Corn Stores

The Corn Stores, also known as the Old Granary, is a warehouse that has been converted into a museum and shop. It dates from the late 17th century and underwent alterations around 1935 and 1970. The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond, featuring some vitrified headers, and has a clay plain tile roof with gabled ends.

The structure has a long, narrow plan with a single depth range of eight cells, each consisting of two bays. A continuous timber gallery runs along the front, with a double flight of stairs at the center. The ground floor was remodeled in the 1930s, replacing the front wall with canted bay windows.

The exterior is two stories high, with the north front showcasing 20th-century canted bay windows on the ground floor. The timber gallery extends outward on the first floor, supported by cranked posts and wooden rails. The main roof extends to form a canopy over the gallery. The first-floor doorways feature plank doors, timber lintels, and semi-circular relieving arches, with extended tie-beams of the main roof supporting the gallery roof. There are some later inserted windows at the rear, and the east end wall has been rebuilt or refaced in brick.

Inside, the ground floor has unchamfered cross-beams that jet out at the front to support the gallery. Brick partition walls divide the range into eight bays, each with a 2-bay roof featuring queen-post and collar trusses. The softwood tie-beams extend through the front wall to support the gallery roof purlin, with tenoned purlins and intact common-rafter couples. The roof has been reinforced with later diagonal braces and intermediate collars.

This warehouse is located on the old wharf of the River Kennet and is adjacent to the Cloth Hall, built in 1626-7 as a municipal cloth-weaving workshop to provide employment for the poor.