Pair of Smokehouses

A pair of smokehouses, likely constructed as herring stores in the early 19th century and converted to smokehouses shortly after 1843.

Materials and Construction

The external walls are built of coursed rubble sandstone with quoins, while the internal dividing wall is of brick. The gabled roof has pan tiles on the north face and corrugated sheeting on the south.

Setting and Plan

These buildings form part of a complex bounded by Dock Road to the south-west, Sandstell Road to the south-east, and tracks to the north and north-east. They are rectangular in plan with their principal elevation facing into the yard, accessed from the north. A single-storey structure abuts them to the east, and a later former smokehouse of identical height stands to the west.

Exterior

The two smokehouses are of one build and quoined at either end. Together they form four bays. The eastern smokehouse occupies three bays and has three entrances with wooden doors and lintels; the outer two bays have quoined windows with sandstone lintels above. The western smokehouse has one door and one window matching those to the east. The two right-hand entrances are quoined; the other two are unclear as the stonework has either been painted over or obscured by vegetation. The doors are likely early 20th century in date and would have acted as internal doors to a former shed which stood on this side of the range before the 1980s. The openings themselves appear to be original except possibly for the central opening to the eastern smokehouse, which does not match the others in height, dressings, or relationship to a window. Evidence of three window lintels survives at eaves height, matching the alignment of those on the south-facing elevation. A line of truncated corrugated iron set into the wall indicates the line of the former shed roof. The south-facing Sandstell Road elevation is rendered, with only three blocked eaves windows visible. The north-east gable end is visible above the attached single-storey structure and is blind, unrendered, and retains its quoins.

Interior

The two smokehouses are divided by a brick wall, while a modern breezeblock wall has been inserted to divide the eastern smokehouse in two. The eastern section was inaccessible due to vegetation at the time of survey, although the level of survival is believed to match the remainder of the buildings. The accessible areas retain their wooden frames with the majority of their side rails for resting the tenter sticks, where the fish were hung. There are two voids in the western smokehouse and two in the western section of the eastern smokehouse; the void adjacent to the breezeblock wall may have been related to the first void in the blocked-off section. The blocked windows in the south wall appear to retain their louvres, at least in the accessible section of the eastern smokehouse.

Historical Context

By the 18th and early 19th centuries, Britain had possibly the world's largest fishing industry around its coast. It became a major form of commerce in the north-east as cities such as Newcastle and South Shields developed, with markets and small communities thriving as important centres for fishing and fish processing. The low cost of herring made it a staple source of food for the poor, and the scale of operations to support this demand was large. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, herring yards were found in practically every town and village along the north-east coast. In the Berwick area, a small proportion of fresh fish was sold to local buyers in the daily fish markets, while the remainder were pickled or, from the mid-19th century, smoked and transported to markets elsewhere.

The curing of herring was already undertaken on a large scale in Tweedmouth by the end of the 18th century, but during the 19th century Spittal became the main centre of production. Parson's and White's Directory of 1827 states that there were six herring houses in Spittal for curing red and white herrings, whereas none are mentioned for Tweedmouth, suggesting the majority of the herring curing trade had migrated prior to this date. During the 19th century, many inhabitants of Spittal were employed in fish-curing yards preparing, pickling, and smoking herring, or as coopers for the export trade to Europe.

The Berwick Pier Railway map of 1824 shows the whole of the present site built up, situated about twenty metres from Spittal's former quay and jetty, and in the ownership or occupancy of Mr Boag. This is likely to be the Mr Boag of George Boag & Co., herring curers of Spittal as listed in the Pigot & Co. directory of 1822. George Boag continues to be listed as a herring curer and/or cooper in the Trade Directory entries for Spittal up until 1855, at which point he is replaced by Robert Boston, previously unmentioned, who appears to have taken over Mr Boag's interests between 1847 and 1855. It is likely these buildings were converted into smokehouses around the time Robert Boston took over the business, after the successful introduction of kippering to the herring curing market in 1843. Robert Boston's business, known as Boston Brothers by the early 20th century, went on to become the largest fish processing establishment in Spittal, employing up to 100 workers at its peak.

There was a sharp decline of the herring business along the east coast in the 1920s and 1930s, causing the bankruptcy of many firms during this period. This included the Boston Brothers firm, which fragmented and led to the three brothers continuing with their own individual companies. One of these, R. Boston & Sons, retained ownership of these buildings. The properties were rented to the Berwick Shellfish Company until the 1980s, after which they were left empty and used for storage purposes only.