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Seed Warehouse

18th May 2020 | 7th July 2020
John Barber
Seed Warehouse from Mill Bridge

The Seed Warehouse houses the Mill Bridge Rooms which are owned by Hertford Town Council and can be hired by small groups for meetings.

The truth is that the Seed Warehouse is a Tardis.

You could almost walk past it, unaware of its existence down a narrow alleyway, squeezed between a newsagents and a fast food shop in Mill Bridge, almost opposite Castle Hall and next to the bus stop.

The Seed Warehouse stretches down that alleyway in Maidenhead Yard about a hundred yards or more to the left down to the River Lea.

The ground floor houses almost 90% of artefacts belonging to Hertford Museum. There is more here than in the Museum in Bull Plain. It is not open to the general public except on special ‘open days’.

On such an event take the opportunity to walk around and view things abut Hertford you didn’t know existed. My office was on the first floor and I always took advantage of those times when Museum staff were working in the stores to mooch around.

This was when I was Town Centre Manager. I had to relocate as the Museum needed space to house all the items in Bull Plain as well as staff and volunteer helpers, whilst the redevelopment of that building took place.

I was sad to leave. My office looked out over the Lea on to the Riverside decking of the Woolpack pub.

One of the tenants I introduced to the Seed Warehouse was City Water.

They worked from the top floor but before doing so cleared an inch of dust from the skirting boards and wooden beams, laid carpet, installed lighting, toilet blocks and a kitchen amongst many other improvements. The walls were re-painted heritage cream and the wooden beams stained dark brown.

The left hand photo shows kitchen mid-right and the dining area/IT space at the back. The right hand photo was taken a few yards back showing a small re-furbished office.

Unfortunately we didn’t think of taking a ‘before’ photo but here are two shots of how the top floor looked before furniture was in place.

Top floor of the Seed Warehouse

The Directors tried to make the interior of the Seed Warehouse reflect the building’s past.

Over the front door a large reproduction of a photo taken when a World War Two bomb hit Mill Bridge was mounted against the wall with branches, an air raid siren and hopefully a defused bomb.

On the right as you walk in is a Roman corn drier preserved in a temperature controlled and air conditioned room and once again , only opened to visitors on special occasions.

There is a large antique photo enlarger set on the space by the stairs, rescued from the Museum stores.

All this may still be there. I haven’t been inside for a long time. You may ask what this is all about. Well, Chase New Homes have submitted amended plans for Bircherley Green.

They claim they are trying to re-create Hertford’s brewing past. The Seed Warehouse is but one building on the old maltings area and here were sited the wharves Chase mention.

However you will notice that these are not high rise buildings:

Adams & Co

The new plans as submitted by Chase maintain the previous height; ground floor commercial units and four floors above for apartments.

An artist impression looking south

The one interesting added feature is the false walkway between Buildings A and B. I am sure they are identical to those found in busier and more industrial locations such as the Thames where much of the barley and malt from Hertford was bound during the heady days in the nineteenth century. (see my article on Brewing in Hertford)

They do not fit too well here.

Bridges

There is not much more I can say about this planning application but to refer you to the page where you can view all the amended plans and documents and links to register your own comment:

Here is my own letter registering my objection.

letter of objectionDownload

The one thing I am beginning to hear more and more is that residents would have anything built rather than Bircherley Green left to rot any further.

The photos of the Seed Warehouse and Adams & co are from ‘Our Hertford and Ware’ chapter on Hertford’s Riverside Yards.

All my previous posts archived here:

  • November 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (3)
  • January 2020 (2)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (3)
  • September 2019 (2)
  • August 2019 (2)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (3)
  • February 2019 (2)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • November 2016 (10)

Hertford blog posts

  • Hertford Lockdown Blues 3rd November 2020
  • Regeneration – sort of! 21st October 2020
  • A Time to Remember 12th October 2020
  • Premier Inn Checks Out 27th September 2020
  • Pub – not as we know it 28th July 2020
  • The Village Inn 28th July 2020
  • Hertford Saved! – Doomed! 26th June 2020
  • Fore Street – Solved!! 27th May 2020
  • Seed Warehouse 18th May 2020
  • A Message of Hope 16th April 2020
  • Hertford East Station 8th April 2020
  • Isolation for Folly Island 21st March 2020
  • Bircherley Green 2020 28th February 2020
  • The Great Wen 21st February 2020
  • Everything must go! 5th February 2020
  • Hertford Retail Check 29th January 2020
  • 2020 – a New Year 2nd January 2020
  • A Christmas Carol 12th December 2019
  • Yarn Bomber’s Tree 22nd November 2019
  • Good, Bad and Ugly 31st October 2019
Previous post A Message of Hope
Next post Fore Street – Solved!!

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Regeneration – sort of!

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A Time to Remember

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Pub – not as we know it

Hertford blog28th July 2020

The Village Inn

Hertford blog28th July 2020

Hertford Saved! – Doomed!

Hertford blog26th June 2020

Fore Street – Solved!!

Hertford blog27th May 2020

A Message of Hope

Hertford blog16th April 2020

Hertford East Station

Hertford blog8th April 2020
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