Royal Arcade – in Colne has had a recent makeover and looks magnificent today. The building dates from the 1890s, but had become dilapidated and disused until a complete overhaul and refurbishment, making it now a really attractive shopping arcade in Colne’s main street, with a dozen or so independent…
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Timaru’s Royal Arcade has a wonderful mix of quirky, rather unique shops and businesses in 2023, including the intriguing ‘genealogy services’ office of David Jack, the spiritual wellness centre and a doorway leading up to the Arcade Ballroom. There is also a hair salon, vintage clothes shop, barbers, and a workwear clothes shop. The glass…
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The Royal Arcade in Wigan has a big sign saying it is Wigan’s oldest arcade, but actually although it might look older than the nearby Makinson Arcade, it really opened 28 years later, in 1927. Its narrow walkway and the bend in the arcade, along with its mock-Tudor frontage give it real vintage feel, and…