Former Gasworks, Chain Shop, Foundry and Canal Workshops is a Grade II listed building in the Cheshire West and Chester local planning authority area, England. Industrial building. 5 related planning applications.

Former Gasworks, Chain Shop, Foundry and Canal Workshops

WRENN ID
still-newel-marsh
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Cheshire West and Chester
Constituency
Ellesmere Port and Bromborough MP: Justin Madders (Lab)
Country
England
Type
Industrial building
Address
Former Gasworks, Chain Shop, Foundry and Canal Workshops, Dock Street
OS grid reference
SJ 406 772
Coordinates
53.28856, -2.89186
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The former gasworks, chain shop, foundry, and canal workshops, built in 1863 and around 1895, form a long, roughly L-shaped building. The northwest wing of the gasworks is a tall single storey with seven bays on the outer north face and four bays within. It features red brick recessed panels with blue brick surrounds, each containing a round or camber-arched window. The roof is slate with stone-capped end gables, and there is a large square chimney at the north corner, rising from the eaves level.

The chain shop and foundry, located in the northern part of the southern wing, have red-brown brick walls and a slate roof that includes rooflights and a wooden louvred ventilator along the ridge. The northeast wall of the chain shop is weather-boarded, and there are small cast-iron windows beneath two-course camber-arches made of brick headers. Access doors, which are boarded, face the slipway to the northeast. Eight chimneys above the forges, which still contain foundry implements, are also present. There is a through passage south of the chain shop leading to the slipway.

The two-storey workshops in the southern part of the southern wing have red-brown brick walls and a slate roof with end gables and continuous rooflights. Two square brick chimneys are located on the ridge. An external wooden staircase on the northeast side leads to access balconies supported by iron brackets on the upper floor. The floors and roof step down from south to north to accommodate the slope of the site. The lower storey features small-pane cast-iron windows on the northeast side, along with boarded loading doors on the lower storey and both storeys in the south gable, which includes a small loading balcony.

Local climate

Former Gasworks, Chain Shop, Foundry and Canal Workshops receives an average of 890 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 66% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 78% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 62% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 5 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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  2. Pattern Shop Grade II 41 m
  3. Two Wide and Two Narrow Locks Between Upper and Lower Canal Dock Basins Grade II 64 m
  4. Lime Shed Grade II 88 m
  5. Iron Shed Grade II 92 m
  6. Boiler-And-Pump Houses and Hydraulic Accumulator Tower Grade II 94 m
  7. Island Warehouse Grade II 103 m
  8. Porters Row Cottages Grade II 183 m
  9. Dock Office Grade II 190 m
  10. The Clay Warehouse Grade II 220 m