Covered Dock And Workshops At British Waterways Maintenance Depot

The covered dock and workshops at the British Waterways Maintenance Depot were built in the mid-19th century, although they likely have origins dating back to the late 18th century. The structure is made of Flemish bond purple brick with a dentil cornice, and there is some Hartshill granite rubble in the rear wall facing the road. It features 20th-century plain-tile hipped roofs and a central brick ridge stack. The building is L-shaped, with a right wing, and consists of one storey with 12 bays. The main range has seven bays of varying widths. The first bay has a lower roof and a wide elliptical arch that is blocked, with two late 20th-century casements inserted and small circular windows on either side, along with flanking piers. The fourth bay includes elliptical-arched double doors, while the seventh bay has similar, narrower double-leaf doors. Round-arched windows with many glazing bars are present throughout, and the sixth bay has a 20th-century half-glazed door. The left range is set back and features another wide elliptical arch. The four-bay wing has paired bays that are slightly recessed between brick piers, and a stable door on the right has a fanlight above it. A small central pediment gable with a dentil cornice and a semi-circular window is also present. At the angle of the roof, there is a painted wood clock turret. The lower stage of the turret has square windows with decorative glazing on the front and rear, and round clock faces on the side returns. The upper stage features angle piers and paired louvred round-arched openings, topped with a concave lead roof and a weathervane. On the right return side, there is a wide elliptical arch leading to the covered dock at a lower level, with two small semi-circular openings above, one of which is blocked. There are also smaller blind semi-circular and round-arched openings to the left. Inside the dock, there are shallow segmental transverse vaults of brick supported by iron beams. The blacksmith's shop contains a hearth, and the workshops have King-post and Queen-post roofs.