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The Malt Kiln, a slightly less charismatic landmark than St. James' Church on the Louth horizon, was well past its sell-by date, and Aldi did everyone a favour by building a supermarket in its place. It put up the good fight, and a demolition squad who moved in in about 2003 withdrew, seemingly with their tails between their legs, for the building remained intact, complete with its treasure trove of asbestos and its thick reinforced concrete walls. However it is not without its own fascinating and very impressive history.
Construction began in 1949 and replaced the old maltings, which were built around 1870 and destroyed by German bombs in 1940.
The new site had to be where its predecessor stood to qualify for war compensation. It took two years to finish the project, with post-war cement rationing slowing down the process.
The production section was finished for malting to begin in 1952. The interior was an extraordinary honeycomb of 96 eight foot square, 90ft high storage chambers for barley and malt.
Dalgety's took over ABM in 1972 then Paul's Malt in 1987. Their plans to expand production by building three huge new silos were refused in 1989 by East Lindsey District Council and on appeal, following bitter opposition from the Civic Trust and conservation minded councillors.
Louth was producing 30,000 tonnes a year. In the late 1990s Paul's invested £30,000,000 in a new plant at Bury St Edmunds which increased production by 100,000 tonnes.
It is ironic that it was the Germans who were responsible for demolishing this Malt Kiln as well as its predecessor. It finally succumbed to the wrecker's ball (it was actually chomped to bits by the jaws of a giant machine nicknamed the Wreckasaurus) in 2014!
Unusually this planning decision was almost universally welcomed It must have been a new beginning for residents who had lived in the shadow of the enormous concrete structure. However there was some nostalgia, abortive plans to turn it into a night club or tourist attraction, and the Facebook group "Louth Malt Kiln" (Link was set up in honour of it and its predecessor.
A photo of the original Maltings can be found at Link with the building to be seen in the top left corner.