Description

392/0/10304 CHEAPSIDE
03-JUL-08 23-27 (ODD)
Warehouse

II
Warehouse, c.1870, red brick, polychrome brick facade to front, Flemish Bond, 4-storeys plus basement with attached contemporary lower 3-storey section to left, slate roofs, fireproof features

EXTERIOR: Cast-iron sills and lintels to windows. Front elevation: Pale yellow brick with blue and red brick dressings. 2-bay gabled warehouse with integral kneelers, shallow pitched roof, double dentil eaves cornice. Loading bay set within full-height recess to right bay, original sheet-iron loading doors. Large paired windows to ground floor left with column-style cast-iron mullion (painted black), chamfered sides, decorative moulded cast-iron lintel incorporating large fan-style motif above centre, window to right partly converted into doorway. Similarly styled windows to first and second floors, original plate glass sashes and cast-iron frame survive to first floor. Circular window and central elliptical shaped window to top floor, both with polychromatic brick surrounds (that to latter incorporates sandstone keystones). 2-bay lower section to left of warehouse (possibly originally offices or additional storage) with paired ground floor windows to left bay matching that to main warehouse (window to far left partly converted into doorway), original main entrance to right bay with folding timber double doors. Windows to floors above with replaced glazing; those to right bay are larger. Rear elevation: Single-storey outshut to ground floor. Paired windows with central cast-iron mullion (painted white) to first and second floor of main warehouse in similar style to those to front elevation, plate glass 1-over-1 sashes survive to first floor (2 sashes replaced to far left). Three smaller windows to top floor with replaced glazing and frames; two to right with segmental heads. Altered windows to lower section to right with original full-sized cast-iron sills.

INTERIOR: Original timber floors (replaced to inserted late C20 kitchen and bathroom to first floor rear), cast-iron columns throughout. Ground floor entrance hall in lower section to left, timber stair flight (with replaced coverings) to rear, two large ground floor spaces to each side (now shops). Partitioned first floor, original open-plan second and third floors. Timber stair flight (now boxed-in) between first and second floors with hatch cover, plain newel posts, balusters with chamfered edges and horizontal plank rails. Steep timber ladder-style stair between second and third floors to main warehouse alongside right external wall. Timber and iron roof trusses, two modern velux windows to third floor, partly glazed openings in left side wall lead into roof space of lower section.

HISTORY: A number of Building Acts introduced in the early-mid C19 stipulated the use of structural features into warehouse design that would make collapse less likely in the advent of fire, such as cast-iron columns on the ground floor, an enclosed stair bay, and timbers of a certain thickness. The exact date of construction of the warehouse at nos.23-27 Cheapside is unknown but it is believed to be in the late C19, probably c.1870. The street directories dating to 1870-1906 record the building as being occupied by Richard Johnson, Clapham & Morris, metal merchants, as well as a cooper and a tailor. Later, Richard Johnson and Co. took over the whole building and also another warehouse further down the street at nos.11-13 Cheapside.

SOURCES:
C Giles & B Hawkins. Storehouses of Empire: Liverpool's Historic Warehouses (London, 2004)
J Sharples. Pevsner Architectural Guides: Liverpool (New Haven & London, 2004), 142

Unpublished sources: Liverpool Street Directories - C19 & C20. Liverpool City Archives

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The warehouse at nos.23-27 Cheapside is designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:

* It is an important survival of a late C19 fireproof warehouse associated with the international port city of Liverpool
* Its design is above the purely functional with elaborated principal elevations, particularly to the front, which includes polychrome brickwork, an unusual decorative window arrangement of a circular and elliptical shaped window to the top floor of the main warehouse, a double dentil eaves cornice, and decorative cast-iron mullions and lintels
* Original features survive including sheet-iron loading doors, cast-iron sills and lintels, and cast-iron columns to all the internal spaces
* Its location in the heart of the commercial district off one of the principal routes within Liverpool and near to some of the city's most prestigious buildings reflects the high importance of warehousing and trade in the city during the late C19 and its integration into the physical fabric of the city
* It has group value with the nearby surviving warehouse at nos.11-13 Cheapside

Reasons for Listing

The warehouse at nos.23-27 Cheapside is designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:

* It is an important survival of a late C19 fireproof warehouse associated with the international port city of Liverpool
* Its design is above the purely functional with elaborated principal elevations, particularly to the front, which includes polychrome brickwork, an unusual decorative window arrangement of a circular and elliptical shaped window to the top floor of the main warehouse, a double dentil eaves cornice, and decorative cast-iron mullions and lintels
* Original features survive including sheet-iron loading doors, cast-iron sills and lintels, and cast-iron columns to all the internal spaces
* Its location in the heart of the commercial district off one of the principal routes within Liverpool and near to some of the city's most prestigious buildings reflects the high importance of warehousing and trade in the city during the late C19 and its integration into the physical fabric of the city
* It has group value with the nearby surviving warehouse at nos.11-13 Cheapside

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26688530

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability