Calder And Hebble Navigation Warehouse On River Calder Opposite Thornes Lane Wharf Grid Ref Se 3368 1988

The Calder and Hebble Navigation Warehouse, located on the River Calder opposite Thornes Lane Wharf, dates back to around 1790 and was converted into a single warehouse in 1816. It was built for the Calder & Hebble Navigation Company. The structure is made of coursed rubble stone with ashlar dressings and features stone slate roofs. It stands four storeys tall with an attic.

The riverfront has a seven-window facade, arranged in a 3:1:3 pattern, with a central linking section of single windows above the canal dock and original gabled three-window warehouses on either side. The current facade was remodeled in 1816. A central round-arched opening leads to the canal dock, featuring a rusticated archway with a 20th-century blue brick wall. Above this, there is a tall recessed arch with a tripartite window on each upper floor, the topmost featuring a Diocletian window. The slightly projecting wings on either side each have three windows and rise to gable pediments, with central recessed arches extending to the full height of the gables. Each floor includes segmental-headed central taking-in doorways with double doors and flanking small windows that have iron glazing bars. The pediments contain single taking-in doorways, now blocked, with tiny round-headed openings above.

The west facade mirrors this design but has boarded windows, with a repaired central upper floor section that is now rendered and has an inserted iron girder. The north and south side facades each feature five original stone mullion windows in flush ashlar surrounds on the lower two floors, some of which have been converted to doorways. Above these, the two additional floors added in 1816 have nine boarded windows with segmental heads. An iron hoist mechanism is located at the south-west corner.

Inside, the warehouse boasts massive wooden beams and cross beams supported by square wooden piers and later circular iron columns. The internal walls of the original two warehouses remain, featuring rows of inserted arches. Original wooden staircases are still in place, along with three separate original roofs that have a queen-post roof structure.