Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings: Cross Building

The Cross Building, dating from 1812 and potentially incorporating late 18th-century fabric, is part of the former Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, originally designed by Charles Bage and owned by Marshall, Benyon and Bage. The mill complex was constructed in phases between 1796-7 and 1809-12, with later additions and alterations, before conversion to a maltings in 1897-8 and closure in 1987.

The building is constructed with an iron frame and walls of red brick, approximately 100mm x 110mm x 240mm in size, along with standard brick, under a roof of Welsh slate and corrugated sheeting. It is rectangular and oriented east to west, with a projecting five-storey stair block linked by a passage to the Spinning Mill at its east end. The Cross Building is part of a group of connected buildings including the Spinning Mill and Flax Warehouse, later linked by a maltings kiln.

Externally, the building has twelve bays and four storeys plus an attic. Its north and south elevations feature a dentilled eaves cornice and a stone chamfered string course at first-floor level. The original window pattern is visible, although two of every three windows are blocked, and the remaining windows are reduced in size and now contain late 19th-century timber malting windows. The south elevation of the stair block has a ground-floor entrance and windows on each upper floor, all beneath segmental arches. The west gable end displays painted lettering reading 'Albrew Maltsters Limited Shropshire Maltings' and has numerous blocked openings, mostly visible from within. A chain suspension bridge (now removed) previously connected the third floor of the Cross Building to the Flax Warehouse, corresponding with an opening containing timber doors on the north elevation.

Internally, access to each floor is from the east stair block. Two rows of slender cast-iron columns support three-piece floor beams and shallow brick jack arches. The floors have a concrete screed, applied during the building's adaptation for malting. Blockings in the east wall on the second floor indicate the original power transmission system connecting to the north engine house of the Spinning Mill. The roof structure comprises two-piece trusses, purlins, and short T-section rafters, with timber rafters slotted into the purlins.