Snape Maltings

Snape Maltings is a complex of former malting buildings begun in 1846 and extended through the mid- and late 19th century. The buildings have been adapted for retail, residential and cultural use during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The quadrangle forming the core of the complex is generally built of red brick with slate roof coverings, though the north malting range has asbestos cement corrugated sheeting. The main gate features red brick walls with gault brick dressings to its front elevation and a slate roof. Two 1860s malting buildings have gault brick walls with slate and corrugated sheeting roofs. The 1885 barley store has red brick walls and a slate roof.

The complex forms a long frontage running north-south along Snape Bridge Road. The quadrangle is roughly trapezoidal in plan, narrower at the front (west side facing the road) and widening toward the rear (east), with a trapezoidal courtyard in the centre. The main gate is attached to the south side of the front range of the quadrangle, rectangular in plan and facing west to Snape Bridge Road. The two 1860s malting buildings extend south from the gatehouse, each rectangular in plan and facing west. The 1885 barley store is attached to the north side of the front range, also rectangular in plan.

The quadrangle is a substantial complex arranged around a courtyard, comprising a former gatehouse and two malting buildings begun in 1846 and extended eastward in the mid- to late 19th century. All were converted to retail, residential or cultural use in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The front range facing Snape Bridge Road is three storeys high and roughly symmetrical, with a long pitched slate roof over a central three-bay gatehouse flanked to north and south by eight-bay malting buildings. The shallow-pitched roof facing the road is covered in Welsh slate, with two red brick chimneystacks on the front and rear slopes of the gatehouse. Each malting building has a weather-boarded lucam projecting from its front slope, supported on the front elevation by wrought-iron braces.

The walls are generally red brick laid in Flemish bond, of pier and panel construction, with wall-tie pattress plates dated 1846. The gatehouse has a large arch spanning its ground and first floors, with an oriel window above. Either side of the arch, flat-arched window surrounds with stuccoed lintels contain three-over-three timber sash windows. A half-glazed door north of the gatehouse provides access to Garrett House, and another south of the gatehouse provides access to Kiln House, both with stuccoed lintels. Both Garrett House and Kiln House also have a side door within the arch.

The malting buildings each have a wooden external stair rising from the southern corner across the façade to doors at first and second floor levels. The north malting building has a substantial buttress at the north end of its front elevation. The malting buildings originally had window openings in alternating bays, but windows were added to every bay in the early 21st century. The window openings are shallow-arched at ground and first floor levels and flat-arched at second floor level; all windows were replaced in the early 21st century.

To the rear of the front range, the two maltings extend eastward, double-pile in plan. Originally two storeys high, the north range was extended upward with the addition of a second floor and asbestos roof in the mid-20th century, and the south range was extended with the addition of a mansard roof and dormer windows. The pier and panel walls are red brick laid in Flemish bond, and the courtyard elevation of the north range is supported by five substantial red brick buttresses. The north and south ranges were converted to residential apartments in the early 21st century to designs by Haworth Tompkins Architects, with external staircases added to the courtyard elevations and the south elevation of the south range, providing access to first floor accommodation as a flood impact mitigation measure. The window and door joinery was replaced throughout at that time, and the ground floor of the north range was converted to retail use. The east ends of the north and south ranges each had large drying kilns—four in the north range and two in the south range—with steeply-pitched and hipped slate-covered roofs. The former kilns in the north range were converted in the early 21st century to a plant room and store at ground floor level, with office space above.

The north-east corner of the quadrangle is occupied by a two-storey red brick industrial range, constructed in the mid- to late 19th century (present on the 1882 Ordnance Survey map), probably as a malt store. It is rectangular in plan with a hipped slate roof, red brick walls laid in English bond, and is approximately nine bays wide. A pair of boarded taking-in doors survive on the first floor of the eastern elevation, but otherwise the fenestration dates from the late 20th century. Its north elevation has a wide but now partially blocked arched opening at ground floor level.

The former kilns and malt store at the east end of the south range were converted to the Hoffmann Building and Jerwood Kiln Studio between 2005 and 2009 to designs by Haworth Tompkins architects. The south-east corner is occupied by a two-storey former malt store which now houses a foyer to the Jerwood Kiln Studio, with offices above. It has a steeply-pitched and hipped Welsh slate roof and red brick walls laid in English bond. The north end of the malt store and the building between the north and south kilns were demolished and replaced by the Britten Studio around 2005, a purpose-built rehearsal hall designed by Haworth Tompkins, enclosing the west side of the quadrangle. The external form of the Britten Studio echoes that of the neighbouring kilns, with red brick walls laid in English bond and a steeply-pitched hipped slate roof.

The main gate, dated 1859, is attached to the south side of the front range of the 1846 quadrangle. It was constructed as the principal entrance to the maltings for rail traffic arriving from the Snape branch line. Although the line ran right into the site, the engine stopped across the road, and trucks were hauled into the site by horses or ponies. The main gate is a three-bay three-storey structure facing west to Snape Bridge Road, with a large arch in its central bay spanning the ground and first floors. Its pitched slate roof has crow-stepped gables to north and south incorporating chimneystacks, and a central wooden bellcote. The walls are red brick laid in Flemish bond with a dentil eaves course; the front elevation has gault brick dressings throughout. The front elevation has a shallow pier with gault brick dressings either side of the arch, and the arch bears a central keystone with the initials 'N.G.' and date '1859'. The north and south bays either side of the arch have a single bay of windows, with a six-light mullioned and transomed window at ground, first and second floors. Over the arch, the second floor has two four-light mullioned and transomed windows, with a mid-19th-century clock between. To the right of the arch, the south bay has a shallow-arched door surround to Smugglers Cottage, containing a replacement panelled door. Within the arch, the north and south walls each have a single window at ground and first floors, and evidence of at least one blocked window and door opening. On the rear (east) elevation of the main gate, the majority of the windows were replaced with timber sashes or casements in the late 20th century. North of the archway is a door to Malt Cottage, and south of the archway is a late 20th-century stair to the Clock Tower cottage at first floor level.

Two malting buildings were added south of the main gate in the 1860s, and seven supporting red brick arches were introduced linking the two malting buildings in 1874. Both 1860s malting buildings are rectangular in plan, three storeys in height, have shallow-pitched roofs to their front ranges, and have pier and panel walls of gault brick. The north malting building has a slate-covered roof, with a timber-boarded lucam on its front slope supported by wrought-iron braces on the front elevation. It formerly had a wooden external stair which rose from the southern corner across its façade to a door in the uppermost floor, but this was removed in the mid- to late 20th century and the scar remains visible. Extending east from the former barley store is an eleven-bay three-storey former turning gallery; its roof is double-pitched with a corrugated asbestos sheet covering. Tripartite louvred window openings in alternating bays facilitated the ventilation of the germinating barley, and this fenestration remains unaltered. At its east end are two brick-built drying kilns which retain their steeply-pitched hipped roof structure with a Welsh slate covering; the remains of two cowls rise from the ridge. East of the kilns, a former malt store has lost its roof. It retains red brick walls laid in English bond, with six bays on its east elevation, including a door for unloading malted grain.

The south malting building is linked by seven red brick supporting arches, dated 1874; the front arch facing Snape Bridge Road has polychromatic voussoirs. The south building also has a shallow-pitched roof, but with a corrugated sheet covering. The front elevation is symmetrical in appearance with nine bays, the central bay of which is taller with a water tower above. The central bay has three levels of taking-in doors, the uppermost retaining a sack hoist mechanism. Original door and window joinery survive throughout the front elevation. The south and east elevations (overlooking Snape Bridge House and its gardens) are blind. The range to the rear has lost its roof and internal floors and is of lesser interest.

The 1885 barley store was added to the north side of the front range of the quadrangle in 1885, fronting Snape Bridge Road. It is a two-and-a-half storey building with a steeply-pitched Welsh slate roof having painted wooden dormers and wooden-boarded ventilators. The pier and panel walls are red brick, and a date stone at the centre of the front elevation records the construction date '1885'. The front elevation formerly had a stair to a taking-in door at first floor level, but the stair was removed in the late 20th century and the door replaced by a window. A late 20th-century single-storey extension was added to the north gable in the late 20th century, linking it with a new barley store to the north dated 1952; the glazed link and the 1952 new barley store are of lesser interest. The rear elevation of the 1885 barley store has a late 20th-century single-storey lean-to glazed extension and fire escape. The windows and doors have been replaced throughout.

The interiors of the quadrangle buildings have been adapted for various uses in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The former gatehouse was adapted as two self-catering apartments, Garrett House and Kiln House, and no historic interior features of note survive. Within the north malting building, the second floor of the front range was adapted as offices, and the ground floor turning gallery was adapted for retail use. The first- and second-floor turning galleries of the north and south malting buildings were converted to residential apartments in the early 21st century to designs by the architectural firm of Haworth Tompkins. The interior of the north kiln was converted to a plant room and storage space in the early 21st century, with a large commercial office above. The two-storey former malt store in the north-east corner was adapted for retail use in the late 20th century.

The former kilns and malt store at the east end of the south range were converted to the Hoffmann Building and Jerwood Kiln Studio between 2005 and 2009 to designs by Haworth Tompkins architects. Entered from the south side of the former malt store, an entrance lobby with a pale chestnut strip ceiling provides access to a communal foyer, with a shuttered-concrete stair providing access to a mezzanine level. To the west of the foyer, the former kiln contains two rehearsal rooms at ground floor level, and the Jerwood Kiln Studio at first floor level, a double-height performance space open to the roof with a capacity for 80 people. From the north side of the foyer, access is granted at ground and first floor levels to the Britten Studio, a rehearsal hall also designed by Haworth Tompkins and completed in 2005. The Britten Studio has angled and graded aggregate walls to the lower part and angled timber panels to the upper part, designed to maximise the acoustic performance of the space, and features retractable tiered seating for up to 350 audience members.

The interior of the main gate was converted to three apartments in the late 20th century: Smugglers Cottage (accessed from Snape Bridge Road), and Malt Cottage and the Clock Tower (accessed from the rear). The apartments do not retain any historic features of note.

The interior of the 1860s malting buildings retains some former industrial features of note. The north malting building retains the only unconverted kilns on the Snape Maltings site at its east end. The pair of kilns are entered slightly below ground level and are split into two chambers. Each kiln stands centrally within its own chamber, and the hot-air chamber above is contained above a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The south malting building retains the only unconverted barley store on the Snape Maltings site in its front range. One store is divided into four room-sized grain bins, each a single bay's width, and formerly filled from the floor above by chute holes in the ceiling. Another store retains two Number 2 Boby industrial machines, probably installed around 1950. Access to the upper floors was not possible in January 2022.

The 1885 barley store was converted to retail use around 1990, when its internal floors were removed and a mezzanine level introduced.