Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The former brasserie-malterie de la Lys, located on Rue des Allies in Aire-sur-la-Lys, was built in the 1st quarter of the 20th century in a Flemish neo-regionalist style, marked by bricks and typical decorations. The site incorporates remains of an earlier brewery, including a 19th century stable, and develops around an inner courtyard. Its buildings, covered with mechanical tiles or asbestos cement, housed a Germoir, a manufacturing workshop, offices and a commercial warehouse. The street façade, decorated with two sprockets, bears the date of 1900, the year of its major extension.

The brewery was founded around 1892-1893 by Mr. Noucke, after the dismantling of the town's fortifications. It takes over a stable from the former Dubrule brewery, located nearby. In 1900, the site expanded with a new production building, before being headed by Mr. Bar, then by Mr. Tierny from 1924. The latter renamed the brewery-maltry establishment of the Lys and diversified its activities towards the bottling of wines and spirits. Beer production, mainly of the eagle (high fermentation) bock, ceased in 1956, but the beverage trade continued until the definitive closure in 1995-96.

The site, which has since been abandoned, has retained protected elements since 1999: the facades and roofs of the production workshop, the stable and an adjacent building body. With production reaching 12 000 to 20 000 hectolitres in the 1920s-1940s, the brewery bears witness to the golden age of the local brewing craft. The fireplace, once emblematic, has now disappeared. The monument, classified for its architecture and industrial history, offers a rare example of traditional brewing activity from the early 20th century in the Hauts-de-France.

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