Former Ale Stores, Stables And Nos. 29A And 29B

This former ale stores and stables complex was built in 1881 for the brewery John Joule & Sons, with additions from the early and late 20th century. The buildings are constructed of red brick with dressings and decorative banding in contrasting Staffordshire blue brick, beneath tile roofs. The windows are timber, some replaced in the early 21st century.

Layout and Setting

The complex occupies a roughly rectangular site bounded by Newcastle Road to the north and the Trent and Mersey Canal to the south. The stable building stands at the south-east end of the site. Attached to its east side is a row of earlier cottages, and to the west a former Canal Company warehouse, both incorporated into the stable complex. At the west end of the site is a 1930s three-bay addition and a shallow-pitched extension from the 1960s.

Exterior

The buildings present a handsome street frontage to Newcastle Street, unified by a sill band running the length of the stable building which becomes a plat band at ground floor level on the former ale stores. There is also a first-floor plat band. The north elevation of the stables has a symmetrical arrangement of twelve small windows set high in the wall, with surrounds of alternating red and blue brick. Every third window (four in total) has been altered to create a larger opening. Above is a deep moulded eaves cornice. Four evenly spaced ventilating cupolas rise from the roof slope, each topped with a wrought iron finial displaying the red cross of Joule's Brewery, and the apex of the roof has a louvred clerestory.

To the right is the former Canal Company warehouse, which was extended in the late 19th century to create a uniform façade to Newcastle Street. It has two high windows, now blocked, with a blocked doorway below. At first floor, the former taking-in door has been replaced by a timber window and the hood for a hoist survives in the gable apex.

The ale stores comprise five bays with small grilled camber-headed openings at basement height, large openings (most with roller shutters) to the ground floor, and pairs of windows above linked by a plat band. Bay three has a large opening rising to first floor with a lintel inscribed 'JOHN JOULE & SONS, 1881, STORE AND ALE STORE'. In the upper gable of each bay is a roundel and a red cross in the brickwork above. As with the cupolas to the stables, there is a decorative finial to the apex of each gable.

The canalside elevation of the ale stores is similar to the roadside façade in both its window openings and decorative treatment. Small grilled openings with cambered heads light the basement and there is a canalside loading bay with taking-in doors to the central bay. Painted lettering on bays two, three and four reads 'Joule's STONE ALES'. To the right is a brick-built chimney sited against the south gable end of the former canal warehouse, its corners built in contrasting blue brick. The upper part was rebuilt in the late 20th century.

The south side of the stable building is obscured by a mid-20th century flat-roofed extension that is not of special interest, but it has the same roof cupolas as the north elevation. The entrance (west) front to the stables opens onto a courtyard and is dominated by the large opening of the central bay, flanked by full-height pilasters of red and blue brick. The brand identity of the brewery is evident in the tile hanging (restored) of the gable and on the corbels carrying the lintel. A later opening with a concrete lintel has been inserted to the left of the entrance.

Interior

The stables comprise a large single-spanned central bay providing access to the flanking stable ranges. There are window and door openings, each flanked by full-height pilasters, in the side walls of the stable ranges, though many are now blocked. At first floor are circular openings to the haylofts. The roof structure consists of collar and tie beam trusses with angled V struts and metal tie rods. A king post rises from the collar to support the clerestory. Internally, despite the loss of individual stalls, the stables retain chamfered ceiling beams and timber cladding to the ceiling. The haylofts occupy narrow spaces in the eaves above the stable ranges and have openings in the floor to the stables below.

At the rear of the stable building is the former canal warehouse, and a stone staircase leads to the first floor which provides access to the haylofts. The floors of the adjacent ale stores are supported on cast-iron columns that rise through the building and, although the first floor has been removed throughout, the principal beams remain. In the early 1950s the stanchions, brick piers and foundations were strengthened, additional columns introduced, and the principal beams spliced and thin steel beams inserted within them, to increase the floor loading. The roof is carried on collared trusses, with queen struts to the roof of the central bay, double rows of purlins and is strengthened with tie rods.

Subsidiary Features

The row of former cottages adjacent to the stables was converted to a farrier's workshop and possibly offices in the late 19th century. They were renovated in the late 20th or early 21st century, lack any internal historic fabric, and now provide office accommodation. They are principally of interest for their contribution to the street frontage and the interior lacks special interest.

The 1930s three-bay addition at the east end of the ale stores was built as a bottling store, with an engine room, fitter's shop and store to the rear. It lacks the decorative treatment of the late-19th century buildings, except for a moulded sill band to the ground floor. Internally the floors are supported on steel columns and the roof is of steel truss construction. Both the basement and ground floor link through to the former ale stores, but the first floor has been refurbished and is currently office accommodation. The building provides evidence for the continuing development of the site and contributes to the townscape value of the roadside frontage, but is of lesser interest than the earlier buildings. The shallow-pitched extension of the 1960s is not of special interest.

History

Brewing prospered in Stone, a small market town, from the 18th century. The most notable brewer was John Joule who brewed beer in the town from 1758. The business thrived during the second half of the 19th century, its most famous product being 'Stone Ale' whose name was copyrighted in 1888. The brand identity of John Joule and Sons was a red cross which was displayed on a green background from the late 19th century to avoid confusion with the Red Cross Agency and the British Red Cross Society.

In 1881 the ale stores and large stable building were constructed alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal on the site of the Canal Company warehouse. This location enabled the brewery to transport their ale more easily to other parts of the country, including Liverpool and Harwich for export to America and Europe respectively, reflecting the continuing importance of canals for the distribution of goods during the late 19th and into the early 20th century. The stable building provided accommodation for the company's forty horses and twenty drays, and continued to be used for local deliveries until the introduction of lorries in the 20th century.

The complex was expanded westwards with additions in the 1930s and 1960s. In 1968 the London brewers Charrington & Co. purchased a fifty per cent share in the company. The remaining shares were purchased in 1970 and brewing continued until the brewery closed in 1974.