Gleadell's Maltings, Kirton in Lindsey
William Gleadell, a little known malting business in Lincolnshire
By Amber Patrick
Gleadell's Maltings, Kirton in Lindsey
Back in 1996 I visited a malthouse in Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire. I made a few notes and took a few photos. It was only later that I discovered the name William Gleadell does not appear in the main works on malthouses or maltings, nor apparently in most other publications either general or specific.
The malthouse was on the south eastern side of the railway line, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway which became part of the Great Central Railway in 1897. The line thus linked the barley growing and malt producing regions of Lincolnshire to the industrial towns of South Yorkshire and the North West. The malthouse, aligned north west to south east, was constructed in 1897 for the maltsters William Gleadell & Sons according to the notation on the north west elevation. It may have been built because the railway had become part of the Great Central. The maltings had its own siding. Also, six maltsters' cottages were built in 1897.
Kelly's Trade Directories for 1913 and 1919 indicate that the maltings was operational until at least 1919 and that Gleadells also had a maltings in Gainsborough where their head office was, with a branch at the Corn Exchange, Lincoln. A board on the building indicates that Gleadells were also corn merchants. They are listed in the 1951-52 Brewery Manual under Section VI Maltsters, but they do not appear in the 1960 Manual. This may have been their main business by the second half of the 20th century. By the 21st century Gleadells Agriculture were still associated with the malting business as suppliers of malting barley.
By 1996 the maltings were no longer in use, at least as a maltings. From Googleview it survived until at least May 2011 but had been demolished by December 2021. The maltsters' cottages still survive having been refurbished.
The malthouse was a four storey building with the fourth floor being used as a loft. It was constructed of red brick with a slate roof. The malt kilns of which there were two were at the south eastern end, and on the west side of the north western elevation there was a pyramidal roofed barley kiln with a round cowl.
The north west elevation of the malthouse had a centrally located long loading gantry onto the railway line and was the elevation with the Gleadell's notation and date on it. The north east elevation was the most visible with its limited decoration. There were five dormers to the roof and an attractive dormered hoist housing had a stone pedimented slate roof and curved brickwork where this joined the main roof. The south west elevation was largely obscured by modern sheds.
There were two malt kilns under a hipped slate roof. There was also a round cowl at each corner just below the level of the roof line. They had flat hat covers. The south east elevation of the kilns was six bays in width and like the whole building of panel and pier construction. There was decoration under the eaves of three string courses of bricks. Each panel was delineated by three rows of header bricks forming a curve or arch. There were various tie bar bosses which may have indicated the level of the kiln drying floor. In the south west elevation there were small round tie bar bosses at what was probably the level of the kiln drying floor or as they appeared to be slightly above those in the south east elevation they may have been for a kiln turner.
There is still a row of six cottages, Victoria Terrace, which were constructed in 1897. They are brick built and had slate roofs. Although relatively plain they have some decoration in the form of string courses under the eaves, and the brick chimneys also had bands of decorative brickwork.
Amber Patrick