The Old Malt House
12 May, 2012 in Places
The beautiful Wyeside village of Brockweir has a long and interesting history, as I mentioned in my previous post and this morning I want to look at another aspect of that heritage.
Back in medieval times Brockweir was closely associated with the nearby Cistercian abbey at Tintern and there is some evidence to suggest that the Malt House, formerly known as the Old Malt House, was built by the monks as part of their Brockweir Grange. Of course I wasn’t around back then and can’t comment about the build process, but I can tell you a little about the property since.
These days the Malt House and its sister half-building the Monks Hall are currently available for rent as holiday cottages, but when I first knew it the building was a dwelling and ceramics workshop with a small associated shop. As fas as history goes this was recent of course, but back in the 15th century when the build was still new the Malt House was a 2½ storey L-shaped erection. It is believed construction began around 1360. The original building gabled, with one stone gable stack, and a second stone stack at 45° in the junction with L-extension. It must have been quite as impressive in its hey-day as it is now.
The south part is a 15th century range, the ground floor entered through its west wall and the first floor having near central doorways on the north and south. The north staircase also served a 16th century north-west range and may have been within a porch, entered by the four-centred doorway that has been reset further north. The north-east angle, between the two ranges, was in-filled in the 19th century, when the roofs of the older ranges were reconstructed.
The Malt House & Monk's Hall
Looked at face on the Malt House with its original wooden Elizabethan entranceway, added in the 16th century, is on the left and the 15th century Monk’s Hall is on the right. Interestingly although the Monk’s Hall has an entranceway at ground level, there is evidence to suggest when it was completed back in the 1400s the primary entrance to this side of the building was to the first floor via an external set of stone steps. The ceramics workshop and store that I knew in the latter part of the last century were housed in the Monk’s Hall and I believe this side of the building retains more of the original build than the Malt House side.
The Monk's Hall
Clicking the above image will enlarge it and allow the viewer to explore the stonework and casements; note the first floor arched window on the right and the small oblong window on the upper level, which are original. The restoration work to the upper level and roof has been sympathetically undertaken and blends almost seamlessly, although the stone will take some years to weather in fully match the colour of the original.
So what of the building’s history? How has it been used?
Well as stated it is believed the Malt House was constructed by Cistercian monks and originally formed part of Brockweir Grange, although the precise purpose of the build is not known. Since the monasteries were established brewers of ale and makers of mead it is possible the building had an association with malting from its earliest days. As far as I can ascertain by the 1700s the building was used as a malt house and associated residence and remained in that role until the late 19th century when it became a storehouse. The pottery was established in 1968 and thrived until 2003 when the building was sold, then restored and finally opening as holiday cottages in 2007.
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