B warehouse was built in 1780 and allowed boats to be loaded and unloaded undercover, entering through the archway at center of the building.
Shardlow was a river port on the Trent but with the opening of the Trent and Mersey canal in 1770 Shardlow developed rapidly. Here goods were transferred between the wide river boats and narrow boats of the midlands canal network, or stored in the warehouses for local distribution. Goods such as flint for the potteries, salt from Cheshire were some of the cargo transferred here.
