Harbor Ledger House
Harbor Ledger House stands above the quay in Greyhook, where the council keeps its civic records and harbor-share books. Its former life as a chandlery is visible in the broad ground-floor doorway, old pulley hooks, and shelves made to hold coils of rope and lamp supplies. The main entrance opens onto a cramped office; stairs lead to the council's working archive above.
Harbor Ledger House
- Type
- Civic archive and harbor…
- Condition
- The stone ground floor…
- Size
- Small civic building
- Run by
- Greyhook Council
Overview
Harbor Ledger House stands above the quay in Greyhook, where the council keeps its civic records and harbor-share books. Its former life as a chandlery is visible in the broad ground-floor doorway, old pulley hooks, and shelves made to hold coils of rope and lamp supplies. The main entrance opens onto a cramped office; stairs lead to the council's working archive above.
Atmosphere
Dry paper, old rope, and lamp oil mingle with the smell of the quay outside. The rooms are quiet except for gulls, creaking floorboards, and the muffled thump of cargo being unloaded below. Huw's insistence that this is merely an office makes the locked doors and guarded ledgers feel all the more conspicuous.
Style
A narrow, practical stone-and-timber building adapted from a former chandlery. The ground floor is built of rough harbor stone, with a steep wooden upper storey, salt-stained shutters, and a pitched slate roof.
What stands out
History
The building began as a chandlery serving vessels at Greyhook's quay. After the last flood, the council moved its records into the stone ground floor, which had stayed standing while water ruined several nearby stores. The upper rooms were fitted out as an archive, and the old storage cellar was closed. A second entrance once faced the seawall, but it was bricked up after the flood. No council minute records who ordered it sealed.
- Records and Harbor Shares
The public books record quay fees, vessel tonnage, council grants, and the shares owed to local boat crews. Harbor-share ledgers are kept in a locked cabinet in Huw Calder's office. Older volumes are stacked by year in the upper room, where salt damage has blurred several entries.
- Access and Procedures
Visitors may consult recent council records at a long desk during office hours, but copying a harbor-share book requires Huw's permission. He checks names against the quay tax roll and watches anyone who lingers near the locked cabinet. A successful DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check can earn access to an ordinary volume; the current share book requires a credible reason or council authority.
- Cellar and Seawall Entrance
A swollen cellar door is hidden behind stacked crates on the ground floor. Huw keeps its key on a cord beneath his shirt and claims the cellar is unsafe and unimportant. The bricked-up entrance on the seawall side is concealed by old mortar and barnacles. Breaking through it leads to the lower cellar, bypassing the office entirely.
People
2 peopleOwnerGreyhook Council Practical and protective of its authority. The council treats the archive as a working office, but its members disagree about how much of the old harbor business should be opened to public scrutiny.
Keeper of the records and custodian of the cellar keyHuw Calder A careful, close-mouthed clerk who keeps the archive orderly and answers questions with practiced patience. He carries the cellar key on a cord beneath his shirt and insists that the building is merely an office. He becomes sharply defensive if asked about the seawall entrance or older harbor-share records.
Rumours
Secret
Media
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