Sileby brewery was a Victorian

tower brewery A tower brewery is a distinct form of brewery, identified by its external buildings being arranged in the form of a vertical tower. The purpose of a tower brewery is to allow this multi-stage flow process to continue by gravity, rather than lifti ...

located in

Sileby Sileby is a former industrial village and civil parish in the Soar Valley in Leicestershire, between Leicester and Loughborough. Nearby villages include Barrow upon Soar, Mountsorrel, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Seagrave and Cossington, Leicesters ...

in Leicestershire, England.

History

In the 1860s William Sharpe founded a brewery behind the Duke of York pub. In the 1870s it was being run by William's two sons, William and Frederick. William Sharpe senior died in 1877. The brewery was famed for its stout and by 1883 it was being supplied to the much larger All Saints Brewery in Leicester. The building was enlarged in 1884 and the early 20th century and is now listed by Historic England In 1905 Elijah Betts was the Head Brewer after replacing a Mr Goss who fell down the stairs and died of pneumonia. In 1907 Horace Yates joined the brewery and stayed there until it closed. The brewery was put up for sale by auction on 12 June 1906 by the Leicester auctioneering company of Warner Sheppard and Wade. It was described as a modern 15 quarter freehold brewery with two maltings and 41 licensed houses. The maltings were capable of 30 quarters. There was a cooper’s shop and a bottling plant packaging 12 hogsheads a week: 5 of stout and 7 of ale. There was a Burton union room with 6 sets. Barrelage per year was 11702 barrels. There were two wells for brewing liquor and Leicester Town for the steam boiler. There was stabling for 18 horses and the offices were next to the Duke of York. The sale was at the request of William Henry Sharpe, Henry Tyler and Eliza Elizabeth Sharpe, widow of Frederic Sharpe. No buyers came forward. The brewery closed after a take-over by Strettons of Derby in September 1920. Brewing probably ceased here in 1922 though Samuel Allsopp & Sons, Allsopps who bought out Strettons (in 1927) were malting here until the 1930s
Plunkett Brothers
Ltd of Dublin (who supplied malt to Guinness) malted here until 1972. Part of the site was later converted into housing.

Public houses

The brewery owned 15 licensed houses and 20 off-licenses at the time of sale in 1920:Brown, Mike (1999). Tiger Tales and Ales, pp. 164/165, Brewery History Society *Leicester: The Cape of Good Hope and the Full Moon. *Sileby: The Duke of York, the Horse and Trumpet and the White Swan. *Other towns/villages: Mountsorrell (4), Barrow (2), Rothley (1), Wigston (1), Birstall (2), Syston (1), Thrussington (1) and Seagrave (2). The Duke of York was sold separately.

Beers

The main beers listed in late 1880s trade directories were: *Celebrated Stout *Double Stout *Bitter Beer

Gallery

File:Maltings tower sileby brewery.jpg, Maltings Tower late 1970s File:Maltings building Sileby Brewery.jpg, Maltings at brewery being used for car repairs late 1970s File:Sileby high street 1970s.jpg, High St - The Duke of York PH is on the right - 1970s File:Sharpes+directory entry.jpg, Victorian trade directory entry

References

Sources

*Brown, Mike (1999). ''Tiger Tales and Ales'', pp. 164/165, Brewery History Society. *Thomas, Barry
"Leicestershire and Rutland Breweries"

External links

*Betts, David. YouTube video: ''Sileby in the past''. *Landie_man
"Photos by An Urban Explorer"
*Landie_man
"Sileby Maltings photos on Flickr"
*Carter
"More Urban Explorer photos"
{{coord missing, Leicestershire Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom Companies based in Leicestershire Breweries in England 1860s establishments in England Tower breweries