Units 7 And 8, Bermondsey Leather Market

Former warehouses, dating from around 1833, now in office use. Units 7 and 8 form a short range to the south of the Leather Market on Weston Street. Both buildings are three storeys high and rectangular in plan, with unit 8 located immediately to the east of unit 7 but slightly further north. Both have stairs positioned to the west.

The buildings are constructed from yellow stock-brick with pitched slate roofs. Windows are generally six-over-six timber sliding sashes, except for the third floor windows of unit 7, which are square steel casements. A continuous stone lintel runs above the ground floor window heads on the exposed elevations. Most of the flat gauged-brick arches that originally spanned the upper floor windows have been replaced with soldier-courses. Where arched windows remain, the first floor windows have flat gauged-brick arches, whilst the top floor windows feature arched segmental heads.

Unit 7 has five bays across its principal elevation. The central bay contains a solid timber double door at ground floor, with loading doors on the floors above. To the left of the top loading door is a pivot hoist. To the far right at ground floor is a panelled timber personnel door with a rectangular fanlight above. Unit 8's west elevation has three bays, with the central bay matching that of unit 7. Timber panelled personnel doors occupy the flanking bays at ground floor. The north elevation of unit 8 has five bays and closely echoes the west elevation in character. Two pivot hoists stand by the loading doors in the central bay, one at first floor and one at second floor, both featuring curved braces with circular bracing in the spandrel. The south elevation has two bays, though the majority of its windows have been bricked-up or greatly reduced in size.

Internally, timber T-shaped posts support the floor joists. Both units have been partially subdivided at ground and first floor but retain large open plan spaces on the top floor, where the roof structure is exposed. The roof structures are of light-weight steel, likely dating from the late 19th or early 20th century. Some 20th-century alterations have been made.

Units 7 and 8 form part of the Leather Market, established in the early 1830s. The market originally comprised two main parts: to the west, a quadrangle of warehouses where leather factors sold leather produced by Bermondsey tanneries to curriers and leather sellers; and to the east, a narrow oblong of ground with semi-circular ends and a covered arcade where skins from butchers were sold for processing into wool, leather and parchment. The eastern part was badly damaged during the Second World War and subsequently redeveloped. The western part of the market survives, with some elements dating to the early 1830s and others from the late 19th century. Units 7 and 8 are believed to date from the earlier phase.

The Leather Market's location reflects Bermondsey's long history as a centre for leather production and associated industries. The abundant supply of water from tidal streams and ditches, combined with its location apart from the cities of London and Westminster, made Bermondsey ideal for these trades from the medieval period onwards. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, new industrial techniques and machinery transformed these into large, organized operations.