Warehouse

Warehouse, circa 1870

A four-storey warehouse with basement and attached contemporary three-storey section to the left, constructed in red brick with polychrome brick facade. The building features Flemish Bond brickwork, slate roofs, and fireproof construction elements typical of mid-19th-century warehouse design.

Exterior

The front elevation displays pale yellow brick with blue and red brick dressings. The main warehouse comprises a two-bay gabled design with integral kneelers and a shallow pitched roof topped with a double dentil eaves cornice. A loading bay with original sheet-iron loading doors is set within a full-height recess to the right bay.

The ground floor left features large paired windows with a column-style cast-iron mullion painted black, chamfered sides, and a decorative moulded cast-iron lintel incorporating a large fan-style motif above the centre. The window to the right is partly converted into a doorway. Similar windows appear to the first and second floors, with original plate glass sashes and cast-iron frames surviving to the first floor. The top floor contains a circular window and a central elliptical-shaped window, both surrounded by polychromatic brickwork; the elliptical window incorporates sandstone keystones.

The lower left section features a two-bay design with paired ground floor windows to the left bay matching the main warehouse pattern (the far-left window partly converted to a doorway), and an original main entrance to the right bay with folding timber double doors. Upper floor windows have replaced glazing, with those to the right bay being larger.

The rear elevation includes a single-storey outshut to the ground floor. The main warehouse displays paired windows with central cast-iron mullion (painted white) to the first and second floors in similar style to the front, with original plate glass 1-over-1 sashes surviving to the first floor (two replaced to the far left). Three smaller windows to the top floor have replaced glazing and frames; two to the right feature segmental heads. The lower section to the right has altered windows with original full-sized cast-iron sills. Cast-iron sills and lintels are used throughout.

Interior

The lower left section contains a ground floor entrance hall with a timber stair flight to the rear, now with replaced coverings. Two large ground floor spaces, one to each side, now function as shops. The first floor is partitioned, whilst the original second and third floors remain open-plan.

A timber stair flight between the first and second floors is now boxed-in and features a hatch cover, plain newel posts, balusters with chamfered edges, and horizontal plank rails. A steep timber ladder-style stair connects the second and third floors of the main warehouse alongside the right external wall.

Throughout the building, cast-iron columns provide structural support. Original timber floors have been largely retained, though those to the first floor rear were replaced for a late-20th-century kitchen and bathroom insertion. Timber and iron roof trusses span the upper levels, with two modern velux windows inserted to the third floor. Partly glazed openings in the left side wall provide access to the roof space of the lower section.

History and Development

Early to mid-19th-century Building Acts introduced structural requirements for warehouse design to reduce collapse risk in the event of fire. These stipulations included cast-iron columns on the ground floor, enclosed stair bays, and timbers of specified thickness. Whilst the exact construction date of the warehouse at 23-27 Cheapside remains uncertain, it is believed to date from the late 19th century, probably circa 1870.

Street directories from 1870 to 1906 record the building as occupied by metal merchants Clapham & Morris and Richard Johnson, alongside a cooper and tailor. Subsequently, Richard Johnson and Company occupied the entire building and also operated another warehouse further down the street at 11-13 Cheapside.