Building record 727/11/1 - Wool Warehouse

Possibly built in 1781 as a single storey stone warehouse by John Jenkinson and subsequently enlarged with the addition of a second floor in brick in c1800.

{1} There are an 18th century (stone, brick and tile) and an early 20th century (stone and asbestos) wool warehouse in Towcester Northants associated with the Jenkinson family of wool staplers and bankers. Neither are listed. Suspect that they are a comparatively rare monument.
At the east end of Bakehouse Lane, south side. Stone at the base, brick on top, and still having a crane. It was situated at the back of Jenkinson's Bank, and is referred to as a wool warehouse. It had an interesting roof at first floor level, projecting on to Moat Lane, but this was taken off a couple of years ago as it was not Listed.

{2} The business of Woolstapler was set up in 1781 by John jenkinson, He was also a silk mercer, linen draper and banker. The wool business was of county/regional significance as he was buyer of the'staple' from about 400 farmers which was then sold on to spinners, blanket and hosiery manufacturers. During the 18th century the area west of Towcester was a noted area of framework knitters which would have created some local demand. The warehouse became redundant circa 1930 when the Jenkinson family erected a new single storey warehouse at Amen Corner.
The present building has a rhombic plan approx 11m by 4m and has a stone ground floor and a brick upper floor surmounted by a flat roof.
The lower floor comprises hammer-dressed limestone blocks laid to courses with sawn limestone quoins. Better quality stone was used for the Moat Lane elevation. This elevation has a double door entrance at the north end and a single door to the south. The central window in the south elevation is tall and gives the impression of being a former doorway but this has not been proved. On the rear elevation are two tall former openings in the stonework which have been partially blocked and incorporate windows. The elevation facing onto Bakers Lane has two rectangular windows set at different levels.
The upper floor is constructed of brick laid to English bond with a large number of vitrified headers. On the Moat Lane elevation are four rectangular window openings with cambered brick arches. The upper south elevation has no openings but the west elevation has a tall opening that extends into the ground floor stone section. In Bakers Lane the upper elevation has a centrally placed blocked wide opening with a cambered brick arch. The remains of the support of a former metal crane are still in-situ to the left of the opening.
On the front elevation just above the stone ground floor there is a projecting band of brickwork comprising a header course overlain by brick laid at approx 45 degrees for ornamental effect and capped with a stretcher course. This is repeated on the rear (west) elevation at the junction with the stone base and just below the coping. It is not a feature on either the north or south elevations.
The type of brick used on the warehouse is comparable to that of 82 Watling Street which is dated 1799 but very dissimilar to the brickwork of 71 Watling Street dated 1843. A suggested date range would be 1770-1830.
Within the last twenty years the appearace o f the building has been radically altered by the removal of a pitched ground floor canopy projecting at least 2m onto the Moat Lane frontage. This was supported by raking struts built into the wall about 1m above ground level. Within the last four years an early metal crane with the pulley intact was removed from the first floor of the Bakers Lane frontage.
Documentary evidence and the upper projecting band on the west elevation shows that this building was formerly three storeys in height. The date of the removal of the upper floor and construction of the flat roof is not known but was presumably a 220th century alteration.
The stone base and brick upper floors suggests two phases but this is far from proved. All that can be certain is that the upper floors were constructed c.1800. There are three possible scenarios:
1. Jenkinson modified an existing stone barn c.1781 by building two storeys above it.
2. Jenkinson built a single storey stone warehouse in 1781 and extended it in height c.1800 as the business increased
3. Both the ground and upper floors are contemporary and were erected in 1781.
Scenario 1 seems unlikely as the arrangement of the windows and doors on the ground floor are not those of a ‘normal’ urban barn and there is no evidence of early blocked features such as ventilation slits. Scenario 3 would only apply if there was some technical reason associated with the wool trade why the ground floor should be in stone and not brick. Scenario 2 is therefore the favoured option as to how the building developed.

<1> Giggins B., 2004, Wool Houses at Towcester, (checked) (Correspondence). SNN104845.

<2> Giggins B., 2009, John Jenkinson's Wool Warehouse, Moat Lane, Towcester: An Historic Building Assessment, (checked) (Report). SNN106608.

<3> Giggins, B., 2005, Towcester's Industrial Archaeology (Leaflet). SNN107693.

Record last edited

Oct 6 2022 4:22PM