No. 2 Maltings

No. 2 Maltings, Mistley

A maltings built in 1893, designed by Robert Free for Free, Rodwell and Co. It replaced an earlier maltings on the site, built around 1880, which was destroyed by fire in 1892.

Mistley became a major centre of the late 19th-century malt industry and retains some of the best preserved maltings in England. Seven maltings were built in total, most of which are already designated. The building incorporates technological advances pioneered by Robert Free through six patents taken out between 1876 and 1895, introducing important developments in floor malting which were tested at Mistley. It is uncertain when floor malting ceased to function, but kilning stopped around 1996. Before this, a fire had destroyed the original double-pyramidal roof and the kiln was rebuilt with modern materials. Stratton and Trinder (1993) have postulated that the building may have housed drums for pneumatic malting, but these were not successful and replaced by the traditional floor process.

The exterior is red brick with yellow stock brick details and a twin gable slate-covered roof. The building has a rectangular plan, five storeys, and is 15 bays long. The four-bay facade features pilasters and regularly spaced windows, glazed on the ground and first floors with some louvres remaining above. Windows have segmented yellow brick arches with decorated painted terracotta keystones. The east and west elevations have regularly spaced windows, some with louvres and taking-in doors. A lucam is located on the fourth floor of the east elevation. The south elevation has central taking-in doors flanked by blocked windows, with a gablet on the fourth floor housing a hoist. A projecting kiln towards the south has a replacement 20th-century gable roof.

The interior retains cast-iron columns manufactured by O Bendall, Lawford throughout, although additional joists and beams have been inserted on some floors. Staircase access at the southern end and centre of the building remain in their original positions, though the stairs themselves have been replaced. There is a part-timber and part-iron queen post roof. The ground and first floors have undergone 20th-century alterations; the remaining floors are mostly intact but inaccessible. The kiln interior was rebuilt in the 20th century.

The building retains significant architectural and historic interest and has group value with the nationally important group of maltings at Mistley, despite alterations such as the loss of part of the growing floors and the kiln roof.