Laundry Building (Tower Brewery Of Warwick'S Anchor Brewery)

This is a laundry building, originally part of Warwick’s Anchor Brewery, dating to 1856. It is constructed of red/brown brick in English bond, with a corrugated asbestos roof. The building comprises a four-storey, five-bay tower and a rear range reduced to two storeys. The ground floor of the tower has a central double door under a cambered arch of three courses of headers, above a loading platform; a later inserted door is to the right. A window to the right is out of line with the floor levels of the central and left bays. The tall, narrow openings have wooden louvres or small panes, stone sills, and cambered arches, similar to the entrance. The eaves have overhanging courses, and a hipped roof is topped by a tall brick stack with arcading and a moulded cornice that projects from the rear right corner. The right return of the tower has paired six-pane windows with stone sills and cambered header arches on the ground floor. On a central floor area is a large blocked opening, with a stone sill and iron lintel, accompanied by two small square windows with stone sills and large stone lintels. The third floor contains a central loading door with flanking louvred openings and a projecting girder below. The rear range has a datestone with an anchor in relief at the eaves; a single-pitch roof now replaces the original M-shaped roof, the outline of which is visible in the rear wall of the tower. Lean-to buildings are not of particular interest. The interior has not been inspected. This building represents an early example of the brewing process developed in the 1860s, where beer production occurred in successive stages on different floor levels of a tall brewhouse; water was pumped to the top by steam power, and the liquor passed down through various stages using gravity. It forms a group with the old maltings and kilns.