The Fish House to the rear of 312-14 Whapload Road

The Fish House to the rear of 312-14 Whapload Road

A former workshop and store, possibly associated with the repair and storage of fishing nets. The building was rebuilt in 1676 with probable 16th-century origins, and underwent mid-20th-century repairs following bomb damage.

The Fish House stands to the west of Whapload Road, forming the western side of a small enclosed yard with a setted surface. It is constructed of washed cobbles, knapped flint, red clay bricks, and some reused dressed ashlar stone, with a roof covering of reused pantiles that is unlikely to pre-date the 19th century. A long 20th-century building adjoins its northern side.

The building is a two-storey, three-bay structure with a pitched roof and parapets at the gables. The east elevation, facing into the yard, is built of washed cobbles, brick, and irregularly sized stones likely reused from another building. The eaves course is a mix of soft red clay brick and mid-20th-century Fletton bricks. The upper two to three courses have been rebuilt, probably when the roof was replaced. Three 17th-century ground-floor timber mullioned windows, originally unglazed, are placed on edge outwards in a diamond pattern beneath timber lintels. Two door openings between the first and second windows, and another between the second and third windows, contain plank and batten doors. Window and door openings are mostly surrounded by soft red clay brick with shallow-rise heads. At first-floor level, the first bay has a probable 19th-century external taking-in door, modified when the floor level was raised and reached by a timber platform. Two early to mid-19th-century timber casement windows light the remaining two bays.

The west elevation, largely obscured by late-20th-century industrial units, demonstrates high-quality construction with tightly set cobbles and numerous visible brick headers. A date stone set within a well-constructed brick surround records the date 1676 and the initials WIM. The three first-floor windows have similar timber mullions to the east elevation but are set further back in the wall. The south elevation has been largely rebuilt with Fletton bricks in the second half of the 20th century, though the lower section retains original masonry construction. The north gable end adjoins the adjacent building.

Internally, no historic fixtures and fittings survive. The roof structure and floor structures are of 20th-century date, except for part of a brick floor surface retained in the north room on the ground floor. Three ground-floor rooms, separated by later walls, are constructed to a high standard of flint pebbles and brick in a decorative style and are similar in size to pens used for storing fishing nets. The large first-floor chamber may have functioned as a net repair workshop and may originally have been open to the roof.

The approach to the courtyard from Whapload Road and the southern half of the courtyard are paved with late-19th-century setts.