The Maltings Of Former Hardy And Hanson Brewery

The Maltings of Former Hardy and Hanson Brewery

This maltings was erected in 1861 and designed by architect William Grace for the former Hardy's Brewery at Kimberley. It is constructed of red brick with slate coverings to the kiln and growing floor roofs, although some of the latter have been replaced with 20th-century corrugated sheeting.

The malting kilns stand on Hardy Street, with four kilns occupying two bays each along the road frontage. Plain pilasters delineate the bays, creating a panel and pier appearance. Four further bays extend north-westwards beyond the kiln range; the northern gable has been modified and its upper part clad in corrugated sheeting. The kilns feature barred openings at their upper level and cellar entrances at ground level, through which fuel could be unloaded. The growing floor ranges extend at right angles south-westwards from the kilns, comprising two parallel ranges with two kilns serving each. Each range is three stories high and eight full bays in length, with half bays to either end and a further full bay at the south-west end, below a gabled hoist canopy. Each bay contains tiered openings to all floors; some have been blocked or modified in size, though the original disposition of openings remains clearly visible. A loading bay has been constructed against the south-west elevation with a wide canopy to its right, and to the left is an inserted first-floor double doorway with access stair.

Internally, the kilns and growing floors remain little altered and are of conventional form with low floor-to-ceiling heights. Long timber bridging beams of pine, one bearing an export mark dated 1857, are supported on two rows of slender metal columns set on padstones. Front and rear wall openings have wooden horizontal sliding shutters allowing regulation of air flow across the growing floors. Stairs are located at the south-west end of the growing floors, where the former barley steeps survive in part. The kilns are structurally little altered and retain their furnaces within furnace cellars. Drying floors are formed of perforated ceramic tiles supported on webs of metal beams. One pair of kilns has a dividing wall between the drying floor areas; the other is a double kiln with an in-situ mechanical grain turner.

Kimberley became home to two major brewery developments in the late 19th century. The brewing industry at Kimberley began in 1846 when Stephen Hanson and local maltster John Tomlinson built a new brewery in the town. In 1861, William and Thomas Hardy commissioned William Grace, an architect of Burton upon Trent, to design a new ten-quarter brewery with maltings, brewhouse, ale bottling and cask filling cellars, wine and spirit stores, workshops, cooperage, offices and stables. The maltings described here was built as part of this development. Both brewery sites continued to develop throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1876, a new range of floor maltings, designed by a Mr. Bailey of Newark, was added to Hardy's Brewery. In 1882, a new range of brewery buildings designed by Robert Grace was constructed on the four-acre site, including fermenting rooms, a large malt store, an aerated water plant, offices, a brewers' laboratory, and workshops for carpenters, wheelwrights and blacksmiths. In 1880, the Midland Railway opened a line through Kimberley, and both breweries developed private sidings. In 1890, an enlarged Hanson's Brewery was completed adjacent to the Hardy's site, designed by specialist brewery architect William Bradford, with a six-storey brewery tower as its centrepiece. The two breweries remained competitors until 1930 when they merged. Brewing soon ceased on the Hanson site in 1932. The Hardy site continued to develop throughout the 20th century as production demands and brewing technology changed in response to demand for keg beer. The Hardy's brewery maltings remained in production until the mid-20th century, when it was adapted for other uses. In 1973, the core buildings of Hanson's Brewery were demolished, leaving only minor peripheral structures. The site was eventually purchased by Greene King, and brewing ceased with the closure of the site in 2006.