I first saw Sileby Maltings when I was living in Derby in the late 1980’s, and travelling down the Midland Mainline frequently, you could easily spot it from the train. However I did not know the village was Sileby, as it had no station at that time. So it was a turn up when in 2000 I moved to Sileby and lived there for 6 years. I had always been interested in the Maltings, however it was very much occupied during my time there. Shortly before we moved away the place was cleared and part of it demolished for a now failed property conversion job. This weekend we were stopping with friends who still live in Sileby, and I took the urbexing hours of early Sunday morning, nursing a small hangover from the night before, to do an explore, (and of course because MD had already beaten me to it, so I thought I would share some more history and also some different photos from his explore.
Some history and a few old photos:
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.
The Maltings tower, with safety and no trespassing notices, which of course I took great notice of:
Old photo taken from the church tower, the Maltings middle right
Another slightly later photo with the Maltings in the foreground, in the background is the now demolished Melody Mills wallpaper factory:
The rear of the tower, and it is clear where the bit that has been demolished was:
Main buildings:
In we go:
Floor 1:
Old iron window frames:
Floor 2:
Loft and compulsory pigeon poo:
Cellar, which is unusual, because Sileby is famous for flooding in the past, the maltings is right next to the offending book::
Loading door and block & tackle:
St Mary’s church peeking through the buildings:
Interesting little explore, got some funny looks from the locals, but it is Sileby
Cheers
Some history and a few old photos:
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.
The Maltings tower, with safety and no trespassing notices, which of course I took great notice of:
Old photo taken from the church tower, the Maltings middle right
Another slightly later photo with the Maltings in the foreground, in the background is the now demolished Melody Mills wallpaper factory:
The rear of the tower, and it is clear where the bit that has been demolished was:
Main buildings:
In we go:
Floor 1:
Old iron window frames:
Floor 2:
Loft and compulsory pigeon poo:
Cellar, which is unusual, because Sileby is famous for flooding in the past, the maltings is right next to the offending book::
Loading door and block & tackle:
St Mary’s church peeking through the buildings:
Interesting little explore, got some funny looks from the locals, but it is Sileby
Cheers
