OAKWELL Brewery, the home of the historic Barnsley Bitter, will soon be no more after demolition work got underway.
Heavy plant machinery has been brought in to clear the Pontefract Road-based brewery site, which can trace its roots back to the original Barnsley Brewing Company formed in 1888.
Oakwell Brewery ceased brewing earlier this year and sold its equipment to other brewers around the region.
Approval to demolish all the buildings on the site was granted on November 4 after an application was submitted to Barnsley Council by agent Christopher Rawlins, of Dunton Plant Ltd, Birmingham.
The firm has been instructed by the brewery's managing director Lynne Booth to flatten the site but Mr Rawlins doesn't believe any 'firm plans' are yet in place yet for its future use.
Mr Rawlins said: "The reason the buildings are coming down is brewing has stopped there and what they're worried about is the buildings being empty and being liable if anything happens, if someone gets into the buildings or is injured.
"As far as I know there are no definite plans but I know it's been mooted about a school."
Uncertainty over the brewery's future came to light in March when about half a dozen other businesses on the site were given notice to leave by June.
RBNB, the company which owns Oakwell Brewery, wanted to sell the 54-acre site where beer has been brewed for more than 120 years.
At the time Ms Booth said sales were down and not enough money was coming in. She said the site was 'too big' and the buildings were in a state of disrepair, many of them falling down.
