Description

WEYMOUTH

SY6878SW SPRING ROAD
873-1/28/263 (East side)
25/09/90 Malthouse No.4

GV II*

Malthouse. 1889, by CR Crickmay and Son for Grove's Brewery.
Flemish bond brickwork with red and Broadmayne bricks, and
basement in rubble, slate roofs.
PLAN: a large industrial unit in 3 parts; to left are 2 square
kilns with pyramidal roofs, at centre a 6-bay gabled range in
3 storeys, basement, and attics, and to right a gabled
cross-wing in 4 storeys with attic, and gabled projecting
framed and boarded hoist. Small lean-to engine house projects
forward from the northern end of the north-western elevation.
EXTERIOR: the kilns are in 2 bays with flat piers stopped
under a frieze band in yellow brick with red diaper pattern,
and brick dentil eaves. The swept slate roofs have cast-iron
hip tiles, and a short cast-iron circular ridge vent. The
front has a lean-to unit, and a flight of stone steps to a
door under a pent roof.
To the left, in the narrow lane, a stepped plinth contains 2
blocked and 2 open basement lights, a wide light with
bull-nosed brick sill at first floor, and small square lights
cutting into the frieze; the plain rear, with brick piers, is
set forward from the central range. A series of circular
cast-iron plates holding bolted ties near the top of the
kilns, probably part of the original construction of the inner
apparatus.
The openings in the remainder of the building generally have
plain reveals, segmental brick heads, and steep sills in
bull-nosed brick, with a square central light flanked by
narrow verticals, generally shuttered rather than glazed.
Those at the eaves are set in the frieze, and below the bays
are divided by brick piers. Ground floor has a plank door
inserted in bay 2, and in the rubble basement are 5 square
openings, with bars, plus in bay 1, in brickwork, a wide
segmental head over deep-set doors. The rear wall is similar
in detail. There are plain flush yellow brick bands at sill
level, and towards the left a raised gabled ridge-light with
boarding.
The tall gabled range has corner and central brick piers, the
last stopped below the hoist, with 2 lights at 3 levels, and a
pair of plank doors on a steep flight of steps to the right.
The hoist is carried on steel beams to stone corbels, and has
a band of casements at the top, with a further narrow band at

third-floor level. The gable has stepped projecting brick
embellishment.
The return front, to Horsford Road, is in 4 bays with piers
joined to a stepped eaves band. At first and second floor
levels there are small square vents (in a 1:2:2:1 pattern)
below the windows, with prominent bull-nosed sills, and the
rear gable has a bold stepped brick eaves over 3 small central
stepped lights to flush stone lintels and sills, corner and
central piers. There are 2 segmental-headed lights at ground
and first floors.
INTERIOR: is unaltered, with two 8 x 3-bay main malting floors
with cast-iron columns and beams to shutter-built cement jack
arches. The kilns are constructed utilising a rolled-iron
framework with infill panels of shuttered cement with concrete
strengthening. The kiln floors retain most of their perforated
ceramic tiles. Two cast-iron hopper-bottomed steeps survive at
the south-western end of the upper growing floor. All the
barley and malt storage bins survive together with the linked
barley and malt cleaning machinery. The building retains the
only surviving example of the innovative Last's ventilation
system which comprises rectangular holes in splayed openings
containing adjustable cast-iron plates into which the words
"LLEWELLINS & JAMES BRITOL LASTS PATENTS" are cast. These
openings are positioned at regularly-spaced intervals in the
south-western elevation and in the party wall between the
kilns and the growing floors. A bucket elevator has been
introduced at the western end of the growing floor range in
the late C19 or early C20.
A splendid example of the bold and forthright detailing
characteristic of the "Functional Tradition" and the most
significant element in an outstanding group with other brewery
structures in the Hope Square area. Particularly notable in
the context of the development of the C19 brewing industry for
the innovative use of materials for this date, its complete
state of interior preservation and as the only maltings to
have retained the innovative "Lasts Patent" system for
assisting draft to kiln.
(Felstead A et al: Directory of British Architects 1834-1900:
London: 1993-; Wright HE: A Handy Book for Brewers: 1897-: 71;
RCHME report NBR No.90999 contains copies of original
drawings).

Listing NGR: SY6812278485

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17554157

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)