Description

1685-1/0/10019 BREWERY LANE
02-MAR-10 Malthouse

II
A malthouse of C18 date now part of the former Mitchell's Brewery complex, architect unknown.

MATERIALS: Stone rubble with stone lintels externally and timber lintels internally, with concrete and timber floors beneath a roof of asbestos sheeting.

PLAN: The malthouse is rectangular in plan.

EXTERIOR: The building is heavily masked by vegetation growth on the east and south sides and is abutted on its west and north sides by the south wing, north wing and 'low tower' - a former brewhouse. On the long east elevation two small blocked windows are visible, each on a different floor level, towards the south end of the elevation. The south gable displays two stone lintels towards the apex of the gable with a straight line joint below. The west elevation onto the former yard has had a large modern door inserted and ground floor level and brick pillars have been built against the elevation to support the modern roof structure above the yard. The lower part of the wall either side of the modern door has been rendered and there are two blocked windows, each on a different floor level, to the right of the door.

INTERIOR: The malthouse consists of three full storeys, a boarded roof space or attic, and a basement or sunken ground floor of uncertain extent. Ceiling beams divide the interior into thirteen bays, but the roof structure, which appears to be contemporary with the floors, consists of a smaller number of longer bays which probably indicates that the loads intended to be supported by the main floors were considerably greater than those carried by the roof space floor.

The east wall appears to be of a phased construction with its five southern bays and two northern bays being distinguished from the remaining six bays by straight joint in the masonry, and by the use of crude rubble corbels supporting the beam ends. The six intervening bays are characterised by dressed quarter-round corbels which match those found on the building's west wall.

The concrete ground floor ramps up to a slightly higher level at the southern end of the building and does not equate to the original floor level. Corbels at the northern end of the east wall indicate that the early ground floor was raised over a basement which was at a lower level than the present concrete floor. The original timbers of the ground floor do not survive but they were set slightly above the level of the present concrete floor. In the building's north east corner there is a brick-lined sump or well from where water for the brewery was pumped.

The upper timber floor structure is of softwood beams with irregular joists and appears to be consistent throughout the building, suggesting that the five southern and two northern bays of the east wall have been retained from an earlier structure or structures. King-post trusses have notched in struts with iron stirrups at the feet of the king-posts. The floor frames are largely intact apart from the northernmost bays where the beams survive but not the joists or floorboards.

At the northern end of the buildings against the west wall there is evidence for a stair position and in the floor of the lowest timber floor there is a trap for either a stair or a hoist in the fifth bay from the south.

Virtually all the building's windows have been blocked and appear to have been spaced regularly in alternate bays along each of the long walls as well as the south gable wall. There is also an external first floor door in the second bay from the north on the east wall. In the north wall there is a blocked attic-level doorway that formerly led into the adjoining 'low tower'.

All the original roof trusses appear to survive, although a number have had struts removed and the purlins appear to be replacements.

HISTORY: The precise date when malting and brewing commenced on this site cannot be verified. There is a datestone of 1669 on the gable of the north wing of the brewery complex facing onto Brewery Lane but this is thought to have been reused in the C19. No brewery is shown on the Docton map of 1684.

Initial results of tree-ring analysis undertaken in December 2009 on in situ timbers from ground floor ceiling beams in the malthouse indicates that they were of Polish origin and the trees were probably felled and used in the mid-1750s. The brewery appears on the Mackreth map of Lancaster dated 1778. It is depicted in plan as a C-shaped complex of ranges grouped around the north, south and east sides of a yard opening on to Brewery Lane on the west. The malthouse forms the larger southern portion of the east range as depicted on the Mackreth map.

From around 1800-1811 the brewery was owned by John Proctor, after which it was bought by the Walker family of Preston. The brewery was advertised for sale or rent in the Lancaster Guardian of 12 February 1831 and consisted of a 'brewery, malt kiln, warehouse, stable, yards, and other premises'. In 1833 the brewery was in the ownership of a Mr Townley of Blackburn. Around the middle years of the C19 brewing appears to have ceased for a time.

About 1872 the site came into the possession of the firm of Jackson & Yates who operated as maltsters only. Towards the end of that decade the title of the firm changed to Yates & Jackson and soon after this the business was extended with brewing recommencing and new buildings being added together with some existing buildings being converted and others demolished.

In 1901 the architect W. Arthur Deighton of Manchester prepared plans, which were executed, for a major extension to the north side of the brewery complex.

By 1969 an open yard between the malthouse and Brewery Lane had been enclosed by the construction of a modern west wall and roofed over. Brick pillars were built against part of the malthouse's west wall as roof supports. The malthouse is thought to have ceased being used as such at an unspecified date during the C20. Also at an unpecified date in the C20 it was re-roofed using asbestos sheeting.

In 1984 Yates & Jackson was taken over by Thwaites and the brewery sold to Mitchells. Mitchell's ceased brewing here in 1999 but have continued use of a modern distribution warehouse on the northern part of the site.

SOURCES: Howards, R, & Arnold, A, Initial Results of the Tree-Ring Analysis at Mitchell's Brewery, Lancaster. Sample Nos. LNC-A01 - LNC-A20. Nottingham Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory (December 2009)

Industrial Buildings Selection Guide, English Heritage (2007)

Lancaster Guardian 12 February 1831

Menuge, A, Mitchell's Brewery, Brewery Lane, Lancaster. Unpublished Report, English Heritage (December 2009)

Patrick, A, Maltings in England. Strategy for the Historic Industrial Environment Report No. 1. English Heritage (2004)

Patrick, A, The Malthouse and Brewery, (Mitchell's Brewery site), Brewery Lane, Lancaster. Unpublished report (2007)

Pearson, L, Strategy for the Historic Industrial Environment: The Brewing Industry. A report by the Brewery History Society for English Heritage (2009)

Maps
c.1684 Map prepared by Kenneth Docton in the 1950s based on surveyor's measurements of street frontages.

1778 Stephen Mackreth, Plan of the Town of Lancaster

Architectural drawings
1901 'Messrs Yates & Jackson, Proposed Extension to Brewery, Lancaster', signed 'W Arthur Deighton Architect, 41 John Dalton Street, Manchester, dated April 1901' and endorsed 'Lancaster Corporation, Approved, 15 April 1901.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Malthouse is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a rare surviving example of a multi-floored C18 maltings
* It is a rare surviving example of an C18 maltings that is built on an industrial as opposed to a rural scale
* It is one of only a small number of surviving maltings in north west England, an area outside the traditional 'malting counties' of England
* Dendrochronological dating has shown that the timbers used in the maltings originated in Poland. As such this enhances our knowledge of the trading links associated with the Port of Lancaster during the C18

Reasons for Listing

* It is a rare surviving example of a multi-floored C18 maltings
* It is a rare surviving example of an C18 maltings that is built on an industrial as opposed to a rural scale
* It is one of only a small number of surviving maltings in north west England, an area outside the traditional 'malting counties' of England
* Dendrochronological dating has shown that the timbers used in the maltings originated in Poland. As such this enhances our knowledge of the trading links associated with the Port of Lancaster during the C18

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672840

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.

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