Heap's Rice Mill

This rice processing mill and warehouse complex dates from the early to mid-19th century, with mid-19th century, late-19th century and 20th century additions and alterations. It is built of brick with some sandstone and blue-brick dressings, and has slate, concrete tile and corrugated sheeting roof coverings. The structure is mainly seven storeys high, with timber frame and cast-iron construction internally and some plate-iron floors.

Location and Layout

The mill lies east of Albert Dock, Salthouse Dock and Wapping Dock. It is square in plan and bounded by the former Upper Pownall Street on the north-east side, Beckwith Street on the north-west side and Shaws Alley on the south-west side. A modern apartment block abuts part of the building on the south-east side.

The building complex comprises several warehouses grouped together to form a single structure. An early to mid-19th century range forms the easternmost component, aligned north-east to south-west in an irregular reverse L-shape. Four further mid-19th century ranges form the western components. These were originally used by Joseph Heap & Sons as sugar warehouses and were subsequently converted for use as a rice mill. They are arranged in a rectangular form with one range aligned north-west to south-east at the top (north-east side), with a range attached to its south-west side at a right angle forming a reverse L-shape. Two shorter ranges, aligned north-west to south-east, are then attached to this latter range's north-west side. A former yard area, which was covered over in the mid to late 1970s, separates the two halves of the building complex and runs through the building from Upper Pownall Street to Shaws Alley.

North-East Elevation

This elevation facing the former Upper Pownall Street consists of the gable end of the early to mid-19th century warehouse range. It incorporates a single full-height loading bay with an arched head, cast-iron hood, and tiered sheet-iron loading doors. The loading bay is flanked on several floors by segmental-headed windows, some of which have been blocked up or altered, and three of which have replaced concrete lintels. One window retains its cast-iron shutter. Changes in brickwork on the three uppermost floors reflect the fact that this section was rebuilt following a fire in 1863. An upper section of the east corner has also been rebuilt following Second World War bomb damage. The range's south-east return incorporates a few small blocked-up window openings and is abutted by a modern apartment block at its south-western end.

To the right of the early to mid-19th century range is a former yard area that runs through the building complex from Upper Pownall Street to Shaws Alley and was enclosed in the mid to late 1970s through the addition of a roof and corrugated sheeting at each end. A vehicular opening with a sliding metal door exists at ground-floor level.

To the right of the enclosed yard is the eight-bay side elevation of a mid-19th century warehouse range, which has windows to each floor with sandstone lintels and a mixture of moulded-brick and sandstone sills. Most of the windows have been boarded over externally, but some cast-iron shutters are visible. Set at the top of the elevation is a high parapet for increased fire protection that incorporates the remains of a sign upon which the painted words 'MILL' remain readable. It is possible that the parapet, which has been subject to heavy repointing work, has been raised from its original height, possibly following the fire in the neighbouring range in 1863. A probable 19th century street sign reading 'UPPER POWNALL STREET' is attached to the far right of the elevation.

North-West Elevation

This elevation facing Beckwith Street consists of the north-west gabled return of the mid-19th century range on Upper Pownall Street, which has two loading bays set within full-height recesses with arched heads, cast-iron hoods and tiered sheet-iron loading doors. The gable, which incorporates a parapet, is adorned with late-20th century lettering that reads 'JOSEPH HEAP & SONS LTD/ RICE MILLERS'. A probable 19th century street sign reading 'BECKWITH STREET' is attached to the ground floor right.

A pair of warehouses, believed to be slightly later in date but pre-1848, are attached to the right with a slightly taller parapet and a sandstone stringcourse that runs across the elevation halfway up the building and continues across the south-west (Shaws Alley) elevation. The warehouses appear as a continuous frontage, but their subdivision can be read internally and by aerial view. The warehouse to the left has two loading bays set within full-height arched recesses with blue-brick quoining and tiered sheet-iron loading doors that flank a series of five segmental-arched windows with sandstone sills, blue-brick dressings and cast-iron shutters. Smaller stair windows with sandstone sills and lintels, and cast-iron shutters exist to the left with a doorway at the base. The warehouse to the right is similarly styled, but has a single loading bay with the same segmental arched windows, stair windows and ground-floor doorway to the left. The use of blue-brick dressings on both of these warehouses, as well as tie bars flanking the loading bays, suggests that their windows and loading bays were possibly altered in the late 19th century when the ranges became part of the rice mill. Set at the base of all the elevation's loading bays are protective timbers designed to protect the building from being damaged when goods are first lifted. As on the north-east elevation, and also on the south-west elevation, it is possible that the parapet, which has been subject to heavy repointing work, has been raised from its original height, possibly following the fire in the early to mid-19th century range in 1863.

South-West Elevation

This elevation facing Shaws Alley is formed of two warehouses. That to the left forms the south-west return of the southernmost warehouse on the Brunswick Street elevation. The warehouses appear as a continuous frontage, but their subdivision can be read internally and by aerial view. Both incorporate a single loading bay set within a full-height arched recess with blue-brick quoining and tiered sheet-iron loading doors. Set at the centre of the elevation is a series of segmental-arched windows with blue-brick dressings, some of which have been bricked up. Again the use of blue-brick dressings and tie bars, as well as ghost marks in the brickwork revealing the location of former windows and a probable central loading bay, suggest that this elevation underwent a makeover when the ranges became part of the rice mill in the late 19th century. Modern lettering affixed to the top left of the elevation reads 'ANGLO AUSTRALIAN/ RICE LTD'. A 20th century street sign reading 'SHAWS ALLEY' is attached to the far left of the elevation.

To the right of the warehouses is the south-west end of the enclosed former yard, which is identically styled to the north-east end. To the right of this is the two-bay south-west gable end of the early to mid-19th century warehouse range, which has bricked-up paired windows to some of the floors. Abutting the range's south-east return at this end is an early-21st century apartment building.

Interior

Internally the building complex has a fireproof timber and cast-iron construction, rice milling being a volatile process that produced a lot of dust. It has brick internal walls and a mixture of timber and iron-plate floors supported by cast-iron columns and joists. In certain areas of the building brick arches also spring from cast-iron beams supported by cast-iron columns, a method of construction used by Jesse Hartley at Albert Dock, and wrought-iron ties. It is believed that surviving fireproofing elements in the earliest range were most probably introduced following the 1863 fire. It is also probable that fireproofing modifications were also made to the western ranges following this time.

The individual warehouse ranges remain readable internally and are linked by various doorways. They are largely open-plan, although some later partitioning has been inserted to create office and staff rooms and kitchenettes. Stairs within the building complex include timber, cast-iron and metal examples of both early and later date, as well as an early sandstone and iron spiral stair. The main stairs in the western half of the complex are set within brick stair chambers with metal doors leading off to the various floor levels, a fireproofing measure. A cast-iron stair on the north-west side of the building has largely been removed. Conveyors and trapdoors, many of which appear to be probably 20th century in date, exist throughout the building complex and would have been used to transfer the rice between floor levels. Photographs reveal that early timber roof trusses exist in at least part of the building complex, along with surviving hoist machinery, some of which, from photographic evidence, would appear to possibly be 19th century in date. Photographs of one of the upper floors also appear to show rope harnesses hanging from the beams that would have secured the warehousemen as they pulled goods into the building.

The enclosed yard that dissects the building from Upper Pownall Street through to Shaws Alley contains late-19th century high-level pedestrian bridges, which have been altered and enclosed in the 20th century with asbestos sheeting. The warehouse elevations on either side of the enclosed yard retain their doorways and segmental-arched window openings, some of which have been bricked up, as well as loading bays with most of the tiered sheet-iron loading doors and cast-iron hoods intact. A series of large round-arched ground-floor windows set towards the south-west end of the space on the north-west side, one of which appears to retain its original multipaned glazing, possibly lit offices originally. A large doorway with a replaced door unit and a four-light fanlight above also exists on the south-east side.