Embarked on my third visit to the Mittagong
Maltings with Mark Nolan, another photo buddy, hopeful for some better composed shots of this eerily
addictive location. It is one of the few abandoned historical locations which
are not encircled by mesh. Sadly, the disadvantages appear to be far
outweighing the advantages as it appears more damaged with each visit, in spite of
the fact that the National Trust of Australia listed the 103 year old structure
as being among its “endangered places of 2000”.
Above: The second of the remaining main buildings -front access
The Mittagong Maltings Works was originally
established by the Maltings Company of NSW (Ltd) to supply barley malt to
breweries and operated from August 1899. It was acquired by Tooth & Co. the major
brewer of beer in New South Wales, in 1905, and
operated until its closing in 1980. John Tooth emigrated to Australia from Kent in
the early eighteen-thirties, traded for a time as a general merchant, and then,
in 1835, with his brother-in-law, John Newnham, opened a brewery in Sydney known
as the Kent Brewery. Kent had always been the principal hop growing of the UK. The
logo and trademark of Tooth and Co. was based on the Battle Standard of two
Saxon Chiefs, Hengist (stallion) and Horsa (horse) who invaded Britain more
than 1,400 years ago. The logo is still prominent on the face of the second main building. Admittedly the worse for
wear, but still eminently recognizable.
The
Maltings were managed by three brothers Ernest, Clarrie and Arthur Jones. Their
Father Henry was also the original manager of the Maltings from 1905 until his
death in 1928. The Jones family had a combined service to Tooth and Co of well
over 150 years.The Maltings had three separate buildings, one destroyed by a fire in
1965. The other two are now abandoned, having closed in 1981.
Above: The second of the main buildings
Purchased by a consortium for $1.5 million in 1999 the
Maltings were then sold to Barry Anstee in 2000 for $590,000.
He revealed
plans to transform the three malting houses, railway station, manager’s
residence and other small service buildings into a 50-room hotel, brewery and
winery. Fate intervened and since being offered at auction in 2011, the site is
slowly disintegrating with no sign of endeavours to rescue it from history’s
dustbin.
Image: looking up at the entranceway to the second site
The brickwork, steel pillars and
machinery still provide evidence of milling processes from another era however
much of the building is now inaccessible due to crumbling or removed
staircases. Graffiti covers most of the walls and there is evidence of
unsuccessful attempts to successfully ignite some of the wooden components.
A great write up of a visit to the Maltings was penned by “CosmicThunder”
