Raglan Smoke House

Smoke house built around 1845-1850 and extended to the south and east in the late C19.

MATERIALS: the main two-storey building is constructed of flint with brick dressings, the side and rear elevations covered in concrete render. The south extension is of gault and red brick laid in stretcher bond with some flint nodules, painted white on the east front. The east lean-to extension is constructed of brick, painted white. The roofs are covered in pantiles.

PLAN: the smoke house is set back from the road on the west side of Raglan Street in a terrace of predominantly domestic buildings. The mid-C19 two-storey building has a rectangular plan and is adjoined on the south and east sides by late C19 extensions.

The first-floor structure facing onto Raglan Street and the rear lean-to to the north are not included in the listing.

EXTERIOR: the smoke house is entered through a central stable door in the outshut extension. Above the lean-to roof, the main wall is pierced by two ventilation windows with central mullions and internal shutters. The steeply pitched roof has two flat smoke lights and four ridge louvre tiles. The rear (west) side also has two mullioned and shuttered smoke ventilation windows under the eaves. Abutting on the south side is a two-storey late C19 extension, lower in height and with a shallow pitched roof. The stable door on the east elevation mentioned in the original List entry from 1977 has been blocked up. A six-light window with timber mullions lights the ground-floor room, and above is a hatch with a timber door and strap hinges. A similar hatch is on the rear (west) elevation. Below this is a plank and batten door with fixed security bars, and to the right a square opening that has been boarded up.

INTERIOR: the mid-C19 building contains two identical smoke rooms entered through the original stable doors with long strap hinges. One retains its original wooden lock case. The smoke rooms, which are pervaded by the smell of smoked fish, each have a complete set of two racks, coated in a black tar-like substance – the residue from decades of the smoking process.

In the late-C19 south extension are the remains of a water pump and the fixed ladder (truncated) which provided access to the loft where the shavings for the smoking process were stored. It has a work bench with a concrete top, and modern kitchen facilities. In the outshut are the remains of two gas light fittings.