Warehouse, Basin Quay, Newry, Co Down, BT35 6HX

A two-storey symmetrical warehouse aligned east to west along the south side of the former canal basin in Newry. Built between 1860 and 1879 for William and Abraham Sinclair, owners of Clanrye Mills, on the site of earlier buildings, it first appears in the Valuation Book revision of 1876. The warehouse was occupied by Newry Bacon Curing Company from 1922 and is now occupied by J & E Whitten Ltd (Cash & Carry).

The main facade faces north and is 13 openings wide on both floors. The building is constructed of randomly laid quarried granite rubble over a raised base course. Painted chamfered brick trim runs along the top of the base course, on a projecting string course between ground and first floors, along the eaves, and as trimming around doors and windows with stepped jambs. The pitched roof is of artificial slate with a raised rendered right verge and half-round metal rainwater goods to the front.

The ground floor contains a central main entrance with a modern flat concrete head and roller shutter door. The third opening from the left holds a smaller roller shutter door with a timber head, topped by a pair of Gothic brick relieving arches matching those over the paired windows to its left. The remaining 11 ground floor openings are windows with chamfered jambs and Gothic heads featuring stop-end chamfers, sloping dressed granite cills, and metal security bars. The space between the top of the window frames and the heads is infilled with brick with stop-end chamfered bottom edges. Five windows to the left of the main entrance are 2/2 sliding sash timber, with the two at the extreme left being paired. Six windows to the right are four-paned windows of diminished height, with herringbone-pattern brickwork infilling the space between their bottom frames and cills.

The first floor openings are directly in line with those below. At the middle is a red-painted tongue-and-groove loading door with its head partially contained in a gable rising above eaves level and featuring plain collared bargeboards. Three small four-pane fixed windows flank this door on either side. Loading doors of the same type, with bargeboarded gables, occupy the third and eleventh openings from the left. The remaining openings contain windows matching those below; those at left are paired. A modern metal canopy projects across the entire length of the facade between ground and first floor levels.

A one-storey double-pile shed with Belfast truss roofs abuts the warehouse at the west and south. The left gable is abutted by a lower two-storey cement block store with a doorway between them at first floor level. The exposed section of the gable is of brick. The right gable is abutted by a one-storey shed with Belfast-truss roof and smooth cement-rendered exterior. The upper section has been largely rebuilt in concrete block, with only a small portion of original random rubble walling surviving. A modern door has been inserted at first floor, accessed by open wooden stairs from the shed.

The rear elevation is largely obscured. A flat roof of an infill structure between the warehouse and the one-storey Belfast truss shed behind it runs across at eaves level. A section of wall opposite the main entrance has been removed to facilitate access to this shed. The rest of the rear wall has been smooth rendered, though internal inspection reveals it to be random rubble. The first floor originally had no openings, and any original ground floor openings have been infilled.

The ornate frontage is of considerable architectural interest and adds substantial character to the area. The building interior is simple and utilitarian. These warehouses are becoming rare in Newry, particularly those with fine facades, and are therefore increasingly important as reminders of the town's commercial past. The building is of industrial archaeological interest and lies within a conservation area.