The Seed Warehouse

The Seed Warehouse is a former warehouse for seed and grain storage, dating to the mid-19th century. It sustained war damage and was repaired in 1944, before being converted to offices and museum storage between 1989 and 1990 by Hale, Sutton, Thomas and Page, architects. The building is constructed of yellow stock brick laid in English bond, with red brick dressings, now partly stuccoed. It has Welsh slate roofs.

The south range features a curved triangular end facing The Wash, built of yellow brick with red brick dressings and diaper patterns. Recessed windows are set beneath segmental arches with a red brick header course. A doorway at the apex has double leaf doors with an upper glazed panel, set within a projecting bush-hammered sandstone surround with an elliptical arch and a splayed cornice cap above. A long panel with red brickwork surround displays ‘A McMullen & Co Ltd Seed Merchants’ in gold lettering on a green ground, surmounted by a coved pebbledashed eaves cornice. To the right of the entrance, along Maidenhead Yard, is a former loading bay with battened doors on both the ground and first floors. An attic slate-hung, slate-hip-roofed hoist chamber projects forward, supported by timber brackets, and a perimeter steel girder is visible. The roof with a curved hipped end rises over the main block, with a gabled end to the left of the entrance.

The north range has an irregular plan, with sections rebuilt in the early 20th century and again after 1945. It is of yellow brick with shallow windows on the ground and first floors, and a loading bay with doors at ground and first floor level, beneath a slate-hung gable-roofed hoist chamber carried on timber gallows brackets.

The east elevation, facing the north spur of Maidenhead Yard, has a six-bay centre with a stuccoed projection to the right, featuring 20th-century glazed entrance doors and a screen. The north-west elevation, now stuccoed, faces the River Lea; it has a monopitch end to the left, a gabled end to the right, and a four-bay centre infilling the space between the two. This section contains two-light timber casement windows on the ground floor, first floor, and attics.

The interior has been subdivided for office and storage use. A cast-iron structure remains, featuring columns approximately 15cm in diameter with bell capitals and eared flange connectors, alongside flanged base plates, with some elements repaired using steel girders. The attics have been converted to office space, revealing an exposed strutted and trussed rafter roof.

Historically, the seed merchants was founded by A McMullen after his retirement from the family's brewery. The offices were previously located at No 18 The Wash. The warehouse’s location provided easy access to the River Lea. In 1972, the warehouse was acquired by Hertford Town Council for museum storage. A full refurbishment was undertaken between 1989 and 1990, providing improved storage and conservation facilities for Hertford Museum, and offices for the Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust.