Report - Sileby Maltings, Sileby May 2014

mookster · Jan 18, 2021

After posting up Langley the other day I reminded myself of this nice little example of a maltings I also explored a number of years ago.

The complex is thought to have been developed in the 1860's when William Sharpe established a small brewery to the rear of the Duke of York public house on the High Street in Sileby. The brewery was enlarged in the 1880s with the addition of the floor maltings and the Union Room, equipped, according to sale details of 1906 with `6 sets of unions with ‘attemporators’ in casks and boxes on the Burton principle' The Burton principle was a reference to a recirculating fermentation system known as the Burton Union, practised in Burton-upon-Trent breweries from the 1830s. The Union system consisted of a row of casks connected to a common trough by way of a series of pipes. The purpose of the Union system was to allow excess yeast foam to be expelled from the casks. Any expelled beer could be separated from the wasted yeast, allowing it to flow back into the casks to continue fermentation. The brewery remained operational until the late 1920s, but the floor maltings remained in use for a longer period. The 1906 sale plan and details depict the fully developed brewery complex with stabling, bottling plant, cooperage and storage buildings as well as the main process buildings which survive today. It is a grade 2 listed building.

It was used up until around the late 1980s as a Maltings, then as other light industrial uses before falling into dereliction in the late noughties. By the time of my visit, the non-listed parts had been demolished and it looked as if work was due to get underway with a conversion imminently, which has now been completed.

I really liked it here, helped by the accompanying music being played in the garden of the pub next door on a lovely late spring evening, it gave the explore a somewhat more surreal and peaceful vibe. Entry was no issue after a minor piece of trespassing on the adjacent BT property, and a good explore was had. Internally there wasn't a lot left to see but the architecture itself was very nice and largely intact with some beautiful woodwork. From what I recall at the time, the building at the front wasn't accessible, and the tower either wasn't accessible or only the ground floor level was, I can't remember.