IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
The Old Maltings, RADSTOCK, BA3 5BX

The old malthouses in Oakhill operated and brewed from 1767, when Jordan and Perkins first founded the Oakhill Brewery. Soon after it was taken over by a local man, John Billingsley (1747-1811), who was multi-talented and also had dealings in engineering and agriculture. Throughout the next century the company was owned by the Jillard and Spencer families, with the Hobhouse family taking the reins into the twentieth. The village benefited from the growth of the brewery and both shared in the supply of Mendip spring water, gas lighting and sewerage systems, and a light railway line to export the goods. The mainly Non-Conformist owners often gave land for chapels, the village school and even donated coal in harsh weathers. The outbreak of WWI caused the authorities to restrict alcohol and the buildings suffered from two bad fires in the 1920s; the trade slumped accordingly - from then on the brewery changed hands several times and included a spell of closure. Smaller scale operations recommenced in 1981 and the ownership changed again a few times. Eventually, work finally stopped in 2004; the site was partly demolished and the main malthouse here was converted to residential use.

Oakhill's history is steeped in brewing. Many of the village's larger buildings were involved in the trade in one form or another, especially when noted the chequered fortunes of the businesses over time. The old malthouses here were working from the mid eighteenth century onwards right up until 2004 (although the present structures dates from the late nineteenth). Since then the buildings have been extensively adapted to provide residential opportunities.

Almost every house has a set of wooden steps to the back. They were originally built for the workers at the malthouse opposite and shaved their commute by seconds!

Oakhill is undergoing a couple of week's worth of road improvements.

Some road maintenance going on along the High Street.

What else would you find on the old Post Office? In fact this building held the position for the latter part of the twentieth century before closing - previously the office was near the main road. The house itself dates from the mid-nineteenth century and is Grade II listed.

This day was St Patrick's Day and someone seems to have made an apt display in a wall niche.

A rather large piece of ironmongery for a drainpipe. It gives the impression an old water/sewer pipe may have been recycled.

An interesting name for a small lane in Oakhill - particularly when the village is chiefly associated with brewing. Indeed, the buildings here were once part of the large brewery complex.