BREWING, DISAPPEARED OR RELOCATED

 

See Also: BREWING; THE CARRINGTON EVENT; THE HORSESHOE WAVE; THE HYENA HUNTERS OF SOUTHWARK; LIONS The South Bank Lion; WATER SUPPLY Water Levels

 

Ashby's

Ashby s Staines Brewery

Location: 123 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, W13 9AU. A pub that owned by Ashby's.

 

The Calverts

The Campion family's Hour Glass brewery was founded in the 1580 on the site of Coldharbour Mansion. In 1730 Sir William Calvert acquired it. The Calverts became London's leading brewers. The facility became known as the City of London Brewery.

Location: 89 Upper Thames Street EC4R 3UE (orange, brown)

 

Charrington

Frederick Charrington

Following a religious experience, Frederick Charrington renounced his brewing-derived fortune. He took exception to soccer. He attended a match that was being played at Craven Cottage between Fulham and Leyton. He took off his silk hat and addressed the crowd, I am here to protest against football being played. A disturbance broke out. He was ejected from the ground.

Location: 125-129 Mile End Road, E1 4BQ

Fulham F.C., Craven Cottage, Stevenage Road, SW6 6HH

 

Courage

The Courage family were of Huguenot stock. John Courage moved from Aberdeen to London. In 1787 he purchased a brewhouse. The Courages lost majority control of the business during the 1920s but members of the family continued to be involved in the firm, providing a chairman as late as 1975.

Before the First World War, the company brewed its beer for the London market. In the interwar years the business extended its operations to the Home Counties, however, its core customer base rested on the thirst of the city's dockers. In the 1950s the docks began to decline. Courage responded to this development by engaging in a series of mergers and acquisitions most of them in southern England. In 1955 the company merged with Barclay & Perkins, its great local rival and in 1960 with Simonds of Reading. A decade later it bought John Smith of Tadcaster.

Courage embarked upon a policy of exploiting its growth by concentrating its brewing operations on a single site at Reading so that it could enjoy economies of scale. The project's cost escalated far beyond the original projections. In 1972, in order to avoid being bought up by property speculators and asset-stripped, Courage sold itself to Imperial Tobacco.

Location: The Anchor Brewhouse, 50 Shad Thames, SE1 2YB. Courage's brewery from the late 18^thC until 1928.

See Also: THE HUGUENOTS Huguenots and Business

 

The Freedom Brewery

The Freedom Brewery was founded in 1995 in Parson's Green, west London, with the intention of brewing a Pilsener-style beer that would pass Germany's Peinheitsgebot purity law of 1546. Subsequently, the company opened two brewpubs in Covent Garden. They were on Earlham Street and Ganton Street.

In 2004 Freedom relocated to Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire.

Website: https://freedombrewery.com

 

Charles Dickens

The Anchor Brewery and its beers were mentioned by Charles Dickens.

Miss Haversham's wealth came from a brewery. There is a former brewery next to her house.

 

Guinness

In 1756 Arthur Guinness set up his first brewery at Leixlip, County Kildare. Three years later he leased the St James Gate brewery in Dublin. His son Arthur extended the business's trade to England. Its beer started to sell in London at time when popular taste was shifting away from porter to bitter. The English brewers followed the market, leaving the way free for Guinness to becoming the leading stout.

In 1886 Guinness floated on the Stock Exchange at a valuation of 6m. Unlike many of its rivals, the company was not seeking capital to use to buy tied houses. Other breweries were doing such in order to ensure that they were assured of a retail outlet for their beer.

Guinness s Park Royal brewery (1936) in north-west London was designed Giles Gilbert Scott.

In 1986 Guinness acquired the larger Distillers, a spirits business, in a hostile takeover. The latter's brands included: Johnnie Walker whisky and Gordon's gin.

In 2001 Amy Hulmes of Bury, 114, died. At the time, she was Europe's oldest woman. She had ascribed her longevity to a daily Guinness.

In 1997 Guiness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo.

In 2004 Diageo announced that it was going to stop brewing Guinness at Park Royal. Production was switched to Dublin. The Park Royal brewery was demolished two years later. Diageo's headquarters remained on the site.

Location: Cumberland Avenue, Park Royal, NW10 7RR.

The Toucan, 19 Carlisle Street, W1D 3BY. A pub that sells Guinness. (red, brown)

See Also: STATISTICS Guinness

Website: www.guinness.com http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood (Kenwood House was bequeathed to the nation in 1927 by the 1^st Earl of Iveagh (Edward Cecil Guinness).

Foreign Extra Stout

In 2009 Nigeria was Guinness's second largest market after Britain. In 1962 the company built its first brewery outside the British Isles in Lagos. The most successful brand is Foreign Extra, which is 7.5% alcohol by volume. The beer is also popular in Cameroon.

Website: www.guinness.com/en-gb/beers-around-the-world/guinness-foreign-extra-stout

Guinness Advertisements

Guinness advertisements have long been part of the mainstream of popular culture. The company's account is one of the most prestigious that a British advertising agency can hold.

In 1929 the Guinness is good for you slogan was used by the company for the first time. It remained central to the brewer's advertising until the 1960s. From the 1960s on, the brewer used a toucan, then the Guinless theme, and then a number of off-beat adverts that featured the Dutch actor Rutger Hauer.

See Also: ILLUSTRATION & GRAPHIC DESIGN Heath Robinson

A Proper Start In Life

Grania, Marchioness of Normanby (1920-2018) was a daughter of Lord Moyne (1880-1944). She delighted in being from a dynasty of brewers and had business savvy. While she had a preference for champagne, she did drink the beer when she was nursing a child in order to give it a proper a start in life. She had seven children.

Location: Argyll House, 211 The King's Road, SW3 5EH (red, white)

 

Hoares

The Parsons Red Lion Brewery on East Smithfield was acquired by the Hoares. It closed in 1953.

 

Hodgsons

Hodgsons Kingston Ales and Hodgsons Kingston Stout is written on the road facing exterior of the Trafalgar Arms.

Location: The Trafalgar Arms, 148 Tooting High Street, SW17 0RT.

 

The Stag Brewery

The original Stag Brewery was owned by the Greene family, whose business was medieval in origin. The stag was a device on their coat of arms. In 1697 they moved their brewery to Westminster. In 1837 the business was acquired by Watney, Combe, Reid acquired the brewery.

In the mid-1950s Watney, Combe, Reid decided that it wished to close the Stag Brewery. In order to maintain its range of beers and its overall brewing capacity. The company merged with Mann, Crossman & Paulin, which operated the Albion Brewery in Whitechapel, to form Watney Manns. The original Stag Brewery was closed in 1959. The brewing of Watney's beers was transferred to the East End. The Stag name was transferred to the company's brewing facility in Mortlake. Watney Manns fought off a takeover bid from the deal maker and property developer Charles Clore largely because it had already appreciated the worth of its own property assets.

The switching of production from the Stag Brewery to the Albion Brewery gave an indication to Watneys that brewing had reached a point at which a brand of beer did not have to be brewed at just one brewery and that by the same token many breweries could produce a single brand of beer. Thus, it chose to heavily promote Watney's Red Barrel, a keg bitter that it had first made during the 1930s. This became the b te noire of Britain's real ale drinkers. In time, the brand fell victim to the rise of the keg lagers, for which it had done so much to prepare the way.

In 2009 it was announced that the Stag Brewery in Mortlake was going to be closed.

Location: Cardinal Place, Victoria Street, SW1E 5JD. The site of the brewery. (red, turquoise)

The Stag Brewery, Lower Richmond Road, Mortlake, SW14 7ET

Website: https://stag-brewery.co.uk

Watney

In the early 1800s Harvey Combe purchased the Woodyard Brewery in Covent Garden.

In 1898 Combe Delafield & Company and Reid merged with Watney to form Watney Combe & Reid. Reid's Griffin Brewery in Clerkenwell was closed.

Watney Combe Reid launched its Red Barrel trademark in 1930.

In 1950 Watney's Red Barrel was launched as a premium-priced bottled pale ale. Six years later the company launched a keg version. Initially, this sold to free trade rather than its own estate. By 1961 it was the best-selling keg in Britain.

In 1958 Watney Combe & Reid merged with Mann Crossman & Paulin to form Watney Mann. Its production was concentrated in Mortlake and Whitechapel.

Sales of Watney's Red Barrel peaked in 1969. It started to lose ground to Whitbread's Tankard and Ind Coope's Double Diamond. The latter had greater consistency that Red Barrel because it was brewed on only one site.

In 1970 Watney Mann announced that it was going to stop making cask beer and that the Watney brand would replace of its other brands. The Whitechapel was to be closed.

In 1972 Grand Metropolitan paid 405m for Watney Combe Mann. Subsequently, it merged with Trumans to create Watney Mann & Truman. The business owned one-in-three of London's pubs.

In the mid-1970s the company became aware that its keg brands were declining. In 1976 it launched a cask ale. Within three years half of its tied estate was selling cask beer.

Grand Metropolitan sold its brewing interests to Courage in 1991. The Watneys brand was dropped soon afterwards.

 

Taylor Walker

The Barley Mow Brewery was founded in 1730 as Hare & Salmon. Edward Taylor was a partner in 1796. John Taylor was a partner in 1816. In 1959 Ind Coope acquired Taylor Walker. The brewery was closed the following year. The Taylor Walker brand was revived in 1979.

Location: The Barley Mow Brewery, Newell Street (formerly Church Row), Limehouse, E14 7JW

 

Truman, Hanbury & Buxton

In 1666 by Thomas Bucnall established a brewhouse. In 1694 The Black Eagle Brewery was sold to Joseph Truman. In the early 17thC was built. It was Joseph's grandson Sir Benjamin Truman who turned the firm into a leading brewery. In 1737 Frederick ordered a public bonfire in the gardens of Carlton House and some barrels of beer to mark the birth of his daughter. The beer approved to be appalling. The attendant crowd almost rioted. The prince remounted the event the following night. The beer was supplied by Benjamin Truman and was of a good quality. The occasion was regarded as being a success. Thereafter, the brewery's trade grew rapidly, aided by the popularity of porter. The brewer's newly acquired wealth enabled him to make loans to the government to help it to finance the waging of the Seven Years War (1756-63). For this service, he was knighted. He presided over what was then the third-largest brewery in London.

In 1789 Sampson Hanbury assumed the leadership of the business. In 1808 his nephew Thomas Fowell Buxton joined the firm. The latter utilised steam power to aid the brewing process. Truman, Hanbury & Buxton was noted for the care that it took over its workers welfare.

Eagle Wharf was used by Trumans to send beer on the canals.

Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire was renowned for the quality of its water. As a result, following the development of the railway system, the town developed into being a centre of the brewing industry. In 1873 Truman, Hanbury & Buxton bought the Phillips brewery, which was located in Burton. Over time production was shifted from London to Staffordshire.

In 1971 Truman, Hanbury & Buxton was acquired by the Grand Metropolitan conglomerate. The business was merged with Watney Mann. In 1988 the Brick Lane brewery was closed. The six-acre complex was adapted by Arup Associates for alternative uses.

Location: 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL (red, blue)

25 Princelet Street, E1 6QH. The 1706 was the home of the brewer Joseph Truman. (red, yellow)

Website: www.trumanbrewery.com

 

Whitbread

In 1740 Samuel Whitbread established himself as a brewer. Within twenty years he owned the second-largest brewing business in London.¹ In 1749 the Whitbread brewery moved to Chiswell Street in the City of London. It was the Britain's first purpose-built, mass production brewery. In 1796 the firm became the first British brewer to produce over 200,000 barrels in a year.

In 1868 the introduction of bottling enabled Whitbread to establish itself as a national brand. During the 1880s the firm started to buy pubs. Whitbread & Company Ltd. was formed in 1889. While the business survived the 1900s in a better state than most of the other large London brewers, it was not a particularly dynamic company. It did not develop as large an estate of tied houses as it could have. In 1929 Whitbread acquired the Mackeson brewery in Hythe; Mackeson Stout was known as milk stout because it was brewed with milk sugar, a by-product of cheese making.

In 1976 the Chiswell Street brewery was closed, the site's space restraints meant that it had been excluded from Whitbread's modernisation programme. Its brewing operations had been transferred out of London to Luton and Salmesbury. However, the site was used as the company's headquarters until 2000. The same year Whitbread sold the Whitbread Beer Company, its brewing business, to Interbrew of Belgium. Later that year it was reported that Whitbread's sell-off programme was going to include the company's Chiswell Street site.

Location: 52 Chiswell Street, EC1Y 4SD (blue, red)

Website: www.thebrewery.co.uk

¹. Calvert & Company was the largest.

 

Young & Company

Young & Company was established in Wandsworth, south-west London in 1831. In the 20^thC a Belgian abbey, that did not have a brewery of its own, commissioned Young's to create a beer for it. This the brewery did, selling the beer in Britain as Young's Special.

In 1995 Young's terminated the practice of serving free beer to those of its shareholders who attended the company's annual meetings. In 2006 the business was announced that the company was merging with Charles Wells, a Bedfordshire-based brewery, and that the 5.5-acre Ram Brewery would be closed. Later in the year Young's brewed its final beer in Wandsworth.

Website: www.youngsbeers.co.uk

David Backhouse 2024