The Squire Knott

These licensed premises (numbered 53-55 Yorkshire Street) were purpose built in 1969 for Lloyds Bank. The bank occupied the site of two shops, part of a long-standing parade. Number 53 had also been a bank. Number 55 was the photographic studio of the unusually named Squire Knott. Knott moved into 55 Yorkshire Street in c1858. Nearly twenty years later, he took a series of photographs of Oldham; this series has recently been digitised and made into a panorama, prominently displayed in Gallery Oldham (in Greaves Street). Knott's studio and picture-framing business were taken over by his son, Alfred, in c1895. He continued taking and framing photographs at 55 Yorkshire Street for another thirty years. It was Squire Knott who took a series of photographs of Oldham; this series has recently been digitised and made into a panorama, prominently displayed in Gallery Oldham (in Greaves Street). Opened in 2002, the council-owned, award-winning gallery is a short walk from the premises.