Offices Stores etc Greengate Brewery 369 Grimshaw Lane Middleton Junction

The brewery was commenced in 1828 by the grandfather of the present J W and the late T Lees It was afterwards worked by his sons and successors John and Thomas Lees. Thomas was the father of the present proprietor but he died leaving the brewery in the hands of John his brother This state of things continued up to 1869 when the nephews J W and T Lees appeared on the scene under the will of their father. At that time the yield of the brewery on an average did not exceed six barrels of 36 gallons per week That was barely 15 years ago. In 1876 or in six years that trade had so enormously increased that a new brewery had to be built which possesses the capacity of producing 1200 barrels of ale every week. True the trade returns are not to that extent at present. but they already exceed 600 barrels.

With the erection improved brewery Messrs J W and T Lees found themselves “cribbed cabined and confined for counting house accommodation." They therefore instructed Messrs Wild and Collins the eminent architects of Oldham, who are the architects of the Albany Mill, to prepare plans and in their general instructions they were told to embrace every improvement regardless of expense This those gentlemen have done and in their report they state: The offices and other premises just completed by Messrs J W and T Lees Greengate Brewery are of extensive ornamental character and add very much to the appearance of the neighbourhood Though not in any particular style of architecture they are well and substantially built of Burnley bricks of a deep red colour with a tasteful arrangement of stone dressings and have pleasing effect The suite of offices on the ground floor consists of enquiry office, large clerks’ office, cashier’s office and two private offices elegantly fitted up with pitch pine furniture of picked material and very highly finished The panels of all the inside doors and also the whole of the office windows being of embossed plate glass specially designed. The offices are ventilated with fresh air inlet ventilators and self-acting outlet ventilators and will be effectually warmed in the winter with steam. The whole of the premises is cellared underneath and is connected with the working portion of the brewery by a subterranean passage along which the barrels are brought and elevated to the ground floor by means of steam elevator of an ingenious description, where they are temporarily stored preparatory to being loaded and despatched by the drays. The upper floors are constructed of rolled iron girders and plank flooring capable of sustaining a heavy load and are intended as store rooms for grain etc.  Messrs Lees may be congratulated upon having erected a building which is not only an acquisition to the district in an architectural sense but useful adjunct to their previous extensive establishment. Messrs Wild and Collins of Oldham have been the architects the work has been carried out by Messrs J and O Partington of Middleton Junction” It is not saying too much when we state that few offices of the same extent are better laid out and are more adapted for the purposes for which they are designed and built .The steam elevator referred to in the architect’s report was designed by Mr J W Lees and admirably answers the purpose intended. By means of an endless chain and almost without manual labour 12 full barrels of beer can easily be raised per minute from the cellars and tunning rooms to the dispatch warehouse where they await the draymen who with their drays cart are waiting to take them away from the landing stage. [Middleton Guardian - Saturday 12 July 1884 page 6]

Reference    Middleton Guardian - Saturday 12 July 1884 page 6