Former Mustard Seed Drying Shed, Thorpe Hamlet, Norfolk

Summary

Former mustard seed drying shed built for Colman's of Norwich, dated 1890 and extended in the early-C20.

Description

Former mustard seed drying shed built for Colman's of Norwich, dated 1890 and extended in the early-C20.

MATERIALS: Slate roof covering, and walls constructed of Somerleyton red brick with yellow gault brick dressings; the walls of the early-C20 extension are slate-hung.

PLAN: Rectangular on plan, with a curved north-west corner.

EXTERIOR: The former mustard seed drying shed is a rectangular-plan building, two-and-half storeys in height over a half-sunken basement. The combination roof is composed of three hipped roofs (1890) laid out on a north-south axis, and a taller section over the middle roof, added in the early-C20; this extension is stepped back and rises one-and-half storeys to provide a second floor and attic with a pitched roof over. From the south slope of the middle roof a pitched-roofed lucam projects at second and first floor levels, clad in corrugated-iron sheeting and supported by cast-iron brackets over the ground floor. The eaves project on shallow brackets over a gault-brick eaves course. The walls are constructed of red Somerleyton brick laid in Flemish bond with gault brick dressings; a polychromatic three-course band of gault and red brick separates the ground and first floors, and the basement is cement rendered. The walls of the early-C20 one-and-half storey extension are slate hung. The north-west corner of the building is curved to accommodate the former railway line which curved south-west around the building. The north elevation formerly had a goods entrance (since blocked), over which there is a date stone inscribed ‘1890’. The west elevation has late-C20 steel steps to a gault-brick door surround, containing double-leaf panelled doors. The south elevation has double-leaf half-glazed doors to each of the ground floor and basement. The west elevation has ten bays of windows (including the curved bay at the north-west corner), and the north and south elevations have nine bays of windows (including the north-west corner). The former window openings of the east elevation were blocked when the building was extended around 1920 (the extension was demolished in the late C20, and partially remains on the north-east corner). The windows are segmental-headed with substantial glazing bars and joins; the central six panes pivot open along their centre as casement windows.

INTERIOR: The interior generally has wooden floors supported by cast-iron pillars, and retains a high-proportion of its fixed mid-C20 industrial machinery. The ground and first floors retain a high proportion of their original window furniture, with deep stepped window reveals. The ground floor retains mid-C20 dresser machines manufactured by Robert Boby Ltd of Bury St Edmunds, driers, holding tanks, storage tanks for white and brown seed, elevators, weighers, hoppers, equipment for bagging off, and a mid- to late-C20 control panel for the machinery. The curved north-west corner is partitioned off as an office. The first floor retains a receiver from the silos and cyclones on its west side, seed spirals on the east side, and the central section retains dressers, driers, and storage tanks. Three metal doors were introduced along the east wall around 1920 when a warehouse was added to the east (demolished in the late C20), and bear the name of their manufacturer, Crittall of Braintree. From the first floor, an early-C20 plain wooden stair leads to the second floor, which has clerestory windows and retains driers, holding bins, elevators, and a conveyor which discharged into storage tanks for brown and white seed. From the west side of the second floor, a early-C20 plain wooden stair leads to the attic, which retains elevators and holding bins.

History

The Colman’s mustard business began in 1804 when Jeremiah Colman (1777-1851) commenced the milling of flour at a smock mill outside Magdalen Gate. In 1814, Colman moved his business to a larger mill at Stoke Holy Cross on the River Tas, when he took on the stock and trade of Mr Edward Ames, and commenced the milling of mustard (Norfolk Chronicle). Colman took his nephew James (1802-1854) into partnership in 1823 and the firm became J and J Colman. James’ eldest son Jeremiah James Colman (1830-1898) joined the partnership in 1851 upon his great-uncle’s death, and played a significant role in the expansion and success of the family business. By 1850 the company was rapidly outgrowing its Stoke Mill premises, and the decision was made to purchase land belonging to the Norfolk Railway Company at Carrow on the southern outskirts of Norwich, between the River Wensum and the ruins of Carrow Abbey. Between 1856 and 1862 the factory was moved to Carrow, and the earliest buildings were constructed alongside the river and adjacent the newly built railway, providing highly advantageous transport links.

An undated plan held in Norfolk County Record Office, probably drawn in the 1870s, shows the early layout of the factory buildings and their uses, facilitating the processing of raw materials through to the packaging of finished products. Mustard seed arrived at Carrow in thousands of tons and was stored in sacks in one of eight seed warehouses. Samples from each load were checked in the laboratory for quality and condition, before the seed was cleaned, dried in huge kilns and sent off to the mustard mill. Before the advent of roller milling in the 1880s, stampers powered by steam were used to crumble the hard mustard seeds to release and powder the kernel. In the mill the seed was crushed in break rolls, husk removed, sieved in purifiers, and gradually reduced to a fine powder with frequent siftings. Brown and white mustard seeds were milled separately, and the flours blended to obtain a range of products. Part of the company’s success lay in their ability to separate pure mustard flour from small fragments of brown husk, providing Colman’s mustard with its distinctive yellow colour. Mustard was originally packed in wooden casks made on site in the cooperage. The tin shop produced tins in a variety of sizes, and brightly-coloured labels were printed by the firm’s paper mill.

During the late C19 the company systematically acquired adjoining parcels of land on which to expand their venture, including the Carrow estate from the Martineau family in 1878. The subsequent expansion of the business is depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1888. The mustard seed drying shed, dated 1890, was originally constructed as one of a pair; both are shown on the 1914 OS map approximately 35 metres apart, with a railway line curving around the north-east corner of each building to a turntable and goods entrance on the north side of each building. The area between the two sheds was infilled by a warehouse around 1920, and all are shown as one block on the 1928 OS map. An aerial photograph of the site taken in 1932 shows a one-and-half storey extension had been added to the centre roof of the western mustard seed drying shed in the early C20.

Mustard seed storage buildings were also constructed to the south around 1890, and a bridge was constructed at first-floor level in the mid-C20, linking the westernmost drying shed with the store building to the south. Following the air raids and destruction of the Second World War (1939-45), Colman’s instigated a major reorganisation of the Carrow Works site in the 1950s. This included the construction of a giant slipform concrete silo block west of the drying sheds in 1952, and the conveyor between the silos and western drying shed was installed at that time. In the 1990s, both the eastern drying shed and the warehouse were demolished to make space for the storage of mint fermentation bins. In 1995 sections of Colman’s were purchased by Unilever and Robinsons, and manufacture at the Carrow site ceased in 2019.

Reasons for Listing

The former mustard seed drying shed built for Colman's of Norwich, dated 1890 and extended in the early-C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a well-executed industrial building with imposing red brick walls and polychrome brickwork, which makes a strong architectural statement;
* with the exception of the one-and-half storey addition to the roof in the early-C20, the building has been little-altered externally and retains distinctive features relating to its industrial use including a lucam on the south elevation, windows with substantial glazing bars and joins, and double-leaf panelled and half-glazed doors;
* the interior retains rows of red cast-iron columns, and an exceptionally-high proportion of its fixed mid-C20 industrial machinery, including dresser machines manufactured by Robert Boby Ltd of Bury St Edmunds.

Historic interest:

* as tangible evidence of the regional, national and international success of the Colman’s brand since the mid-C19;
* as a key surviving historic industrial building of the Colman’s manufacturing site at Carrow, a significant proportion of which was affected by bomb damage in the Second World War or reordering in the mid- and late C20.

Group value:

* for the strong contextual relationship the drying shed holds with the neighbouring K6 telephone kiosk (Grade II), as well as nearby listed and unlisted former factory buildings;
* for the contribution it makes to the historic Colman’s industrial complex at Carrow, which also includes Carrow House, Blocks 7, 7A, 8 and 8A, Block 60, and Block 92, all listed at Grade II and built in the mid- to late C19 within the setting of the scheduled remains of Carrow Priory and Grade I listed Carrow Abbey.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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