The Society urges the owners to come forward with a development scheme before this important building is lost.
The Victorian Society today reveals that the Tolly Cobbold brewery, Ipswich, is one of 2015’s Top Ten Most Endangered Victorian and Edwardian Buildings in England and Wales. The Society urges the owners to come forward with a development scheme before this important building is lost.
Griff Rhys Jones, The Victorian Society Vice President, launching the Top Ten, said “These are buildings that need help, and we need your help.” Inclusion in the Society’s Top Ten often leads to national exposure and new interest in the buildings selected which can help save them.
The large, red brick, Tower Brewery’s architect was William Bradford who designed or altered over seventy breweries. The site has been abandoned since 2002 when Tolly Cobbold merged with Ridley’s brewery. It is now in a poor condition suffering from copper thefts and water ingress, with much of the exterior covered in green algae. Pigeon Investment Management was granted outline planning permission to turn the former Tolly Cobbold site into a mixture of flats, businesses and leisure use back in 2013. However, as yet no work has started and the building continues to deteriorate. The owners are understood to be considering a planning application. However, the building cannot afford more delay – urgent works are needed now.
Director of the The Victorian Society, Christopher Costelloe, said: ‘We’re grateful to everyone who nominated the former Tolly Cobbold Brewery. Like all the buildings included in this year’s Top Ten, it is a listed building meaning that the Government has recognised its national importance. It deserves better than being closed and lying empty indefinitely. I urge the public to share the Top Ten list, and Griff’s message, to help raise awareness of these buildings and help them to find the investment they desperately need.’
Pictures of the former Tolly Cobbold brewery can be found here.