Walmsley'S House And Warehouse

A canal warehouse, grocer’s shop, and house, now shops, built in 1804. The building was constructed for Thomas Walmsley, a local industrialist, coinciding with the opening of the adjacent Rochdale Canal. It is constructed of Flemish bond brick, with a slate roof, and follows an L-shaped plan across four storeys, although the street elevation presents only two storeys and five bays. The front elevation has a stone plinth, an eaves cornice, and the central three bays slightly project forward. A door is located in the second bay, featuring a fanlight architrave and archivolt, with a 20th-century shop window inserted on the ground floor to its right. Loading doors are visible in the fifth bay. Window openings have stone sills and flat brick arches; some are blind, while others contain 20th-century casements. The curved canal-side elevation has eight bays and four storeys, with partially blocked loading doors in the third bay. One window is a 16-pane sash, with the others being cross-casements. The left return elevation has sash windows. A large 20th-century lean-to extension to the rear retains some original windows. The original interior features original floors and king-post roof trusses.