Premises of Guest and Chrimes

Overview

These brass and iron foundry workshop ranges were built for the firm Guest and Chrimes. The northern range dates to around 1857, with eight eastern bays added shortly afterwards. The middle range was constructed between 1857 and 1888, and the southern range comprises a section built around 1857 (two storeys) with a late 19th-century three-storey addition.

Materials and Construction

The ranges are built of red brick in English garden wall bond. The northern range has a combination of Welsh slate, corrugated sheeting, and felted roof covering. Both the middle and southern ranges have Welsh slate roofs.

Layout

The building consists of three long, parallel ranges oriented roughly east-west. The northern range is three storeys with a large, double-height crane hall towards the west end, beside which sits an engine house with a water tower above. The middle range is three storeys, with the upper floors at the east end supported on ironwork over an open ground floor that formerly allowed entrance into the yard through a cart entrance in the now-demolished front range. The southern range is mostly three storeys with a two-storey block at the west end.

Note: The following description is based primarily on photographs from 2012 provided by the listing applicant, as exterior access was limited and no interior access was provided during the site visit in September 2019.

Northern Range

Exterior

This range is built of red brick in English garden wall bond (mostly five courses of stretchers to one course of headers). It is 34 bays long, with a straight joint between the 26 western bays and eight eastern bays, though the detailing is otherwise similar. Cross walls and ragged outer walls at the east end mark where part of the return angle to the front range has been demolished.

The range is three storeys except for a two-bay rectangular water tower towards the west end, which has an additional two storeys supporting an iron water tank. The tank is painted pinky red and bears the name "GUEST & CHRIMES" on the north and south sides and "GUEST & CHRIMES LTD" on the east and west sides. The three bays west of the water tower have a hipped roof covered in roofing felt. East of the water tower are blocks of bays separated by cross walls that project above roof level: 10 bays forming a crane hall rising through two floors with modern corrugated sheeting on the pitched roof; 11 bays also with modern corrugated sheeting on the pitched roof; and eight bays at the east end with a Welsh slate pitched roof.

The closely spaced windows have segmental-arched heads formed of narrow bricks and projecting stone sill bands. Those retaining window frames have cast-iron, 30-pane frames incorporating six-pane opening hoppers.

The long north elevation shows evidence of a former abutting two-storey building through white painted brickwork and mortice holes for trusses above the first-floor windows. Most ground-floor openings appear to be infilled with brickwork. End plates of bracing rods are visible. At the left-hand (east) end is a segmental-arched cart entrance through the building. Many first-floor windows have been bricked up or boarded over, while many window frames remain on the second floor. Brick eaves stacks appear between the third and fourth bays, the tenth and eleventh bays, and the sixteenth and seventeenth bays from the left-hand end. The water tower windows have been bricked up, and end plates of bracing rods are present on both floors.

The long south elevation formerly had later buildings against part of its ground floor, indicated by white paintwork and cut-off steel girders projecting from the wall. The ground floor has end plates of bracing rods. The windows are similar to the north elevation, with several bricked up. Wider segmental-arched doorways lead to the engine house (now bricked up) and across the fourteenth and fifteenth bays of the crane hall, while at the right-hand (east) end is the opposing segmental-arched cart entrance. Several taking-in doors with segmental-arched heads serve the upper floors. Towards the right-hand end, a fretted iron rail—probably supporting a former external walkway—is attached to the wall above the first-floor windows. The water tower has bricked-up windows and a boarded-up doorway at third-floor level, with end plates for bracing rods on both floors.

Due to demolition, the east end gable wall is formed by a former cross wall with ragged side walls projecting forward. Socket holes for joists for the first and second floors are visible, with doorways at these levels fitted with metal fire doors.

The west end wall is blind with the second-floor projecting stone sill band continuing across from the side elevations. This is interrupted in the centre by a bricked-up opening, and diagonal scars from pitched roofs of former attached buildings are visible. The wall is painted white. Several end plates for bracing rods appear at first-floor level, and there is a modern opening at ground-floor level.

Interior

Internally, the range is divided into a series of rooms by brick walls. On the ground floor, rooms to the east of the engine house are interconnected by axial round-headed openings. The engine house towards the west end has a large circular scar marking the position of a flywheel at the right-hand (south) end of the east internal wall. At the left-hand (north) end are bearing boxes to transmit power through to the adjacent crane hall. Bearing boxes also appear in the west internal wall. A timber ceiling has been inserted at first-floor level.

The crane hall rises through two storeys with wooden rails along the north and south walls supported by brick piers integral to the building. The second floor is supported on steel girders running across the building. The ground-floor workshop on the east side of the crane hall has timber cross beams now supported by an axial row of steel stanchions. The room above on the first floor has a floor of double timber boarding, and steel cross girders are supported by an axial row of steel stanchions. The cross walls contain bearing boxes.

On the second floor, the floors of the large workshop room over the crane hall and the adjacent room to the east are concrete. This part of the building has been re-roofed with steel trusses. The workshop at the east end reportedly has a roof structure of bolted timber king-post trusses with raking struts and side purlins. The west cross wall of the workshop immediately east of the water tower bays has a wide original opening with a timber lintel and a brick relieving arch over. A large iron bearing bracket is attached to the wall.

Middle Range

Exterior

This range is built of red brick in English garden wall bond (five courses of stretchers to one course of headers) with a hipped Welsh slate roof. It is three storeys high, eighteen bays long, and four bays wide. The appearance is similar to the northern range, with closely spaced windows having segmental-arched heads of narrow bricks and projecting stone sill bands. Several cast-iron window frames remain with 30 panes incorporating six-pane opening hoppers. Many are boarded up or bricked up, and others have modern casement frames.

The long north elevation formerly had an abutting single-storey building, indicated by white paintwork and cut-off steel girders projecting from the wall. Several doorways appear on the ground floor and taking-in doors to the upper floors, all with segmental-arched heads. Six brick eaves stacks appear from the left-hand end: between the third and fourth bays, the sixth and seventh bays, the ninth and tenth bays, the eleventh and twelfth bays, the thirteenth and fourteenth bays, and the fifteenth and sixteenth bays. End plates for bracing rods are present across the elevation.

At the east end, the first and second floors of the two left-hand bays are supported on an iron lintel carried by a cast-iron column at the corner. This end of the range is built at an uneven acute angle, with the upper floors of the southern side of the angle formerly abutting the rear wall of the now-demolished front range. The three-bay northern side of the angle continues the iron lintel, carried on a second cast-iron column towards the left-hand end. This arrangement creates an open ground floor at the east end that previously allowed vehicles to enter the yard through the cart entrance in the front range.

The long south elevation has closely-spaced windows to the left-hand end and more widely-spaced windows to the right-hand end. Several doorways on the ground floor and taking-in doors to the upper floors have segmental-arched heads. The first and second floors of the two right-hand (east end) bays are also supported on an iron lintel carried on a cast-iron column towards the right-hand end. Five brick eaves stacks appear between the third and fourth bays, the fifth and sixth bays, the seventh and eighth bays, the ninth and tenth bays, and the tenth and eleventh bays.

The ground floor of the angled east end is curved and set back beneath the overriding upper floors. The ground-floor projecting stone sill band continues round from the long side walls, and the two windows are similarly detailed. The southern side of the angled upper floors is left open following demolition of the front range.

The west end wall has four windows on each floor, the upper windows apparently always blind, and those on the ground floor more recently bricked up.

Interior

Internally, the range is divided into a series of rooms by brick walls. The joists of the timber floors sit on timber cross beams supported by axial rows of slim cast-iron columns on the ground and first floors, except for the four bays at the west end of the ground floor, which reportedly have a fireproof jack-arched ceiling. On the ground floor there is a hearth with an iron frame in a partially demolished internal wall aligned with a stone-lined culvert entering the building from the north. Cast-iron bearing brackets are bolted to a reinforced timber framework fixed to the ceiling. The second floor has bolted timber king-post trusses with raking struts and side purlins. The second-floor east workshop has a rope hoist with a timber frame fixed into the roof structure.

Southern Range

Exterior

This range is built of red brick in English garden wall bond (five courses of stretchers to one course of headers) with Welsh slate roofs and a similar appearance to the two other ranges: closely spaced windows with segmental-arched heads of narrow bricks and projecting stone sill bands. The majority of windows have been bricked up or boarded, though several retain small-pane metal window frames.

Most of the building is three storeys and was originally fifteen bays to the south elevation and thirteen bays to the north elevation; the south elevation is now fourteen bays at first-floor level and fewer at second-floor level due to demolition. At the west end is a two-storey, four-bay building. There is a straight joint at first-floor level between the two sections, and the first-floor sill bands are not completely aligned. The roof over the three-storey section previously had an angled hip at the east end where it abutted the narrower caretaker's house in the front range; the hipped part of the roof has been demolished along with the caretaker's house, leaving a ragged east end. The roofs are double-pitched with gable walls at the west end.

The north elevation has several doorways on the ground floor and taking-in doors to the upper floors with segmental-arched heads. At the right-hand end of the two-storey section is a wider cart entrance with a segmental-arched head, and to its immediate left is a more recent wide opening with a steel lintel. At the left-hand end, part of the wall at second-floor level has been demolished. Two brick eaves stacks appear in the three-storey section between the tenth and eleventh bays and the twelfth and thirteenth bays. End plates for bracing rods are present across the elevation.

The south elevation originally had closely-spaced windows on all floors. On the first floor, the fourth-bay window of the two-storey section and the adjacent window in the three-storey section were later converted to doorways. A more recent wide opening with a steel lintel appears in the eighth and ninth bays of the three-storey section. End plates for bracing rods are present across the elevation.

The east end has no external wall as it previously abutted the caretaker's house.

The west gable walls of the three-storey section and the two-storey section are blind. The outline of a former single-storey building with a double-pitched roof is visible in white paint on the outer gable wall.

Interior

Internally, the range is divided into a series of rooms by brick walls. The timber floors have timber cross beams with axial rows of slim cast-iron columns, those at ground-floor level reportedly strengthened with underslung iron tension trusses. Wooden staircases provide access between floors in the three-storey section, and there is a small electric passenger lift towards the east end. The second floor has bolted timber king-post trusses with raking struts and side purlins. Towards the west end is a rope hoist partly suspended from the roof structure and partly supported on heavy posts. The two-storey section is open to the roof, though joist sockets indicate a removed first floor. The roof structure is a timber king-post truss, which may be a replacement.