Haven Mill

Haven Mill, Grimsby

A cornmill and warehouse on the south side of Garth Lane, now incorporating shops, a restaurant and public house. The building comprises an early 19th-century 3-storey river-front section that was raised and extended in the later 19th century, with late 20th-century restorations and conversion.

The structure is built of red-brown brick with a weatherboarded lucam and Welsh slate roof, rectangular on plan. The exterior has 5 storeys arranged in 13 by 4 bays, incorporating the original 3-storey section of 9 by 3 bays at the south-east corner.

The south front, which faces the West Haven, is divided into sections. The early 9-bay section to the right is arranged in 3:3:3 bays. The centre section breaks forward and contains a wide central segmental-arched ground-floor entrance. To the left is a continuous opening rising through 3 storeys, formerly with doors to each floor, now with 20th-century glazing. A former central doorway to the first floor is now glazed, and another to the second floor is obscured by a 20th-century sign-board. Above this sits a gabled lucam rising through the 2 top storeys, with pairs of small single-light windows to its left and right returns. The 4 later bays to the left have a 20th-century ground-floor balcony with half-glazed doors to bays 3 and 4, and a first-floor entrance to bay 4, now glazed. Throughout this facade, windows have 20th-century glazing in original wood frames with central mullions beneath segmental brick arches, except for 2 windows to the 10th bay which sit beneath timber lintels. Some openings are blocked. Circular cast-iron tie-bar ends are distributed throughout, some with relief designs.

The north side faces Garth Lane. A wide entrance to the left of centre has sliding double doors beneath a timber lintel and segmental brick relieving arch. A wide sliding door to the right sits in a blue brick surround. Three further entrances have boarded doors beneath lintels. Two late 20th-century fire escape staircases have been inserted with doors to the far left and far right. This facade has similar tie-bar ends, windows and blocked openings to those on the east front. The 4-bay section to the far right has a vertical series of late 19th to early 20th-century sliding doors to each floor, a blocked continuous full-height opening (formerly for loading doors) to the right, and an inserted sliding attic door.

The east and west sides have similar windows and blocked window openings. The roofs are in separate sections reflecting the different construction phases: the south side has 2 separate hipped spans linked by a roof passage with side windows, while the north side has 4 gabled spans. Crested ridge tiles run throughout.

The ground floor interior contains brick piers and a variety of cast-iron columns. The first-floor restaurant retains grain chutes and other mill items in their original positions.

Historically, the West Haven was Grimsby's early port before dock extensions to the north were created from 1800 onwards.