Utility Block Immediately East of No.244a

The utility block immediately east of No. 244A in Great Yarmouth is a Grade II listed building, originally constructed between 1806 and 1810 as a smithy and carpenters' shop. It was designed by James Wyatt for the Ordnance Board and is shown on a map from 1810. The building has been converted to light engineering works in 1971. It is made of red brick and features Cumberland slate roofs, with a single storey and a layout of three by five bays. The south face has a central semi-circular arched entrance, flanked by two 3/6-pane unhorned sash windows with gauged skewback arches. The building also has a dentil eaves cornice and a hipped roof. The interior is plain.

Historically, this utility block is part of the original Board of Ordnance store built to support the fleet anchored in Yarmouth Roads during the war with France from 1793 to 1815. The site was initially designed with parallel ranges of storehouses extending westward from a quay on the River Yare, enclosing a working area that included a small magazine. James Wyatt, who served as the Architect to the Board of Ordnance from 1782, is likely the designer. The building is one of two barrack blocks that remain from its conversion into Militia Barracks in the 1850s. Further alterations occurred after the site was purchased by Coleman's food manufacturers in the 1890s. Some of the original Napoleonic structures, including storehouses and the magazine, were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.