After a decade of lying empty in the heart of the Ramsgate Conservation Area, the Old Wine Warehouse officially reopened last week. This follows the completion of a £600,000 capital project to transform the Victorian building into a new enterprise, arts and entertainment hub in the town centre.
Image: The launch of the Old Wine Warehouse. From left to right: Polly Billington MP; Rob Kenyon, CEO, Heritage Lab Ramsgate; Bernie Morgan, Chair, Heritage Lab Ramsgate; Gavin Richards, Heritage Development Trusts Programme Manager, the Architectural Heritage Fund. Credit - Heritage Lab Ramsgate.
The brick building was originally constructed around 1890 for local wine merchants Page and Sons, which is believed to be the oldest privately-owned wine merchants in the UK still in operation. The Old Wine Warehouse was an integral part of the business – Ports, Sherries and wines were bottled and stored in the building, supporting the firm’s shop on nearby Queen Street.
Page & Sons moved out in 1974, after which the building spent several years as a martial arts centre before being redeveloped into a Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant and bar, called Age & Sons, in 2009. After its closure in 2014, it was abandoned for almost ten years before Heritage Lab Ramsgate got involved.
Heritage Lab Ramsgate was founded to revitalise historic buildings and community assets to create work and community space, and boost employment in Ramsgate. The organisation bought the Old Wine Warehouse in 2023.
Full of original features, the historic building required a little restoration to give it a new lease of life. Now, after a full refurbishment, it has become an exciting venue brimming with ideas and opportunities for everyone with an enterprising idea. Split over three levels, it has three distinct spaces. The ground floor has been converted into a new commercial unit, with the potential to become a bustling restaurant and café with an outdoor seating area nestled in the tranquil haven of Charlotte Court.
Located on the first floor is Ramsgate Works, which opened in April 2025 as a coworking space for creatives, remote workers, digital nomads, entrepreneurs and anyone looking for an inspiring place to work. It includes dedicated and flexible hotdesking spaces, as well as a range of facilities and member benefits, including two acoustic pods for calls and small meetings, super-fast Wi-Fi, a break-out soft-seating area, member events, and evening and weekend presentation space.
Image: The main space at Ramsgate Works. Credit - Tom Keenan Photography.
The basement is home to Ramsgate Arts Club – a 60-seater, intimate creative performance events space and bar, which will host live music, comedy, alt-cabaret, film screenings, spoken word, and a range of community-led events. The business is a Community Interest Company with a social mission to support neurodiversity within the community. As well as initially creating up to eight jobs, it will also support scores of creatives each year.
Image: Ramsgate Arts Club. Credit - Heritage Lab Ramsgate.
The AHF is very pleased to have supported this project since 2022, awarding three grants through the Transforming Places through Heritage programme, which was made possible by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. A Project Viability Grant funded a feasibility review of various historic properties in Ramsgate town centre, including the Old Wine Warehouse. Two Project Development Grants, awarded in 2022 and 2024 respectively, subsequently enabled Heritage Lab Ramsgate to take the project at the Old Wine Warehouse forward, contributing towards the acquisition of the building, as well as covering professional fees, set-up costs, project management, communications and marketing, and operational costs leading up to the opening.
Heritage Lab Ramsgate was also one of the AHF’s 7 original pilot Heritage Development Trusts (HDT) in England. It is now one of 19 HDTs across the UK that are funded by a strategic partnership between the AHF and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Congratulations to Heritage Lab Ramsgate on the completion of its first capital project and the reopening of the Old Wine Warehouse as a vibrant community asset for the town. The AHF continues to support the organisation as a HDT so that it can bring more of Ramsgate’s unique heritage buildings back into public use.
