Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings: Malting Kiln

Former maltings kiln, 1896-7 designed by Henry Stopes. Within a former flax mill complex that was converted and extended to a maltings in 1897-8 and closed in 1987.

MATERIALS: it is built of red brick under a pyramidal slate roof surmounted by a cowl with a rectangular hat.

PLAN: it is a three-bay building of three storeys which is rectangular on plan.

EXTERIOR: the east elevation has a three-bay arcade to the lower part with a timber, three-light window set within each; the one to the right-hand bay is at a higher level. Bays one and two also have shallow windows beneath these and bay three has a large blocked opening below its other window. Each of the two upper floors has three regularly-spaced windows, though the central first-floor window has been bricked up, and all have cills of blue brick. The opposing (west) elevation has two tall, round-arched openings to the ground floor, of which the left-hand one was formerly for a railway siding. The other opening has been bricked-in and a door and a window have been inserted into it. The upper part of the west elevation is set back from the ground floor and contains windows to both the first and second floors. Both the west and east elevations have a number of cast-iron tie plates.

INTERIOR: the kiln is accessed from the link passage in the eastern stair block of the Cross Building. The ground floor, where the furnaces were located, has vaulted brick ceilings to either side of the central heat chamber. There were originally two kiln drying floors above this, but the upper one has been removed. The first floor is divided vertically into two halves and the characteristic cast-iron floor beams remain. The maltings machinery, including elevators, conveyors, power shovels, kiln-loading machine or thrower, and the burners have been removed, but the overhead chute that fed the thrower with grain remains in situ.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 2 March 2023 to amend the description.