Pair Of Warehouses

A pair of former warehouses, now used as offices, workshops, and stores, dating from the early to mid-19th century, with later 19th and 20th-century alterations. The warehouses are built of red brick, with the side elevations rendered. They were originally roofed with Welsh slate laid in diminishing courses, though the roof of No. 22 has been replaced with profiled sheeting. They have a narrow plan, with tall gables facing the street.

The front of the buildings comprises three storeys and attics above a semi-basement. Each gable features a tier of double doorways centrally positioned. The cill beam of each doorway serves as the lintel for the opening below. A projecting hoist beam is located in the gable apex above the uppermost doorway. Small, unglazed oval openings with iron grilles are positioned on the outer corners, flanking the second and third-floor doorways, while 2-light windows, beneath shallow segmental arches, are located in the inner bays. No. 20 retains plain, vertically-planked doors set between plain timber jambs, on the upper three floors, with a widened or inserted double doorway at ground floor, beneath a metal beam. A door opening with metal-railed doors below the oval openings may indicate the location of a stair. No. 22 has a remodelled ground floor featuring 19th-century shop front detailing, including a fascia with console brackets and a cornice. A 2-panel door with a tall 12-pane light above is positioned to the left of the shop front. A tall 3-light glazed opening fills the former double doorway above street level in the centre, and a modified 2-light window with 20th-century joinery is positioned to the right. A low double doorway is located below the central glazed opening. To the right is an entrance to a passage that runs under No. 22, providing access to a narrow rear courtyard with a single-storey workshop range on its north side. The interiors have not been inspected.

These warehouses are early, small-scale examples of the distinctive narrow-bodied warehouses constructed near the inland dock developed by Thomas Steers between 1709 and 1721 (now Canning Place), and behind the larger riverside dock developments from 1824 to 1860. They represent the industrial vernacular of this part of Liverpool and contrast in scale and form with the architecture of the grander riverside docks.