Fish Processing And Smoking Factory (Gh Abernethie Limited)

This is a fish processing and smoking factory, built around 1900, with alterations in the 20th century. It is constructed of red brick, with the street-facing part rendered and colourwashed. The north range has a concrete tile roof, while the south range has a slate roof.

The factory is composed of several ranges. The north range is two stories high with two first-floor openings. To the left and rear is an L-shaped smoking tower, rising to four stories. The southern range is three stories high, with a gable facing. It has two first-floor windows.

The north range has a wide ground-floor door, with a blocked segmental-arched window to the left. A recess to the right of the door extends to form a sill for a central first-floor door, which is itself within a segmental arch. A narrow segmental-arched first-floor window with glazing bars is to the right. There is a bracketed gutter, and the roof is hipped, sloping up to the smoking tower.

The smoking tower rises from the left and rear of the building, with rows of rectangular ventilator hatches at the top, each containing a centrally-pivoted wooden flap (7 hatches to the left range, and 3 to the rear range). A flat roof has 4 ventilation cowls to the left range, and 2 to the rear range.

The three-story section of the south range has a double door to the ground floor on the left, beneath a lintel. Above this is a segmental-arched door, and to the right a segmental-arched window with a sill. A door leads to the second floor, with an external enclosed porch. A small segmental-arched window is to the left of the door, and there is a 20th-century window beyond that. All windows are 20th-century replacements. An external staircase leads up to the first and second floors, with platforms supported on timber joists outside each door.

A narrow two-story section connects the main ranges, with a recessed ground-floor section beneath a lintel containing a single window, and a 20th-century first-floor window above.

The interior has not been inspected.

The factory is one of a group of small fish processing and smoking factories at Grimsby, dating from a period when Grimsby was a major fishing centre. It is the only surviving example with this particular design of smoking tower. Its historical interest includes its connection to a close group of smoking houses of various dates and designs in the surrounding area.