44/0/10054 QUEENS PROMENADE 08-MAR-10 Cabin Lift
II A seaside lift tower of 1930 known as the Cabin Lift, associated toilets and upper promenade wall built to a design by the borough architect John Charles Robinson.
MATERIALS: Brick with faience dressings beneath a copper roof to the lift tower.
PLAN: The Cabin Lift is rectangular in plan.
EXTERIOR: The lift tower is in a Classical revival style and is accessed from the upper promenade by a bridge that is flanked by brick walls to either side which extend along the promenade. The main architectural detail is arranged at the top of the tower at the upper promenade level, and consists of a pyramidal copper roof with central flagpole, beneath which a moulded faience eaves cornice above a decorated frieze depicting a festoon is carried around the structure. On three sides of the tower there are aedicules, with the one facing the sea flanked by decorative faience work. Double doors beneath a porch on Queens Promenade give access across the bridge to the tower, with a former second entrance adjacent now blocked by glazed brickwork incorporating the words 'CABIN LIFT'. There are small rectangular windows to three sides of the tower with moulded faience surrounds. At the artificial cliff level there are two blocked doors beneath a stone lintel. The lower promenade entrance has two doors beneath a glazed brick lintel bearing the word 'LIFT' above the larger of the doors. Immediately beneath the upper promenade there is a toilet block with boarded-up doors to the north and south returns. The toilet block consists of ten bays with mullion and transom windows with glazing bars and horizontal faience banding.
INTERIOR: Access from the Queens Promenade leads directly into a small room containing the lift and a door leading to a fixed iron ladder giving access up to the attic where electrical equipment and the lift mechanism is contained. Access from the left door on the lower promenade leads along a tunnel beneath the artificial cliff to the lift whilst access from the right door leads into a storage area. A modern inserted brick wall separates the two areas. Other walls in the lower promenade tunnel are of glazed brick.
HISTORY: The Cabin Lift was built in 1930 to a design by John Charles Robinson, Blackpool Borough Surveyor, for the purpose of moving passengers via two lifts between the upper promenade tram stop and the lower promenade walkway, artificial cliffs and former boating pool. The front portion of the building that formerly contained a waiting shelter on the upper promenade and extended across a bridge to the lift shaft has been demolished at an unspecified date and access to the south lift has been walled up. The current north lift was installed in 1990 and replaced an original lift. Ladies and Gentleman's toilets built into the cliff immediately below the upper promenade and formerly accessed by walkways to either side of the cabin lift were refitted in the 1970s; they are currently boarded up and inaccessible. The former doors giving access into the lift tower from the artificial cliffs have been bricked up. On the lower promenade the former doors giving access into a tunnel that runs below the artificial cliffs to the lift tower have been removed and this entrance remodelled with modern smaller doors inserted. The tunnel has been subdivided at an unspecified date by the insertion of a dividing wall along its length and currently only the northern part of the tunnel gives access to the lift.
SOURCES: Allan Brodie & Gary Winter, England's Seaside Resorts. (2007)
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Cabin Lift is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It is a nationally rare type of seaside structure that is of interest as part of the history and development of certain seaside resorts * It is of a well-executed design and uses good-quality material to good effect that can be particularly appreciated from the upper promenade * It is a conspicuous and eye-catching structure especially when viewed to maximum effect from the lower promenade * The Cabin Lift's architectural merit contributes significantly to Blackpool's importance as a holiday resort of national and international renown.