Three Warehouses, Now Part Of Number 26, Maritime Museum

Three warehouses, dating to the late 18th century, are now part of Number 26, the Maritime Museum. The right-hand pair is believed to have been constructed around 1788, with the left-hand warehouse likely added slightly later. The front facades are built of narrow-coursed sandstone ashlar, while the sides and rear are of coursed rubble. The roofs are slate-covered.

The right-hand warehouses form a mirrored pair, with their gables facing the road. They are approximately 23 metres deep and 12 metres wide, rising to five storeys. Each storey features a central loading slot framed by plain stone surrounds, and flanked by windows with fixed glazing bars. The lower and upper openings on the left side of the right-hand loading slot were initially solid masonry panels, one of which retained a small opening reflecting a common warehouse practice on the quay; these were replaced with glazing during a conversion in the late 1980s. A Diocletian window is positioned centrally near the gable apex. The outer bays of the top storey lack openings, presumably to strengthen the wall adjacent to an original crane recess within a loading slot. An original wooden crane still exists within the left-hand warehouse of the pair. Low doorways are located in the outer bays of the ground floor. The loading slots now have recessed glazing, but the original loading platforms have been retained and are supported by stone corbels. Iron tie-plates were added to the facade in the late 20th century.

The left-hand warehouse is approximately 6 metres wide and features a single gable facing the road. Its facade is largely similar to the left-hand warehouse of the pair to its right. Its loading slot is widened to the left on the top floor and retains its wooden crane. A doorway is present on the ground floor left side. The left-hand return wall was rebuilt after demolition of adjoining property and is faced with sandstone rubble.

Internally, the warehouses feature wooden floors supported by timber beams, now encased for fire protection. The top floor exposes the timber roofs, with softwood tie beams and principals. A dividing wall rises from the floor to the apex of the roof between the two right-hand warehouses.

Historically, the two right-hand warehouses were built on plots 41 and 42 by merchants John Satterthwaite and John Addison, who also constructed the left-hand warehouse on plot 40. The plots had been sold by the port commissioners in 1754 to Thomas Bowes, later sold again in 1770, and then again in 1781. A drawing of the quay dating around 1790 depicts only the right-hand pair of warehouses but contains other inaccurate details. A timber beam within the left-hand warehouse is dated 1797.