The Abandoned Brewery

The abandoned Lincoln Oakbank Brewery is slowly being reclaimed by nature. Now a haven for climbing plants, birds and clusters of spiders, the skeleton of the original five-storey tower is…

By Tara Moss

Nov 8, 2012

The abandoned Lincoln Oakbank Brewery is slowly being reclaimed by nature. Now a haven for climbing plants, birds and clusters of spiders, the skeleton of the original five-storey tower is as beautiful as it is sad. I know little of the history of the brewery or when it closed, though a single abandoned shoe (pictured below), appeared to suggest something sinister in the site’s more recent history. This striking relic can be found on the side of the Newell highway at historic Narrandera, NSW.

Here are some photos I took while passing by last week.

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12 Comments

  1. Kim McCarthy (Lukibastah)

    Looks like a crime scene. Great photos.

    Reply
  2. Janine

    The tower was designed by John Hill Robertson and thats all i can offer.

    The lone shoe disturbs me.

    Where is its pair? Why is it there alone? Who would come in with two shoes and leave one behind?

    Reply
  3. Bruce

    Great story and lovely shots.

    Reply
  4. Alex Broun

    Beautiful photos Tara. Thanks for sharing them. AB

    Reply
  5. Henning Hartung

    I love old buildings, and being in a state of disrepair gives them character. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

    Reply
  6. Tara Moss

    Thank you Henning, Alex, Bruce and Kim.

    I agree, Janine. The shoe is disturbing. It gave it a touch of Twin Peaks for me. Thanks for the information on the architect.

    Reply
  7. Vic McEwan

    Hi, it’s great to come across this. On April 20th we are holding a video projecion event onto this skeleton of the old Oakbank Brewery. The site has been cleared since these photos, and teh brewery ruins remain. We will be making specialised projections to tell teh story of lcoal people’s relationship to the river system and the water ways.

    The brewery si going to amke a beautiful and atmospheric canvas on which to project images.

    You can read a little more about the project here
    http://oneriver.com.au/one-river-projects/one-river-narrandera-sandigo-and-boree-creek/

    Vic McEwan

    Reply
  8. Anne Gaston

    Hi Tara,
    My husband and I attended the “Lincoln” family reunion with a visit to both Wagga and Narrandera. My husband , John, is a direct descendant of Samuel Salter Lincoln, whose family were involved with the old Oakbank Brewery. John along with his Lincoln family had a wonderful time especially in Narrandera where they were permitted to dig for some old bottles ( there are thousands buried there I here) around the old Brewery and around the bank of the river. I am very glad to here that the old Brewery is going to get a face lift of sorts.

    Reply
  9. Kim

    I passed by this old building in June this year. My first thought was what a fantastic grand design it would make. Nice to see something about it here. It was fenced off and it looked like something was happening with it. I was hoping that didn’t mean it was being destroyed but rather going through a rebirth. Very special.

    Reply
  10. Shane

    Just as a point of interest as of the current date of this comment, there is currently construction underway to rebuild the long single story building to the right of the tower in the last photo. No idea what happened to it as it I don’t remember it being there in the roughly 2 years that I have been living here.

    Hopefully this means that there are plans to turn the building into an actual tourist attraction as the local shire does consider it to be a heritage site.

    Reply
  11. Ian Gordon

    Tara,
    My great Grandfather, Robert Hinchley, was the manager of Lincoln Brewery at the height of its operations. In more recent years (40 years ago), it was a storage base for the local Websters Soft Drink company !
    The river just behind the Brewery still hides many old and “marble bottles” in its mud !

    Reply
  12. Peter Page

    There Pearson to be some new building work to the right of the tower.

    Reply

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