Kirkstall Brewery
Kirkstall Brewery is situated in Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It operated as a brewery between 1833 and 1983 and is now used as student accommodation.
Kirkstall Brewery consists of several Grade II listed buildings built in the 19th century.[1] These buildings are situated on either side of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. On one of the buildings on the west side of the canal (The Warehouse) it is possible to see the doors just above the water level that were used to load barrels of beer onto barges.[2]
History
The complex started as maltings, and the first buildings were erected at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. They were later converted into a brewery and altered and added to on several occasions between 1833 and 1954 for the various owners before its eventual conversion.[1]
| From | To | Owners | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1793 | 1814 | Henry Cooper and Joseph Musgrave | leased the area from Sir James Graham |
| 1814 | 1832 | Ephraim Elsworth | operated the maltings |
| 1833 | 1844 | Thomas Walker | Conversion into brewery |
| 1844 | 1869 | Benjamin Dawson & Co | bought from Simeon Musgrave after Walker's bankruptcy |
| 1869 | 1954 | Kirkstall Brewery Company | had the tower brewery built |
| 1936 | 1954 | Duttons of Blackpool | took over business of Kirkstall Brewery Company |
| 1954 | 1983 | Whitbreads | bought the brewery and operated it until closure |
| 1994 | Leeds Metropolitan University | Conversion into student village |
The Kirkstall Brewery Co Ltd was registered in 1871, and by 1898 the brewery was producing around 72,000 barrels of beer a year. The beer was sold in Leeds, Yorkshire and beyond. Kirkstall beers have even been recorded arriving as far as Australia and New Zealand.
In 1936 Dutton’s Blackburn Brewery Ltd purchased Kirkstall Brewery Co Ltd. and its subsidiaries, Albion Brewery (Leeds) Ltd and Willow Brewery Co. Ltd.
In 1938 the Company was renamed Dutton’s Lancashire & Yorkshire Brewery Corporation Ltd.
Duttons in turn was bought by Whitbread in 1957. Kirkstall Brewery was re-equipped, and the production of bitter and mild went up to quarter of a million barrels a year. The brewery was closed in 1983, bringing to an end a 150-year tradition of brewing in the Kirkstall Valley.
Kirkstall Brewery stood empty and unused for several years until it was given a new lease of life in the late 1990s with the project to create Kirkstall Brewery Student Village, starting 1994 and undertaken by Leeds Metropolitan University.[1] The conversion was carried out by Bowman Riley Architects.[3]
Facilities
The development provides accommodation for over 800 students.[4] This number was initially over 1000, but more than 140 places were lost in 2011 due to water-related subsidence to two residential buildings which had to be demolishedin 2012.[5][6]
Kirkstall Brewery offers on-site car parking spaces for permit holders, a laundry, a conference room and a multi-purpose hall.[4] The on-site reception/maintenance and security team is managed by UPP. The former student union bar was refurbished in September 2014 and is now The Vault, managed and run by Chartwells FM & catering. From September 2015 on, The Vault also offers the television programmes of Sky and BT SPORTS and includes a Starbucks shop.
New brewery
A new brewery with the same name has been set up close to the original site. It honours its predecessor with references to the old brewery crest and product names,[7] and even taking inspiration for their flagship 5% beer, Dissolution Extra IPA, from an original export beer from the 1860s.
Renovation
The renovation project was challenging: the springs and watercourses that provided the water used in the brewing process had to be diverted[6] without damaging the unique ecosystem of the recognized Site of Special Scientific Interest along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.[8] Remaining underground water flows, together with faulty draining, contributed to the damage to two residential blocks and the need for their demolition in 2012.[6]
During renovation it was discovered that a Second World War submarine engine was installed at the brewery as a power back-up facility. This engine was one of a pair built in 1943, but never actually installed in a submarine. It was sold after the Second World War (1948) to the brewery for power generation. The engine of the size of a Ford Transit van was carefully removed in 1994 and now resides at the Anson Engine Museum in Poynton, Cheshire, United Kingdom where it underwent restoration.[9]
Kirkstall Brewery Student Village won the City of Leeds Award for Architecture[3] in 1997.
References
- 1 2 3 Historic England. "Kirkstall Brewery Student Village (1255819)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "Kirkstall Brewery". Kirkstall Brewery. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- 1 2 25th Leeds Architecture Awards (PDF). Leeds City Council. 2013.
- 1 2 "Kirkstall Brewery". Leeds Beckett University. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "University loses £10m court battle". The Yorkshire Post. 13 April 2017.
- 1 2 3 The Hon Mr Justice Coulson (11 April 2017). Approved Judgment. Leeds Beckett v Travelers Insurance (PDF).
- ↑ "Kirkstall Brewery Company". Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "Leeds - Liverpool Canal SSSI". Natural England. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ↑ "Brotherhood engine runs for the first time". Anson Engine Museum. 2008.
Further reading
- Brears, P. (1985). History of Kirkstall Brewery.