Paynes Wharf

Payne's Wharf is a marine boiler factory that is currently used for paper storage. The front section of the building dates to around 1860 and is designed in the Italianate style, while the rear part likely dates from the 1880s, as indicated on Stanford's map of 1891. It was built for J Penn and Sons, marine engineers. The front is constructed of stock brick in Flemish bond, featuring painted stone dressings. The riverfront showcases a moulded cornice and six giant arches with rusticated keystones, moulded impost blocks, and pilasters. Although the arches are currently boarded up, mid-20th century photographs reveal wooden Diocletian windows above the impost blocks, with brick lower sections that had metal shutter-fronted openings added in the 20th century. The side elevation consists of two bays with a cornice, pilasters, and impost blocks. It has two cambered openings on two floors, but all are blocked except for the left opening on the first floor, which has a later 19th-century metal-framed casement. The remainder of the building is also made of stock brick but in English bond. The side elevation is two storeys high with fifteen windows featuring metal casements, and the ground floor openings are blocked. The rear elevation has four painted gables with eight cambered casements and a hoist on the left side, flanked by side windows on the first floor, with large blocked openings on the ground floor. Historically, this site was significant as the engine of the world's first ironclad, HMS Warrior, was fitted here, along with the engines of early Dreadnought battleships. Production at the site ceased in 1911.