Taylor's Boatyard (including Former Flat Shed, Narrowboat Shed, Former Steam Saw Mill, Blacksmith's Workshop/Forge, Carpenter's Workshop, Paint Workshop, Stores, Warehouse/Office Range and Dry Dock/Graving Dock)

Taylor's Boatyard is a mid-19th-century canal boatyard built for the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, with later additions and alterations. The complex consists mainly of single-storey buildings of timber and cast-iron construction with some brickwork, slate roofs, and cast-iron rainwater goods, some stamped with the London and North Western Railway initials.

Layout and Setting

The boatyard comprises a series of buildings aligned in a linear plan alongside the western side of the Shropshire Union Canal near Chester city centre. A detached building—the former steam saw mill—stands to the north side of an internal yard area. At the southern end of the site, a covered dry dock occupies a spit of land between the canal link to the River Dee and the Shropshire Union Canal, adjacent to a separately listed late-18th- or early-19th-century graving lock. A roving bridge to the north-east of the dry dock is also separately listed.

All buildings are single-storey except the two-storey warehouse and office range, though some single-storey sheds incorporate loft-style mezzanines. The western walls of several buildings—the former steam saw mill, blacksmith's forge, carpenter's shed, paint shed, stores, and warehouse and office range—are formed by a mellow red-brick boundary wall believed to be one of the earliest features on the site, probably dating from the early to mid-19th century. This wall incorporates some late-19th-century window openings. Some timber and metalwork, including door latches, are stamped with the initials of the Shropshire Union Canal Company and the London and North Western Railway.

Former Flat Shed

The ten-bay former flat builders' shed—used for building flats, meaning broad canal boats—lies at the northern end of the site and is in separate ownership from the rest of the buildings. Originally open-sided, it has a pitched slate roof carried on cast-iron columns and incorporates a series of skylights now covered by corrugated metal sheeting. Vertical weatherboarding covers the gable ends. The eastern side facing the Shropshire Union Canal has panelled blue-brick end bays with sandstone ashlar bands. The centre bays, originally open to the canal and including a slipway now removed, are linked by a cast-iron latticework girder and now contain blockwork infilling the space underneath. The western side also has later blockwork infilling along with some vertical weatherboarding and full-height timber double doors.

Internally, the former flat shed is similarly styled to the narrowboat shed, with a roof composed of timber queen-post trusses with supporting angle struts at each side, supported by cast-iron brackets and cast-iron columns now encased to each bay on the west side. The shed has a later concrete floor. It originally had a mezzanine loft level where the shapes of the frames and the planks for flats were marked out prior to cutting, but the floor and lower section of an access stair have since been removed. However, the upper section of a pitch-pine ramp stair survives and connects with a doorway in the south gable end containing plank and batten double doors, which leads into a mezzanine loft space at the northern end of the neighbouring narrowboat shed. The south gable end has further doorways and windows at ground-floor level providing access and viewing between the two buildings.

Narrowboat Shed

The twelve-bay narrowboat shed is attached to the south gable end of the former flat shed and is similarly styled but lower in height and without brick end bays. Used for boat repairs and maintenance and incorporating slipways, it is open-sided and covered by a pitched slate roof with repaired skylights. Vertical weatherboarding covers the south and north gable ends, the latter incorporating a series of windows and doors providing access and viewing into the former flat shed. The south gable end also has a hoist beam with a pulley above a mezzanine loft loading door, accessed by an external timber dog-leg stair currently being repaired. The southern six bays are aligned at an angle, forming a dog-leg shape where the Shropshire Union Canal widens to form a basin. The roof, consisting of a series of timber queen-post trusses with supporting angle struts at each side, is supported by cast-iron brackets and cast-iron columns paired at the change in axis and linked by quadrant brackets. The eastern side has no intermediate columns and, like the adjacent former flat shed, incorporates a latticework girder just below the eaves line. The western side facing the internal yard area has a column to each bay.

The narrowboat shed's timber mezzanine loft space, believed to have originally been used as a pattern floor, is now used for storage and is accessed via a modern ladder. A further mezzanine loft lies to the southern end of the narrowboat shed.

Former Steam Saw Mill

The former steam saw mill stands to the north side of the internal yard area and consists of two parallel ranges with pitched slate roofs incorporating skylights. The east range also has a gabled ventilator. Vertical weatherboarding covers the gables, which also have windows and a small loading door on the north side accessing an internal mezzanine loft space. The former saw mill is believed to have originally been open-sided and open-ended beneath the weatherboarding to enable logs to be transferred into the mill easily. It was later enclosed in brick to the side walls and in further weatherboarding to the lower sections of the gable ends. Attached to the two south gable ends are lower lean-tos with windows and doorways. The doorway to the east range is much larger and has a sliding door. The eastern range is longer at the southern end and has a later red-brick lean-to extension attached to the major part of the east elevation in the form of a continuous outshut with two plank and batten doors and two windows. Attached to the north end of the east elevation is a brick fire-pump chamber that originally contained a fire pump, now removed, which would have been used to extinguish fires around the yard. The chamber has an elliptical vaulted roof and a segmental-arched opening to the east side.

The former steam saw mill is now used as a workshop and for storage. Its steam engine has been removed, although flues mark its original position. The building has raised timber and concrete floors, and some areas of flooring are composed of metal boat keel panels. The two parallel roofs are both composed of timber king-post trusses supported by timber posts. Some timbers within the building incorporate scarf joints in the same style as those used in boat construction. The west range has a timber mezzanine loft space accessed by a timber stair with no balustrade. Coke and sawdust pits are believed to survive underneath the floors.

Blacksmith's Workshop and Forge

Set to the western side of the internal yard area below the former steam saw mill is a three-bay red-brick workshop and forge. The principal east elevation faces the internal yard and has a central doorway with a segmental-arched head and sliding timber doors, flanked by tall multipaned windows with segmental-arched heads and cast-iron frames. The forge has a dentil eaves and a pitched roof, at the time of writing due to be re-slated, along with two square end-wall stacks with blue-brick banding. The north stack is currently truncated but is due to be rebuilt and incorporates an external fireplace and an adjacent former copper.

At the time of writing, the interior of the blacksmith's workshop and forge is being restored. It has a king-post truss roof and the remains of forges at each end of the interior. A metal crane used to transfer objects in and out of the forges is attached to the centre of the west wall. Two massive early bellows survive in storage on the site.

Carpenter's Workshop, Paint Workshop, and Stores

Attached to the south gable end of the forge is a narrow linear range of three buildings comprising the carpenter's workshop, paint workshop, and stores set underneath a single roof. Each building has weatherboarding to their east elevation—that to the carpenter's workshop is currently being replaced and repaired at the time of writing—along with a series of doorways and multipaned windows. Both the paint workshop and stores have fire bucket hooks attached to their yard-facing elevations.

The carpenter's shed, paint shed, and stores are simple structures with brick and stone floors. The floor of the carpenter's shed also incorporates timbers that boat keels would have originally attached to in order to facilitate work on the boats. Some of the carpenter's shed's roof timbers also originate from boats. Located to the southern end is an oakum loft or rack that was used for applying sealant. Oakum is teased-out hemp that was rolled out and used to seal joints, and the rack has the same appearance as a horse manger.

Warehouse and Office Range

Lying at the southern end of the site is a two-storey, eight-bay range that originally acted as a warehouse and offices for the boatyard and basin and is now used as office and workshop space. The range has a slate roof and is constructed of mellow red brick, whitewashed at ground-floor level. Some of the windows have cast-iron frames and all of the window openings and two of the doorways on the principal east elevation facing the canal have segment-arched heads, the exception being a later inserted doorway to bay three.

The ground-floor arrangements are as follows: two sixteen-pane windows to bays one and two, that to bay one incorporating a single pane opening; a later inserted doorway to bay three; a small-pane window to bay four with three larger upper panes; framed-and-boarded double doors to bay five set within an opening incorporating black-painted hinge-stones; a window to bay six in the same style as that to bay four; a divided door to bay seven incorporating eight-pane glazing to the upper part and set within an opening incorporating black-painted hinge-stones; and a sixteen-pane horizontally sliding sash window to bay eight. The first floor has four windows set to bays two, four, five, and eight, and a further window set between bays six and seven, all with replaced frames and glazing.

The north gable end has a plank and batten door and a small-pane cast-iron window to the ground floor, and a divided door to the first floor set beneath a projecting timber beam in the style of a hoist beam with a cast-iron ring underneath, believed to have originally been linked to a bell that the time keeper would ring. The door is accessed by the same stair accessing the narrowboat shed's mezzanine loft. Both gable ends are styled as dentillated broken pediments. That to the south is interrupted by a later wall stack. To the first-floor left of the stack is an arched window with replaced glazing. A doorway exists to the ground-floor right of the south gable end and attached in front to the left is a single-storey gabled outshut constructed of whitewashed brick with two doorways and a blocked-up window to the south gable end.

Attached to the rear, west side, of the range and forming part of the boundary wall is a single-storey lean-to outshut with a series of window openings at the southern end. Above and behind, to the first floor of the main part of the range, are altered window openings with replaced frames and glazing, and a wall stack.

Internally, the warehouse and office range has been altered and subdivided but retains its steep timber stair flights and roof structure incorporating king-post trusses.

Dry Dock or Graving Dock

Set to the south-east of the boatyard's main buildings, at the northern end of a spit of land separating the Shropshire Union Canal from a canal link to the River Dee, is a covered dry dock also known as a graving dock. The dock, which can accommodate a single wide beam boat placed centrally or two narrowboats side by side, has a brick floor and brick lower walls, with large sandstone blocks forming the upper parts of the side walls and the curved end walls, all of which are battered. A pair of lock gates are situated at the north end of the dock, whilst at the south end is a flight of twelve brick steps with stone treads that lead down onto the dock floor, which incorporates a brick drainage channel that runs around the edge. Timber bearers for the boats are located on the floor, and set to the south-west corner of the dock is a steel shutter leading to a sluiceway.

The hipped slate-roof canopy was added later and consists of a series of light iron trusses set upon a massive timber roof and wall-plate supported by six cast-iron columns set to each side of the dock—some of the columns on the west side are encased—and an additional column at the centre of the south end. Original rooflights have since been removed but are due to be reinstated. Attached to the west side of the dry dock's roof-canopy is a 20th-century brick and weatherboarded lean-to.

Exclusion

Located at the far north end of the site alongside Cambrian Road is a detached section of the boatyard's probable early to mid-19th-century boundary wall which is excluded from the boatyard's listing because of its level of alteration and loss of context.