Former Trinity House Buoy Shed, Kingston upon Hull, City of Kingston upon Hull

Summary

Former buoy shed, 1901 to designs by David Christie for the Corporation of the Trinity House, Hull. C20 alterations.

Description

Former buoy shed, 1901 to designs by David Christie for the Corporation of the Trinity House, Hull. C20 alterations.

MATERIALS: brick with ashlar dressings of white, yellow and orange stone, and slate and corrugated sheeting roofs.

PLAN: the buoy shed stands parallel to the River Hull on its east bank. It comprises a large, double-height rectangular shed with a mezzanine level on the east side. It has two different width double-pile, gablet roofs aligned north-south. A single-storey shed abuts the south wall, with a gablet roof aligned east-west.

EXTERIOR: the building is constructed of orange brick in English bond. The double-height shed has a high plinth band of blue bricks (painted black on the roadside), a high-level yellow ashlar sill band and a yellow ashlar string band with a brick parapet with moulded ashlar coping. Bays are defined by brick pilasters with yellow ashlar relief panels at their heads and brick pedestals with moulded ashlar coping above, projecting beyond the parapet. The lower, single-storey shed has a blue brick plinth to its east and west elevations, which also have narrow, moulded ashlar strings at impost level, and continuing over the goods entrance archways, beneath which are blue brick bands. It has a brick parapet with moulded ashlar coping and corner pedestals, also with moulded ashlar coping.

The west, river façade of the double-height shed is of five bays with wider, slightly projecting central and outer bays with dentilated cornices supported by the pilasters. The central bay has a square, ashlar relief panel depicting the Trinity House coat of arms of three stars and an anchor supported by dolphins with the motto SPES SUPER SYDERA (Hope Beyond the Stars). It is set in a moulded orange ashlar frame. The outer bays each have a full-width, elliptical-arched goods entrance with a frame of rusticated chamfered stones to the reveals and voussoirs, with a giant keystone. The left-hand goods entrance has an iron roller shutter. The right-hand goods entrance has brick infill with two tall windows with orange ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. Above both goods entrances are two shorter windows with shaped yellow ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. The left-hand corner is curved with a curved ashlar stone parapet. Behind the parapet is a slate, gablet roof with two large roof-lights to the outer ends of the ridge. Abutting the right-hand end is the lower, single-storey, single-bay shed. It has an elliptical-arched goods entrance with a brick header archway and shaped giant keystone of yellow ashlar. It has timber double doors. Behind the parapet is a gablet roof covered in corrugated sheeting.

The east, roadside elevation is of five bays with slightly projecting outer bays. The central bay and two outer bays each have a full-width, elliptical-arched goods entrance with similar rusticated frames. The two outer goods entrances have brick infill with two tall windows with orange ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. The central goods entrance has an iron roller shutter. The head of the arch is bricked up with the ashlar lintels of two windows remaining. Above each of the goods entrances are two shorter windows with shaped yellow ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. The brick parapet only has pedestals to the two outer bays on this elevation; the right-hand corner of the building is curved with a curved ashlar stone parapet. Behind the parapet is a slate, gablet roof with two ridge roof-lights. Abutting the left-hand end is the lower, single-storey, single-bay shed, which projects slightly. It has an elliptical-arched goods entrance with a brick header archway and shaped giant keystone of yellow ashlar. It has timber double doors.

The north elevation of the double-height shed is of three bays, the two outer bays wider. The central bay has a tall, round-headed pedestrian doorway with a frame of blue bricks and a narrow, moulded ashlar string at impost level and continuing over the archway. Over the doorway is a grey granite plaque inscribed THIS BUOY SHED / ERECTED BY / THE CORPORATION OF THE / TRINITY HOUSE HULL / 1901 / D CHRISTIE ARCHITECT / G SHETLIFF CHAIRMAN OF THE BUOYAGE COMMITTEE. Above is a flag pole with an arrow weather vane finial, attached to the wall by iron brackets. The right-hand bay has a similar full-width, elliptical-arched goods entrance with a rusticated frame. It has timber double-doors beneath a steel lintel girder. The head of the archway is boarded. Above the goods entrance are two shorter windows with shaped yellow ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. There are two similar high-level windows to the left-hand bay, which is blind at the lower level. The outer bays have dentilated cornices.

The south elevations of the double-height shed and the lower, single-storey shed are blind.

INTERIOR
The interior of the main shed is divided into two unequal spaces along the line of the roof valley running the length of the building. Two load-bearing brick walls alternate with three wide openings, the north opening now in-filled with concrete breezeblocks* and corrugated metal sheeting*, which are not of special interest. The walls support I-beam steel girders spanning the openings and also the roof trusses to each side. On the west riverside is the largest space which is the full height and full length of the building. On the east roadside there are mezzanine floors at both ends linked by a central walkway against the east outer wall. Three large, round-headed archways in the dividing wall connect the main shed and the smaller, south shed; the east and west archways are now blocked. The original flooring is constructed of narrow, stone blocks, much now covered in a concrete screed. The roof trusses are constructed of bolted steel girders stamped LEEDS STEEL WORKS, rafters, struts and rods: the largest space has seven trusses of I-beam girders with T-shaped rafters and two T-shaped struts to each side with diagonal rods rising to the truss apexes; the narrower, mezzanine side and the south shed have similar steel trusses, but with single struts to each side with one pair of diagonal rods rising to the truss apexes. The roofs are lined by diagonal timber boarding resting on narrow, timber rafters. The interconnecting archways and original high-level windows have curved brickwork and stop-chamfers to the reveals. The lower windows in the goods entrances have square brick reveals.

The full-height space on the west side of the main shed has a travelling hoist attached to the I-beam girder of the second roof truss from the north end, adjacent to the goods entrance. It has a roller blind and mechanism framework attached to the wall. At the south end is an inserted single-storey metal and wiring storage room*, which is not of special interest.

The east side of the main shed has mezzanine floors with timber-fronted floor beams between the outer walls and the dividing, load-bearing walls. A flight of timber steps in the central area lead up to the set-back linking walkway, with a timber post and rail balustrade to the walkway and either side. Beneath the walkway is the central goods entrance roller blind and mechanism framework attached to the wall. The ground floor of the north mezzanine is separated off by the breezeblock wall*, with corrugated sheeting* at first-floor level, which are not of special interest. The north wall has timber shelving set between projecting brick piers at ground-floor level and a built-in desk and drawers beneath the two windows at first-floor level. The first floor of the south mezzanine is partly open into the west side of the shed, now with a safety barrier of scaffolding poles*, which is not of special interest.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest, however any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require Listed Building Consent and this is a matter for the Local Planning Authority to determine.

History

The Guild or Brotherhood of Masters and Pilots, Seamen of the Trinity House of Kingston upon Hull, started as a religious guild in 1369 and became a guild of mariners in the mid C15. They became responsible for buoying and navigation aids in the Humber from around 1512. In 1799 a purpose-built buoy shed was built in the garden to the west of Trinity House. It subsequently stood next to Junction Dock, which was completed in 1829, later renamed Prince’s Dock. In 1841 the building was rebuilt to provide better facilities and more space to work on the new larger buoys and light floats.

In 1901 the Buoyage Committee of Trinity House commissioned a new buoy shed on the east bank of the River Hull, on the site of a timber yard. The architect was David Christie. The main double-height building was designed to be easily accessible with two large-scale goods entrances to the west, riverside elevation, three similar goods entrances to the east, roadside elevation and one to the north elevation, alongside a pedestrian doorway. The narrower, lower shed at the south end also had a large-scale goods entrance to both the east and west elevations. Alterations were made early in the building’s history with one of the riverside goods entrances and all the roadside goods entrances bricked up in the double-height building. The latter may have been bricked up because a mezzanine floor was added along the east side. Each bricked-up entrance incorporated a pair of tall windows with orange, ashlar frames, rather than the yellow ashlar used for the frames of the high-level windows. The Trinity House coat of arms on the riverside also has an orange ashlar frame which cuts through the original moulded sill band and so may belong to these alterations. The central goods entrance to the roadside was then reopened with the two window lintels remaining above the present doorway. A 1949 Goad fire insurance plan labels the building as Humber Conservancy Board Buoy Shop and shows the mezzanine floors on the east side of the building with a narrow linking walkway over the central goods entrance. An historic photograph of an unknown date shows the main building with two large, raised roof lanterns, now replaced by double-pitched roof lights.

In the late C20 the building was used as a workshop by a marine civil engineering firm. It is presently (2018) empty.

Reasons for Listing

The former Trinity House Buoy Shed of 1901 by David Christie, with C20 alterations, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* as an architect-designed, purpose-built buoy shed built for the Buoyage Committee of Trinity House;

* the buoy shed demonstrates its prestige as a building owned by Trinity House through the quality and degree of architectural detailing to the exterior.

Historic interest:

* Trinity House had a long-standing responsibility for navigational safety in the Humber estuary, originating in the C16 and this buoy shed was used for the storage and maintenance of the buoys and navigational aids needed;

* as a rare example of a particular building type associated with England’s maritime history.

External Links

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