Former Weedon Barracks, Storehouse Number 8

This is a warehouse, built between 1804 and 1810, and part of a group of even-numbered buildings on the south side of the canal. It is constructed of Flemish bond red brick with gauged brick dressings to the arches, and originally had an M-shaped Welsh slate roof, now replaced with slate. The building has a rectangular plan with a central vestibule containing stairs, which open into flanking storerooms.

The north elevation, facing the canal, has two storeys and an 11-window range. The central double doors have 12-panel double-leaf doors flanked by stone pilasters supporting a Doric entablature, with cambered arches above tripartite sash windows. Similar, now blocked, doorways are at either end, with matching windows above. Late 19th-century wooden casements with two lights are set within semi-circular arched recesses on the ground floor; the first floor has horned 6/6-pane sashes. The centre and ends of the building project slightly. There is a plinth and a first-floor string course. Original features include a stone cornice and blocking course, unusual for surviving examples. A brick parapet tops the building.

The south elevation mirrors the north, but the slope of the land allows for a basement storey. This has a robust classical treatment, with grey sandstone vermiculated rustication and semi-circular arches over original nail-studded plank doors beneath louvred tympanae. The central bay projects and has iron railings that open out to a central loading area. Retaining walls with steps provide access to the canal basin.

The basement has brick tunnel vaults to each bay. The first floor is supported by three rows of stop-chamfered timber posts with pillow beams. Steel trusses date from a 1938 roof remodelling. An open string staircase has chamfered and scroll-stopped newels, diamond-set balusters, and a moulded handrail. Semi-circular arched doorways, set within semi-circular arched recesses, lead to the storerooms.

The building retains several original features, including pivots for a jig crane, and a wall-mounted hydraulic jigger with a pulley wheel, linked to the hydraulic crane system installed around 1886.

The building is part of a unique, planned military-industrial complex with a defensible transport system and surrounding walls. Further details can be found in the description of Storehouse No. 2.