Browns of Chester
Browns was a department store in Chester established in 1780 by Susannah Brown. The store traded from its site on Chester's Eastgate Street from 1791 until 2021. Once regarded as the "Harrods of the North", the building interior contains many ornate features such as glass-domed roofs and elaborate plaster work surrounding small chandeliers in the main entrance area. Some of the glass roof on the second floor has been concealed as it has been covered by the construction of the third-floor extension which contained the main café and Kalmora Spa.
Another extension to the building was completed in 1965 to link Browns to the nearby Grosvenor Shopping Centre. A new three-story extension was built in 2002 on the site formerly occupied by the offices of the Chester Chronicle. It was acquired by Debenhams in 1976. Browns was the only store in the group to retain its own trading name alongside the standard 'Debenhams' branding. Debenhams entered liquidation in early 2021 and all remaining stores closed during May that year. The building was owned by British Land. It was bought by Martin Property Group in 2022, along with the neighboring Grosvenor Shopping Centre.
I spotted Browns one afternoon while working frequently in the centre of Chester. After many walks through the city's busy high streets I finally took notice of the somewhat well presented hoarding that was the only factor that led me to research the buildings status. The fact it was Debenhams in its final days filled me with confidence that the complex was closed but whether it appeared any good was another question. I sent a few photos of my lunch time recce to @UrbandonedTeam and @DustySensorPhotography as well as research that revealed the interior. From what I had found along with the others it was worth the trip. So the day after, the three of us all convened in Chester to begin finding our way in.
It didn't take long to figure out what would be the best way to approach finding an entry point and it didn't take long to succeed either. Once out of view from the public and adjacent stores and offices we began to sus the building out. A lack of cameras and noise from inside grew our confidence as we snuck around the upper floors to begin with. Affirming that a security presence wasn't situated within the building came shortly after and we could begin to relax into the days explore. The only issues we had is noise and passerby's from the adjoined Grosvenor Shopping Centre as well as a silhouetted security like figure peering in for an extended period of time before never returning. As far as shopping centre complexes go, Browns tops it for me with it's rich history and dated details that are harder to come across in these types of buildings today. It was certainly a nice change compared to other shopping centres and Debenhams we have encountered before.
Browns blending in well to Chester's highstreets.
We started in the upper floors where the cafe mentioned in the history is situated. The entire floor was very bare but had some salon rooms still equipped with client beds. From memory these were here for cosmetic purposes only, like nails etc...
The rest of the upper floors were bland and what you would expect to see from a disused shopping centre.
However, seeing items such as tills at checkouts and furniture was a promising sign as we descended.
We decided to stay off of the main shop floors as we headed down to be safe, which led us to the front of the building. As you would expect, the use for the rooms away from public access was mainly offices that had since been used as storage. The impressive Gothic windows were present in nearly every room on this side of the building which made them slightly more worth capturing.
As we neared the main shop floors, more and more retail equipment could be found such as these tills.
All of a sudden we came out of a small, narrow door and into the grand shopping area we had been anticipating seeing. The fact we stumbled across it with our rather bizarre route downwards meant we were all shocked to see this room when we did. It was great to see that nothing had drastically changed and minor signs of abandonment were setting in.
We explored the areas running off the back of the gorgeous landing that were ultimately bare apart from a lovely staircase accompanied by an oddly preserved stained glass window and the cliche yet compulsory assortment of mannequins.
We finally reached the bottom floor and had yet to consider what would still be left on this level. Much to our surprise, all the kiosks, stalls, shops, however you wish to name them, were all in place and some with power too. Mixed with the preserved ornate features, golden chandeliers and ambient noise of shoppers in the connected modern complex was a very unique experience.
As we wandered the bottom floor we came around in a full circle to the staircase leading up to the grand hallway of the second floor allowing us to see it from another angle.
More tills and shopping areas:
Plaster work had been to decay and fallen over this till area.
By this point we seen everything on offer and made our way out.
Thanks for reading!
Browns was a department store in Chester established in 1780 by Susannah Brown. The store traded from its site on Chester's Eastgate Street from 1791 until 2021. Once regarded as the "Harrods of the North", the building interior contains many ornate features such as glass-domed roofs and elaborate plaster work surrounding small chandeliers in the main entrance area. Some of the glass roof on the second floor has been concealed as it has been covered by the construction of the third-floor extension which contained the main café and Kalmora Spa.
Another extension to the building was completed in 1965 to link Browns to the nearby Grosvenor Shopping Centre. A new three-story extension was built in 2002 on the site formerly occupied by the offices of the Chester Chronicle. It was acquired by Debenhams in 1976. Browns was the only store in the group to retain its own trading name alongside the standard 'Debenhams' branding. Debenhams entered liquidation in early 2021 and all remaining stores closed during May that year. The building was owned by British Land. It was bought by Martin Property Group in 2022, along with the neighboring Grosvenor Shopping Centre.
I spotted Browns one afternoon while working frequently in the centre of Chester. After many walks through the city's busy high streets I finally took notice of the somewhat well presented hoarding that was the only factor that led me to research the buildings status. The fact it was Debenhams in its final days filled me with confidence that the complex was closed but whether it appeared any good was another question. I sent a few photos of my lunch time recce to @UrbandonedTeam and @DustySensorPhotography as well as research that revealed the interior. From what I had found along with the others it was worth the trip. So the day after, the three of us all convened in Chester to begin finding our way in.
It didn't take long to figure out what would be the best way to approach finding an entry point and it didn't take long to succeed either. Once out of view from the public and adjacent stores and offices we began to sus the building out. A lack of cameras and noise from inside grew our confidence as we snuck around the upper floors to begin with. Affirming that a security presence wasn't situated within the building came shortly after and we could begin to relax into the days explore. The only issues we had is noise and passerby's from the adjoined Grosvenor Shopping Centre as well as a silhouetted security like figure peering in for an extended period of time before never returning. As far as shopping centre complexes go, Browns tops it for me with it's rich history and dated details that are harder to come across in these types of buildings today. It was certainly a nice change compared to other shopping centres and Debenhams we have encountered before.
Browns blending in well to Chester's highstreets.
We started in the upper floors where the cafe mentioned in the history is situated. The entire floor was very bare but had some salon rooms still equipped with client beds. From memory these were here for cosmetic purposes only, like nails etc...
The rest of the upper floors were bland and what you would expect to see from a disused shopping centre.
However, seeing items such as tills at checkouts and furniture was a promising sign as we descended.
We decided to stay off of the main shop floors as we headed down to be safe, which led us to the front of the building. As you would expect, the use for the rooms away from public access was mainly offices that had since been used as storage. The impressive Gothic windows were present in nearly every room on this side of the building which made them slightly more worth capturing.
As we neared the main shop floors, more and more retail equipment could be found such as these tills.
All of a sudden we came out of a small, narrow door and into the grand shopping area we had been anticipating seeing. The fact we stumbled across it with our rather bizarre route downwards meant we were all shocked to see this room when we did. It was great to see that nothing had drastically changed and minor signs of abandonment were setting in.
We explored the areas running off the back of the gorgeous landing that were ultimately bare apart from a lovely staircase accompanied by an oddly preserved stained glass window and the cliche yet compulsory assortment of mannequins.
We finally reached the bottom floor and had yet to consider what would still be left on this level. Much to our surprise, all the kiosks, stalls, shops, however you wish to name them, were all in place and some with power too. Mixed with the preserved ornate features, golden chandeliers and ambient noise of shoppers in the connected modern complex was a very unique experience.
As we wandered the bottom floor we came around in a full circle to the staircase leading up to the grand hallway of the second floor allowing us to see it from another angle.
More tills and shopping areas:
Plaster work had been to decay and fallen over this till area.
By this point we seen everything on offer and made our way out.
Thanks for reading!
