London Warehouse

The London Warehouse is a railway warehouse built in 1867 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. It is constructed of brown brick with stone dressings and has a concealed roof. The building has a large square plan, rising seven storeys high and featuring nine bays that are slightly recessed between pilasters. The corners have long-and-short quoins, and there is a stone cornice and parapet with four gables. The second, third, sixth, and seventh bays have coupled segmental waggon arches, while small segmental-headed windows with raised sills and small-pane glazing are present throughout. A fire escape is located in front of the windows of the eighth bay. The ten-bay side walls include the south side, which has three pairs of former waggon arches that were previously covered by single-storey sheds and are now blocked, as well as three pairs of similar arches in the rear wall. The fenestration on these walls matches that of the front. Inside, massive cast-iron columns support large rivetted wrought-iron girders and cast-iron floor joists. The warehouse is a very prominent feature of the Rochdale Canal basin site.