Scaffolding which has surrounded the highest point of Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings since April 2019 has been removed as restoration continues.
The three-storey Jubilee Tower and its iconic coronet sit on top of the world’s first iron framed building. They have been a familiar part of the Shrewsbury skyline for over 100 years and can now be seen once again in all their glory.
Built in 1797, Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings is currently being restored after two centuries of use, first as a flax mill, then a maltings and also as a training centre and barracks during World War II. The unveiling of the Jubilee Tower brings the Main Mill and Kiln restoration one step closer to completion.
As part of the restoration the Jubilee Tower has been painstakingly repaired. The leaking roof and dilapidated cladding had caused serious problems of rot to the timber framework, requiring extensive repairs. The timber cladding boards have been replaced, along with a new roof of traditional leadwork.
The whole tower has been repainted in its beautiful original deep red. Skilled craftsmen have reinstated the windows, and black metal railings have been added around the top of the tower. A small team of specialist carpenters have worked over many months to bring the timber tower back to life and, with conservation work on the beautiful wooden stairway inside of the Jubilee Tower underway, this part of the site is nearing completion.
The locally restored iron coronet which sits on top of the Jubilee Tower returned in January and a new eight metre flagpole now emerges from its centre. In 2019 a crowd funding campaign to save the coronet was successful in raising almost £11,000 with remaining restoration costs being kindly donated by patrons and individuals.
After a successful early morning test of the new flagpole using the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings flag, the first flag to be officially flown from the restored tower is 12-year-old Vivian Wang’s winning entry to the 2020 Young Thinkers competition run by Morris & Company and University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS) as part of this year’s Darwin Festival.
The flax mill was converted to a maltings in 1897 when new structures were added, including the Jubilee Tower and the pyramid-roofed Kiln.
During the maltings period, vast quantities of grain needed to be moved around the site. The Jubilee Tower originally contained a hoist elevator for moving germinated barley from the wide open floor spaces in the Main Mill and Cross Mill, to the Kiln for roasting – an essential part of the process to produce malt for beer brewing. Elements of the elevator can still be seen in the tower.
Alastair Godfrey, Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings Project Lead for Historic England, said:
“After being hidden behind scaffolding for over a year, it’s fantastic to see the restored Jubilee Tower revealed. It looks incredible thanks to the hard work of our contractor Croft Building and Conservation’s highly skilled craftsmen.
“It’s also great to link with Morris & Company and University Centre Shrewsbury to showcase local talent by flying the Young Thinkers winning flag. This site came about as a result of local innovation and creative thinking and Vivian’s fantastic flag design is a perfect fit and we’re proud to fly it here at the Flaxmill Maltings.”
The restoration of the Grade I listed Main Mill and the Grade II Kiln at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings is taking place thanks to a £20.7m grant from National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, combined with additional funding from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership via its Growth Deal with Government, and from project partners Historic England, Shropshire Council and the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings.
Alan Mosley, Chair of the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings commented:
“It’s fantastic to see the Jubilee Tower restored to how it would have looked when it was first erected over 100 years ago. Now that the scaffolding is down, the local community can once again see and enjoy this important part of the Shrewsbury skyline. Congratulations to Historic England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for enabling this to happen.
“It’s great to see more and more parts of the Flaxmill Maltings restoration revealed and each one brings us a step closer to opening.”
The revitalised site will become a new learning and enterprise quarter for Shrewsbury, with high quality offices for the region’s growing creative industries that will help drive the town’s renaissance as a regional economic hub, as it was when Shropshire led the way in the Industrial Revolution. There will also be a new visitor experience and a café open to the public.
The Main Mill and Kiln at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings will start to open for commercial tenants from autumn 2021 with the new visitor experience opening in spring 2022.
For more information about the restoration visit HistoricEngland.org.uk/SFM
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