Former Cooperage and Store of Hewitt Bros. Tower Brewery, East Street, Grimsby, Lincolnshire: Historic Building Report
Author(s): Alastair Coey Architects
The subject of this report is the former cooperage and warehouse located on East Street, Grimsby, the only remaining structure of the former Hewitt Brothers Tower Brewery complex. It sits close to the eastern perimeter of the Central Grimsby Conservation Area, south-east of the town centre, and is a non-designated heritage asset, included on the Grimsby Local List. Most of the brewery complex was located on the opposite side of the road, developing throughout the 19th century from the small Pasture Street brewery, which was constructed in 1806. The East Street building was variously used as a cooperage, as a grain store, and for the storage of barrels and, latterly, bottled drinks products. It was built in two main phases: the single-storey wing to the south is the earliest part, built circa 1902 as a coopers’ workshop, while the main three-storey triple-gabled warehouse dates from the 1920s, and is a steel-framed structure having an internal floor plan which is generally open to each floor, with some subdivision to the margins on the ground and first-floor. Hewitt Bros Tower Brewery was closed in 1968 following a series of acquisitions and mergers, and was demolished in the 1980s. This report was commissioned in late 2018 as an action of the Grimsby Heritage Action Zone, and is intended to provide a more detailed understanding of the building fabric and historical context, through a combined programme of physical inspection and documentary research. The first chapter outlines the contextual history of brewing and the associated functions of coopering and bottling. This is followed by a detailed historical analysis of the development of the cooperage in the context of the Hewitt Bros Tower Brewery. Section 4 presents a detailed description of the refrigeration plant and machinery and cold store, and Section 5 presents an assessment of the heritage significance of the building and its industrial heritage value.
- Report Number:
- 31/2019
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 64
- Keywords:
- Modern Standing Building Standing Structure Industrial Heritage
