Urgent repairs due at historic King's Lynn warehouse
Sommerfield and Thomas warehouse was bought by West Norfolk Borough Council in 2018.
Urgent repairs are to be carried out on a grade-II listed warehouse on King’s Lynn’s riverfront, following a permission granted last week.
The former Sommerfield and Thomas warehouse, on the town’s South Quay, was bought by West Norfolk Borough Council in 2018.
The repairs – for which the council had to seek permission from its own planning department – will include works to ensure the warehouse remains secure and weathertight, alongside the demolition of a 1950s steel frame and concrete structures, and the removal of asbestos.
The improvements are being made as part of a wider effort to improve the town’s riverside area.
The borough council announced in November last year that it was looking to attract a developer to lead the regeneration of the warehouse and a neighbouring grain silo.
It said the buildings could be used for residential, commercial and office space, restaurants, shops, community use, entertainment, recreational and leisure activities.
Richard Blunt, the council’s Conservative cabinet member for development and regeneration, had said: “The marketing of these sites is an important step towards regenerating the riverside area.
“It will allow this part of the waterfront to be brought to life through a range of uses that will attract new businesses, employment and visitors to enhance this whole area.”
“What will be crucial is that any proposals sensitively reflect the heritage of the area and complement the local environment.
The warehouse is thought to date from the mid-1700s and is known to have stood on land purchased by local brewer Thomas Bagge in 1768.
By 1820, the site was described in insurance documentation as T.P. Bagge’s “warehouses, malting office, granaries and other offices all adjoining” – but the warehouse is the last surviving building of that original complex.
When the railway came to King’s Lynn in the mid-1800s, wagons would load and unload goods through the warehouse doors from lines running along the quayside.
But in the 1970s and 80s, the Ouse waterfront began to decline and the railway was removed.
Silos to store grain being loaded on and off ships stood nearby until they were demolished in 2005.
There were hopes the silo site would be developed for housing, but a bid for a 37-home retirement complex fell through and land has stood empty since.