Blackmore'S Depository

Blackmore's Depository, Rope Walk, Bideford

A collar factory, later converted to a furniture depository and now used as workshops, shops and a keep-fit studio. Built probably in 1898, designed by RT Hookway of Bideford. The building stands on a site previously used for rope-making.

The structure is constructed of cream brick with dressings of red brick and dark red stone resembling sandstone on its front elevation, while the rear wall is built of stone rubble. It has a hipped slate roof and a cream-brick chimney positioned on the centre of the rear wall.

The building follows a single-depth rectangular plan with three storeys, except for a single-storey section at the left-hand end. The front elevation is a notable 22-window range, with the single-storey section containing five additional windows flanked by a doorway to the right and a cart-entrance to the left.

The main range is designed with strong vertical emphasis, with window openings set in shallow recesses that rise through all three storeys. The central recess features a gabled projection containing the main entrance at ground level and a loading door on each upper storey. The recesses have jambs and segmental arches of red brick with keystones. Windows are positioned beneath rectangular panels outlined in red brick.

The principal entrance has stone jambs and a round cream-brick arch with a keystone and flat stone archivolt, enclosed within a rectangular stone frame. The double doors each have six heavily moulded panels with ornate iron handles, and are topped by a fanlight with radial glazing bars. The text "BLACKMORES' DEPOSITORY" is painted on the archivolt.

The loading doors feature jambs and segmental arches of red brick with keystones. The upper part of each opening contains double plank doors, while the lower part is occupied by a 4-paned window. At the top of the third-storey loading door is a projecting iron girder fitted with a pulley-wheel.

Openings within the flanking recesses, including seven ground-storey doorways, have segmental arches of cream brick with keystones and contain plank doors with 3-paned fanlights. The windows throughout have three mullioned-and-transomed lights.

At eaves level is a simple red-brick cornice composed of two stepped courses. The ridge is crowned by a square cupola with an ogee roof and weather-vane, visible from Kingsley Road.

At the right-hand end is a single-storey lean-to masked by the bases of two recesses similar to those on the main front; it remains unclear whether these represent an extension later demolished or one that was never completed.

The single-storey section on the left is a plainer version of the main range. Its window openings have segmental cream-brick arches linked at springing and sill levels by red-brick bands, with windows of the same three-light mullioned-and-transomed design. The doorway at the right-hand end has red-brick jambs and panelled double-doors with 3-paned fanlights. The cart-entrance to the left has a plain lintel, probably a girder cased in cement, with double plank doors.

Though the interior was not inspected, photographs formerly displayed inside the main entrance showed a staircase with thin square balusters, probably of iron, and a continuous wooden handrail. The roof structure consists of kingpost-and-ridge trusses.

The building is recorded as a collar factory on the 1904 Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, confirming its industrial function in the early 20th century.