Fish Processing And Smoking Factory (Keith Graham Limited)

This early 20th-century fish processing and smoking factory, likely built for G.F. Sleight, is located on Sidebottom Street in the docks area of Grimsby. The building’s external appearance is of yellow brick, with colourwashing and rendering on the street frontages, and a slate roof.

The factory is three storeys high with an attic, and has gabled fronts facing both Cross Street and Sidebottom Street, each featuring four irregular first-floor openings. A four-storey smoking tower rises from the north side of the building.

The Sidebottom Street front has a partly rendered ground floor with a 20th-century door to the right of centre, beneath a lintel, and a partially blocked window to the left. The first and second floors have doors in line to the left of centre, also beneath lintels, with an 8-pane overlight above the first-floor door and a two-fold board door above the second-floor door. Twin windows with glazing bars and a continuous sill are visible on the first floor to the right, alongside a smaller door, all under lintels. The second floor mirrors this, incorporating a smaller casement and blocked segmental-arched window. A narrow segmental-arched attic window with glazing bars is also present, along with a pair of iron tie-bar ends. The smoking tower is slightly set back and features plain walls, a flat top, and a row of five large metal ventilator cowls.

The Cross Street front includes a segmental-arched entrance with a 20th-century door to the left of centre, alongside a single-light and three-light window to the right, and a wider 20th-century door to the left. The first floor has a narrow window to the left of centre flanked by single three-light windows and a two-light window to the far right. A similar arrangement of single-light and flanking three-light windows is found on the second floor. A central narrow single-light window punctuates the gable. Late 20th-century glazing is incorporated in all windows with stone sills, and moulded stretcher brick segmental arches.

The interior has not been inspected.

The factory is part of a group that dates from a period when Grimsby was a major fishing centre. It was formerly owned by the fishing magnate G.F. Sleight of Weelsby Hall. This building is the only surviving example with this specific design of smoking tower. Its significance is amplified by its location within a group of smoking houses of various dates and designs, bounded by Surtees Street, Brown Street, and Sidebottom Street.