An historic malt house faces an uncertain future.
Grade II-listed, 1864, T & W Bradley
The Northgate Brewery maltings were constructed in 1864 using local bricks from the Cafferata company at Beacon Hill and ironwork supplied by the Trent Ironworks of W.N. Nicholson & Sons. An ancillary building for the much larger main brewery, it was nevertheless executed to a high design standard: the redbrick elevations are intercepted by bands of cream brick dogtooth; an alternating pattern of red and cream brick marks out the windows and doors; and decorative ironwork corrects the imbalance suggested by the walls without windows. The standalone malt house was largely phased out in the twentieth century by mechanised production, and as a result the malt house has been empty and derelict since 1964. This unique building stands empty, marked out by a faded ‘To Let’ sign, but with such strong links to the local history of the area, it deserves to be restored.
Griff Rhys Jones, Victorian Society President, said: ‘This is one of 3 beer related buildings on this year’s Top 10 list, and perhaps the most unusual. It is certainly unusual for a building to be empty for 54 years and still be with us. Today, very few malt houses survive unaltered. A sympathetic conversion should retain this survivor’s historic fabric as far as possible.
Status Update / March 2026
The building has continued to decline since appearing on our list in 2020, but the case for restoring the building has been made clear in recent years. The adjacent industrial buildings are currently undergoing restoration, and the remainder of the town brewery converted and extended to accommodate 49 one and two-bedroom apartments in 2010.