Merchants Warehouse

Merchants Warehouse is a former canal warehouse that served the Bridgewater Canal terminus, with offices added in the early 21st century. The building is dated 1823 on a pier between shipping holes. It was altered, fire-damaged, and derelict when surveyed. The structure is made of brown brick in English garden-wall bond, with some sandstone dressings and a damaged slate roof. It has a rectangular plan with six structural bays, occupying the entire west end of the north quay.

The west facade, facing the canal, is four storeys high and features a 1:2:6:2:1 arrangement of windows separated by former loading slots. The centre has two semi-circular arched shipping holes that rise to the first floor, flanked by a cylindrical sandstone pier and responds with concave caps that are squared off. The pier is inscribed with "1823" and has timber lintels and wooden screens above the arches. The loading slots have doorways at ground level but are otherwise bricked up, and those on the right have wooden gabled hoist canopies. There are small round-headed windows with glazing bars and tilting casement openings in the lower half, all of which are damaged. A moulded stone cornice with a blocking course runs along the top.

The east facade is three storeys high, featuring similar windows and four surviving three-stage loading slots, which are only partly bricked up. However, the top floor of the northern half and its roof are missing. The interior has not been inspected but is reported to contain timber beams and remnants of winding gear in the roof. The warehouse is a distinctive feature of the Bridgewater Canal terminus site and holds considerable historical interest.