IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Carre Street, SLEAFORD, NG34 7ZD

Grade II Listed this building is probably unique in being the only example of specially built Company Offices to exist on a rural waterway. It was finished in 1839 and consisted of an office for the Clerk with the weighing machine in it, a Committee Room for meetings and two upstairs rooms that were to provide accommodation for the Clerk. A small brick extension was later added at the back. After the Sleaford Navigation Company was wound up in 1878, Navigation House continued to be used as a dwelling until the 1950’s when the building gradually fell into disrepair. The building escaped demolition in the 1970s thanks to the Sleaford Navigation Society and with help from the Heritage Lottery and Sleaford Pride it opened as a visitor centre for the Sleaford Navigation in 2005.

Since Image was taken, the new flats have been built next to the Wharf, and the old gateway becomes a private gate. Having stood true and upright for 211 years it is now on the skew.

The Sleaford Navigation Company’s decision to install a weighbridge and build an associated 'hut' coincided with a rise in its prosperity. Consequently, the company resolved to erect a building that befitted its status. Thus Navigation House was built in 1839, consisting of an office for the clerk with the weighing machine in it, a Committee Room for meetings and two upstairs living rooms for the clerk. After the company was wound up in 1878 the house continued as a dwelling until the 1950s when it gradually fell into disrepair. There was an attempt in the early 1970s to demolish it and this led to the formation of the Sleaford Navigation Society whose aim was to preserve the house. It was saved from demolition although no funds were available for the necessary restoration work. Shortly after 1999, when the building was in an even worse state of repair, money was finally secured to renovate it and in 2005 it was reopened to the public as a Visitor Centre with particular emphasis on the Sleaford Navigation. Part of The National Centre for Craft and Design - also on Navigation Wharf - is also visible.

Grade II Listed this building is probably unique in being the only example of specially built Company Offices to exist on a rural waterway. It was finished in 1839 and consisted of an office for the Clerk with the weighing machine in it, a Committee Room for meetings and two upstairs rooms that were to provide accommodation for the Clerk. A small brick extension was later added at the back. After the Sleaford Navigation Company was wound up in 1878, Navigation House continued to be used as a dwelling until the 1950’s when the building gradually fell into disrepair. The building escaped demolition in the 1970s thanks to the Sleaford Navigation Society and with help from the Heritage Lottery and Sleaford Pride it opened as a visitor centre for the Sleaford Navigation in 2005.

Navigation House - once connected with Sleaford's Navigation Canal - is now a museum which speaks of local history, especially in relation to industry and canal transport.

Apartments by the River Slea at Navigation Wharf

It is at this point that the Slea and Nine Foot Rivers meet at the Navigation.