Lock Warehouse

Lock Warehouse, now an antiques market, restaurant, and offices, was built in 1834 for J and C Sturge, corn merchants. In 1877, William Savory and Son, engineers of Gloucester, strengthened the building by adding cast-iron columns. The roof was replaced in 1917 after a fire, and the building was altered around 1920 to include larger windows when it was used for sack cleaning and repairs.

The building is constructed of brick with stone and timber lintels, and has a slate roof with a brick eaves cornice. Internally, it features timber floors supported by hollow cast-iron columns. It is a large, rectangular, end-gabled block facing towards the Lock at the north end of the Main Basin. A cast-iron fire escape stair links the loading door openings in the center of the east side.

The building is five stories high with a basement and loft. The side elevation has a former loading door opening flanked by six windows on the south side. Each gable-end wall has a former loading door opening flanked by two windows on each floor, and a single window in the gable. On the lower three floors, much of the fenestration has been altered with the insertion of larger windows in openings with stone lintels. Original, smaller square windows on the upper floors retain timber lintels. A later cast-iron fire escape stair serves all the doors in the central loading door opening. The north gable has five windows.

Inside, the later-inserted cast-iron columns are inscribed with the name of the supplier, and the original open floors were altered in the late 20th century with the insertion of partitions.