Abingdon maltings

It is not intended to explore the long and fascinating history of brewing and associated maltings in Abingdon which spans several hundreds of years, suffice it to say there were many small maltings and some larger ones. All are long closed but buildings have survived with some, such as the Moreland Brewery in Ock Street, forming the basis for residential developments. Our interest lies in the maltings which stood adjacent to the station in Abingdon and were served by private sidings. Much of the site was cleared for development but one of the original buildings remains having been converted into apartments.

We don't know when a malthouse was first opened in the Vineyard, but one can be seen on the map which was surveyed in 1875. It predated the coming of the railway and was only one of several in the area, some of which dated back to the 18th century or even earlier. Judging from the map surveyed in 1898, more land had been aquired and a second malthouse built sometime during the intervening twenty years. Private sidings had also been laid into the site, possibly at the same time as the expansion. Grain would have been delivered in sheeted wagons and the outgoing malt was carried in box vans. Wagons would have been propelled onto site from the short spur opposite the gasworks a few at a time. The spur for the maltings and the gasworks siding, which was laid towards the end of 1886, crossed by means of a diamond crossing. It is not known which of the sidings was laid first, but it was possibly the one for the gasworks with the maltings later bearing the expense of the crossing.

Significant development took place in around 1903 when two additional large malthouses were built for the then owners, Thomas & Co. of Abingdon, Leamington and Wolverhampton. They were designed by J.D. Wood of Birmingham, with Nalder & Nalder Ltd. of Wantage supplying the the machinery. Judging from the 1912 map this was a major expansion and the sidings were extended at the same time. The gasworks siding fell out of use towards the end of the 1950s when gas production ceased in Abingdon, but it was left in situ thus saving the expense of removing the diamond crossing as the maltings sidings remained in use for a few more years. A larger version of the 1912 map can be seen by clicking or tapping the thumbnail image.

The image on the left dates from the early 1950s and shows an autocoach standing on Tank Siding, which ran between the gasworks and the water tank. This formed the headshunt which gave access to the maltings site back across the diamond crossing, entering through a gate on the extreme left. We are grateful to Mike Boakes for his kind permission for us to use the image on the right. This shows a short train of wagons and a guard's van being propelled through the malting's gate by an unidentified ex GWR 57xx class Pannier Tank. The photograph is dated as having been taken on 24th November 1965. With the exception of the gasworks building whose end wall is seen on the right, all the buildings in the photograph belong to the maltings.

Unknown photographer, courtesy of the Great Western Trust

This photograph of many of the station staff at Abingdon posing in front of an engine standing by the signal box was taken sometime during or after 1903, and has been used in several books over the years. It is included here as it shows two large maltings buildings in the background. Reference to the enlarged versions of the maps above shows that they are in fact part of the new malthouse development which took place in 1903. This usefully dates the photograph as it is generally attributed as being taken a few years earlier.

A major fire in 1961 destroyed the main part of the old floor maltings (Malthouses 2 and 3) which was by then being operated by Samuel Thompson & Sons,Ltd., part of Associated British Maltsters. A large new building, housing modern and higher throughput drum-maltings, was opened on the 11th March 1964. Of the four malthouses which had stood on the site for the previous fifty years, only Malthouse 1 remained after Malthouse 4 which stood alongside the railway station was demolished in about 1978. The photograph on the left was taken in the early 1990s and shows the one remaining brick malthouse with the large modern malthouse behind it. Behind that two large metal storage silos were added in the mid to late 1980s and one can just be seen with its associated pipework. The brick chimneys seen on the left of the photograph belong to 45 The Vineyard which was the old maltster's house.

In the early 1980s ABM sold their Abingdon and Pontefract maltings to Watney's enabling Watney's to shut their own floor maltings. By 1986 the maltings had changed hands once again and were being operated by J.P.Simpson & Co (Alnwick) Ltd. Throughout the 1980s the different owners had each sought to develop the site with new facilities, not all of which came to fruition, and to reduce its overall footprint. Once the Morland brewery closed in 1999 however there was no longer any local demand for malt and the maltings ceased operation. Simpsons moved the large germination drums from Abingdon to Tivetshal and closed their site in Abingdon.

~~~~~~ ooooooOOOoooooo ~~~~~~

This sketch-map represents the maltings when it closed in 1999. The storage silos and modern building are very prominent. The site had undergone a number of clearances and small redevelopments during the 1980s and 1990s with offices now being housed in Terrapin cabins at the bottom left. Between there and the silos is an older building which housed a tipping kiln. The rail connection had long been removed but remnants remained buried on site until it was later totally redeveloped.

Abbey Close is a new road which leaves the Vineyard and cuts through the site once occupied by Abingdon Station and goods yard. This area was once put forward for residential development but, as can be seen, has largely been occupied by a Waitrose store, yard and associated car park which was opened on 22nd March 1994. The remainder of the station site, now on the other side of Abbey Close, is occupied by a residential care home appropriately called Old Station House.

Highlighted on the sketch-map is Malthouse 1, the oldest and sole survivor of the malthouse buildings. Whilst noted as being a building of interest, it does not enjoy listed status and has been extensively refurbished externally and redeveloped internally as apartments. Openings have been made on one side to provide access to covered parking spaces for the accommodation above. The building has been extended slightly towards the Vineyard, replacing an earlier corrugated iron shed. A new office building for a housing association links it with the building adjacent, 45 The Vineyard. This project also saw the building of the block of residential properties on the waste land on the corner of the Vineyard and Abbey Close seen in the 1990s photograph.

45 The Vineyard is believed to have been built as the Maltser's house and was given Grade II listed status on January 19th 1951. According to the listing it was thought to have been built in the late 18th or early 19th century. However, the building now standing on site is not the original one and actually dates from the year 2000. As part of the larger project mentioned above, planning consent was given at the end of 1996 to develop a number of flats for short term accommodation within the shell of the old building. Work was started and the outer walls were supported by scaffolding. The state of the building was then found to be much worse than first thought and a variation was granted in 1998 allowing for more extensive works and the utilisation of the basement for additional accommodation. During these works part of the building collapsed and work was halted as the building was immediately declared unsafe. Being a listed building various agreements had to be reached before it was finally demolished. Whilst the eventual building was therefore a new build, it had to follow both the footprint and outward design of the original as far as possible and utilise as much reclaimed material as practicable, resulting in what was photographed here in 2020.

---