Weighbridge and Weighbridge Office at Coventry Canal Basin

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

A Weighbridge Office thought to date from after 1810, with associated C19 weighbridge. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1433094
Date first listed:: 02-Mar-2016
List Entry Name:: Weighbridge and Weighbridge Office at Coventry Canal Basin

User submitted image — Uploaded by Alan Murray-Rust This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1433094
Date first listed:: 02-Mar-2016
List Entry Name:: Weighbridge and Weighbridge Office at Coventry Canal Basin
Location Description:: Weighbridge and building on south side of entrance to Coventry Basin off St Nicholas Street, Coventry.

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Coventry (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SP3326379549

Summary

A Weighbridge Office thought to date from after 1810, with associated C19 weighbridge.

Reasons for Designation

The Weighbridge and Weighbridge Office of post 1810 at Coventry Canal are listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * Architectural interest: as a good surviving example of an early C19 Weighbridge Office, with good detailing; * Historic interest: for their association with the development of Coventry Canal, which was laid out by James Brindley; * Group value: with the surviving canal basin, warehouse and other canal structures.

History

The Coventry Canal Company was formed in 1768, and commissioned the engineer James Brindley to develop the canal which would connect Coventry with Fradley Junction, approximately 38 miles to the north. The basin at Coventry was completed in 1769, although the final sections of the canal were not finished until 1790.

The Weighbridge Office is thought to date from after 1810, and functioned as a toll office with weighbridges on either side, and machinery internally for the weighing of vehicles entering and leaving the basin. It is understood that there were originally two weighbridges; that to the north no longer survives.

Details

MATERIALS: The office building is constructed of brick with a slate roof, and the weighbridge is cast iron.

PLAN: The office has a wedge-shaped plan, with a curved facade facing the canal basin. The rectangular weighbridge is on the south side of the office, with adjacent gatepiers.

EXTERIOR: The building has a curved facade facing the canal basin to the east; this facade has a central timber door under a flat arch lintel with a central keystone. There is a dentil course around the whole building, which sits under a slate roof and the curved elevation has a tall chimney at its northern end.

To the south there is a large, probably C20 opening with concrete lintel and cill, and a smaller opening under a brick arch. There are large brick gatepiers with modern gates; the northern pier is attached to the office building.

The northern elevation has a door opening which has been altered to form a window, and a large window adjacent; both with flat arch lintels and keystones. There is a further small opening to the west.

South of the building is a rectangular cast iron weighbridge supplied by W & T Avery Ltd of London and Birmingham. An inscription on the plate identifies it as being capable of weighing ten tons.

INTERIOR: The building is understood to retain the weighbridge mechanism and balance bar internally, and has a cast iron fireplace with a brick surround, and dado height timber panelling.

Sources

Other
Coventry City Council: Coventry Canal Conservation Area Character Appraisal

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.