Description: Looking south towards The Market Square from Upper Parliament Street. Showing Waring and Gillow's furniture Store (part of a national chain of renowned furniture manufacturers). The founding father of Waring and Gillow was Robert Gillow. Robert Gillow's fascination for carpentry began during a stint as a ship's carpenter. He travelled to the West Indies and brought back one of the first recorded shipments of mahogany into the UK. Supplies of mahogany (supplemented with copious amounts of rum) soon began to flow between Gillow and his West Indian suppliers and in return, Gillow exported some of the finest furniture ever crafted. He was later joined by this three sons and the business expanded rapidly. In addition to furniture, the Gillow's were praised in opera and fiction and they are also accorded with the invention of the billiards table. They produced a substantial amount of furniture for museums, presidents and luxury ocean liners. Queen Victoria also commissioned a number of pieces from the company. During the First World War, they fashioned Navy munitions boxes from teak and DH9 aeroplane wings and propellers. Mosquito wooded aeroplanes followed in the Second World War. Unfortunately in 1961, the firm was taken over and closed down, although Gillow's lives on today as part of Maples Stores plc. This shop seen here was formerly that of Jessop and Son Ltd (now located in the Victoria Centre). The section further down the hill with gables and oriel windows was designed by Watson Fothergill (one of his earlier designs) in 1895. Waring and Gillow's store has now gone; the Watson Fothergill section has been divided into smaller shops and the corner section of the building is a restaurant.