John Deheers Warehouse

A warehouse, dating from the mid to late 19th century, now used as an entertainment centre and formerly Hanneys Fish Warehouse. The building is constructed of Broadmayne and other dark brick in Flemish bond, with a hipped slate roof. It has a long return frontage to East Street.

The four-storey, three-by-six-bay quay front features three-light wood mullioned casements with flat segmental heads and stone sills, set within sunk panels to wide segmental heads. There are central pairs of glazed doors with protective railing, indicating former hauling ways. The ground floor has a wide central opening with a concrete lintel and recessed doors, flanked by smaller plank doors with plain transom lights. The upper three levels have broad brick pilasters with stone capping bands, and a stepped brick eaves cornice.

The East Street front has six recessed panels with segmental heads and brick flat pilasters to a head band. It features three-light casements with flush stone sills on each level. Bay 1 has a wide square opening with a plank door under a saw-tooth brick head, while bays 2 and 5 have plank loading doors above wider ground-floor openings. A thin string course in saw-tooth brick is located above the first floor. The stepped brick cornice extends from the quay front.

The interior has been modified and subdivided to accommodate current display material, but original cast-iron columns remain in two rows. On the rear floors, floors have been removed in three bays, revealing full-width heavy square transverse beams with joist housings. The roof is of exposed queen-post construction with a central cat-walk, and the upper walls reduce to panels with piers. Stone stairs are contained within a brick shaft. The warehouse represents a forthright design, with limited external alterations and substantial internal remains, and it is an important quayside element.