First time report here, hope it makes for a good read.
Have been past the Maltings in Thorpe Le Soken for far to many years than I'd like to admit, and after prompting from the eldest about needing more pics for her uni project decided to visit and see what's left of the once great Maltings building.
The History
Built between 1874 and 1876 as the brain child of Robert Free in part to use his newly designed and patented drying kilns. The Maltings was a purposely built industrial building for large scale production of malt.
Due to its close proximity to the new railway line it's success as a business was almost guaranteed, but with the repeal of the Malt Tax in 1880, new designs of kilns, it's size and it's design to basically be two halves (one side dealing with Crystal Malt, the other Pale Malt) it became one of the industry leaders in Malt production if not the foremost production building of it's kind in the UK
Unfortunately by the mid 1900's this all changed, and in the post 2nd World War malt production declined, and Robert Free's company (Free Roswell and Co) was bought by Ind Cope in 1956. Production continued to decline steadily further and the final shipment of distilled malt left the factory in 1983, before the building was finally shut for good in 1985.
Today the Maltings is a shell (quite literally) of its former self and has been left to steadily deteriorate with the only work being done on its remains to stop it from falling into Thorpe le Spoken train station carpark and being a health and safety issue, whilst it's remains and the land it is on are up for sale as development.
The Explore
This was a nice easy explore for myself, my OH and the eldest for some more pictures for her photography degree.
Being wary of it being in such close proximity to the local train station, with all the accompanying CCTV, we left visiting until a day it wasn't busy and making sure there were no trains arriving or departing at the time of the visit.
Access was simple enough and once inside the building really does open up, but as said above it is truly a shell of its former self.
The two longest walls are held up almost entirely by scaffolding, the roof has long since gone and nature is steadily reclaiming the ground and the remaining side walls.
It's still possible to see where each of its 3 floors would have been, even if everything from the ground up to and including the roof is missing.
Can make out the placement of the old kilns at the far end, and some of the old pipework but most of what remains is just outside walls.
Unfortunately due to time constraints, plus acting as lighting crew for the eldest, we didn't get to take many pictures around the kiln area where it's the darkest, but already planning a return visit to take more and will add them to this report when done.
On a purely personal level this explore was highly nostalgic for me, having grown up in Clacton nearby and being a regular train user on my teens a few years after the Maltings closed (I remember it having a roof !) it's sad to see how much it has deteriorated in the 20 years I've been away from the area, it really is a shadow of its former self.
Have been past the Maltings in Thorpe Le Soken for far to many years than I'd like to admit, and after prompting from the eldest about needing more pics for her uni project decided to visit and see what's left of the once great Maltings building.
The History
Built between 1874 and 1876 as the brain child of Robert Free in part to use his newly designed and patented drying kilns. The Maltings was a purposely built industrial building for large scale production of malt.
Due to its close proximity to the new railway line it's success as a business was almost guaranteed, but with the repeal of the Malt Tax in 1880, new designs of kilns, it's size and it's design to basically be two halves (one side dealing with Crystal Malt, the other Pale Malt) it became one of the industry leaders in Malt production if not the foremost production building of it's kind in the UK
Unfortunately by the mid 1900's this all changed, and in the post 2nd World War malt production declined, and Robert Free's company (Free Roswell and Co) was bought by Ind Cope in 1956. Production continued to decline steadily further and the final shipment of distilled malt left the factory in 1983, before the building was finally shut for good in 1985.
Today the Maltings is a shell (quite literally) of its former self and has been left to steadily deteriorate with the only work being done on its remains to stop it from falling into Thorpe le Spoken train station carpark and being a health and safety issue, whilst it's remains and the land it is on are up for sale as development.
The Explore
This was a nice easy explore for myself, my OH and the eldest for some more pictures for her photography degree.
Being wary of it being in such close proximity to the local train station, with all the accompanying CCTV, we left visiting until a day it wasn't busy and making sure there were no trains arriving or departing at the time of the visit.
Access was simple enough and once inside the building really does open up, but as said above it is truly a shell of its former self.
The two longest walls are held up almost entirely by scaffolding, the roof has long since gone and nature is steadily reclaiming the ground and the remaining side walls.
It's still possible to see where each of its 3 floors would have been, even if everything from the ground up to and including the roof is missing.
Can make out the placement of the old kilns at the far end, and some of the old pipework but most of what remains is just outside walls.
Unfortunately due to time constraints, plus acting as lighting crew for the eldest, we didn't get to take many pictures around the kiln area where it's the darkest, but already planning a return visit to take more and will add them to this report when done.
On a purely personal level this explore was highly nostalgic for me, having grown up in Clacton nearby and being a regular train user on my teens a few years after the Maltings closed (I remember it having a roof !) it's sad to see how much it has deteriorated in the 20 years I've been away from the area, it really is a shadow of its former self.
