DisgrifiadAn early-C19 malt kiln and a possibly mid-C19 malt kiln at foot of canal bank at rear of late C18 house to the south-west of Trevor Basin at the east end of the feeder canal. The kilns' positions suggest that they were deliberately built into the thickness of the bank in order to achieve sufficient height for loading and that they are, therefore, contemporary with, or post-date construction of the canal (1804-08). Shown on 1838 Tithe Map as 'house and offices, malt kiln and croft', owned by Ellesmere Canal Company and occupied by Thomas Butterton. According to the 1886 'Postal Directory of Flitshire and Denbighshire' malting was still being carried on at the site at that date. The malt-house, on site at lower level and SE of house, has been demolished.
There is a former maltings and remains of a malt kiln in a similar situation in relation to the canal on the neighbouring Montgomeryshire Canal immediately above Pool Quay Lock near Welshpool.
In form the accessible structure at Wood Bank on the Llangollen Canal was a well-constructed bee-hive shaped kiln, circular in plan, similar in shape and size to South Walian pig-sty; constructed in stone with stone-flagged floor. The second kiln was not accessible. The structure of the accessible circular kiln is completely covered by canal bank except for portal and, alongside, a traditional but probably later stone-faced kiln with blocked portal.
The significance of these remains for the canal are that like the limekilns, they demonstrate the remains of a canal-fed industry with remains builrt into the canal formation.
Reference sources: Denbighshire Record Office: Trevor Issa Tp Tithe Map, 1838 (no 410);
Postal Directory of Flintshire and Denbighshire, published by Rockliff Brothers Ltd, Liverpool, 1886, (extract for Llangollen area reprinted as Llangollen Directory 1886, by Clwyd Record Office, Hawarden, 1993), p218.
Stephen R. Hughes, 29.05.2007 using the Cadw Listed Building Description 19971.