The Malthouse

1. 5365 HALSE

ST 12 NW 6/291 The Malthouse

II 2. Malthouse late 18th century, datestone 1768. Local red sandstone rubble, main roof is tiled, with other roofs of slate. The plan is cruciform. The main malting floors run north-south, with a kiln at the south end. To the west is a loading bay, and to the east a second kiln. A derelict lean-to runs behind the main building on the east side. Interior of considerable interest. There are two long malting floors to the main building with the attic floor divided by wooden storage bins. The kiln floors are unusual, being paved with Hamstone slabs, perforated with relatively large holes. (Some additional cloth, gauze or grid must have prevented barley from falling into the fires below.) The short stairs from the attic down to the kiln floors can be lifted up on hinges to reveal shutes, for shovelling the malt down to the first floor of the main house. A similar device is used on the lower floor. The two small furnaces are complete, with hopper shaped flues to the kiln floors above. The steep tank has been incorporated into the ground floor 'room' of the east kiln. It is unusual to find a malthouse with two kilns. A datestone IH 1768 in the south gable ties in with a John Hancock, who is known to have been connected with the site. There are reference to a Hancock family living in Halse from 1653. The earliest reference to the family malting comes in 1790. This is an interesting survival of an 18th Century Malthouse, which with kilns and other features may be unique.

Listing NGR: ST1407928006