The old adage goes seek and you shall find, this particularly comes into focus whenever you pass by a former building that was used for industrial purposes, within London there is a smattering of examples, hidden discretely within residential housing developments, commercial shopping outlets or business parks, many of these former breweries have been preserved and incorporated into these modern structures, far removed from their original purpose. Of course, there are well known examples such as Truman’s Brewery in Shoreditch where the buildings have been converted into a labyrinth of commercial outlets, street markets and galleries, or the Ram Quarter in Wandsworth which once housed the mighty Young’s Brewery that closed in 2006, since then it has been turned into a mixture of residential and commercial outlets, although in 2021 part of the building went back into brewing production again, when Sambrook’s Brewery set up operations. It’s fairly easily to lark on well known examples like Truman’s, Young’s, Courage or Whitbread, whose former brewery sites largely remain in-tact, yet there are less well-known examples out there to take into account, here is a potted guide of some notable examples.
A number of former breweries are nestled within business parks, tucked within a quite unassuming business park in Bruce Grove, resides the building of the former Bruce Grove Brewery run by Woolridge & Co. Founded in 1834, they soon established an impressive Tower brewery which was prevalent during this period, alongside a modest estate of 8 tied public houses. In 1920, the brewery was Linnell’s Tottenham Brewery Co. Ltd, then passed onto Davenport's Brewery Ltd in 1925, whom promptly turned into a depot. Brewing operations have long since ceased and today it operates as a small business park, hosting businesses as diverse as World Eye Media, 3 Step Curry and Uncle John’s Brewery, the chimney stack no longer stands but the original brewery site remains in-tact. Another example of a brewery that has now been turned into a business park is the former site of Britannia Brewery in West Drayton which was run by James Thatcher & Co. The family business was founded in 1806, they soon established a malt house near the village green and by the 1860’s they added brewing facilities to the site. By the end of the century, the company had an estate of 30 tied pubs within the nearby areas and featured a sideline, producing ginger beer in bottle and cask. In 1910, the brewery site along with their estate was sold to Isleworth Brewery, at the time they were one of the largest brewers in Middlesex, with an impressive estate of 228 tied public houses. Although the likes of Isleworth Brewery have long since vanished into the history books, the brewery site remains, resplendent in its characteristic mid-Victorian style architecture that was typical of small-scale breweries of this period. Quite often these business parks are hidden from view, nestled in the backstreets, yet there is a notable example of a former brewery in plain sight on Bourne Road in the depths of Bexley. Nowadays, the likes of Old Bexley Business Park hold a mixture of offices and businesses, yet the building is of mid-Victorian origin, pertaining to be the premises of the former Reffell’s Brewery. The family business was originally founded by Henry Reffell who acquired the Somers Arms in Redhill in 1853, at the time it operated as a pub and brewhouse and by 1874, Reffell was looking to relocate and sold the leasehold of the pub to a Mr. Charles Dagnall. Later that year, construction started on a greenfield site in Bexley and by March 1876, construction was completed. Unfortunately, in September of that year, Henry Reffell died and ownership of the brewery was passed onto his three sons John, William and Arthur, who renamed the brewery Reffell Bros. Over time business expanded, they boasted an impressive range of beers including XXXK Strong, Champion Gold Medal Ale and AK Light Bitter and retailed their produce to local public houses. In 1898, they acquired the London based tied public houses from Showell’s Brewery Co., and they continued to run the brewery within the family until 1956 when it was sold to Courage alongside their estate of 19 pubs. The brewery was promptly closed, yet the brewery site has been ultimately preserved and is currently used as industrial units, and provides a fitting reminder to the town’s former brewing industry.
It's often the case that a number of these former breweries turn into residential housing, as is common among ex-industrial units within London. For instance, an unassuming block of flats in Ashenden Road, Homerton was once the site of Tower Brewery, which was built by George Clarke in 1882. The brewery was sold twice, first in 1906 and secondly in 1910 by Woodhead’s Brewery, whom ran it until 1949 when they transferred operations to Southwark. Charrington acquired the site from this point onwards, until brewing ceased permanently in 1965. Another example of a brewery being turned into residential housing is the Albion Brewery in Whitechapel which was built in 1808 by James Mann, subsequently in 1846 his son James went into partnership with experienced brewer Robert Crossman and a few years later Thomas Paulin, and they formed the partnership Mann, Crossman and Paulin. Over time they become one of the London’s prominent brewers with a large estate of tied pubs in London, Essex, Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire, and in 1875 they acquired a second brewery site in Burton. During the 20th century the company expanded further, buying out a number of breweries and their tied public houses including the likes of Brandon Brewery, Middleton Brewery and the Hornchurch Brewery Co. to name a few. In 1958 they merged with Watney, Coombe and Reid Co. to become Watney Mann and brewing operations continued at the Whitechapel site until it was sold in 1979. The building has since been renovated and repurposed for residential flats, the central office buildings with its signature clocktower has been incorporated into the development and still bears is distinctive sculpted reliefs, the arched signage has also been retained and proudly displays above the entrance into the complex. Further west in Chiswick, on Church Street resides the former site of the Lamb Brewery, which during its height of operations was the main competitor to Fuller’s in the town. A brewery had operated from the site as early as the 18th century, in 1790, John Sich purchased the site, and later in 1809 he formed a partnership with his sons John Jr. and Henry where they operated as common brewers, which meant they produced beer but did not retail it to public houses, at the same time, they also operated as coal merchants which helped support overall everyday costs of running the brewery. This unusual business model served them well for the remainder of the century, where they profited from the new industries that were popping up around the town, thus providing a steady clientele from the proliferation of workers. Building on this success, in 1901 the brewery was rebuilt, designed by William Bradford, it was constructed in the tower brewery concept which was popular at the time, as it allowed them to expand on capacity and produce up to 150 gallons of beer per quarter, and fill 60,000 barrels per year. Unfortunately, despite this uptick in production, restrictions in materials brought on by World War One hit them hard, they tried to preserve by forming an alliance with Fullers, Isleworth Brewery and the Victoria Brewery, Windsor but this effort proved to be futile. Couple with the restrictions of licencing hours and the closure of a number of factories in the area, their clientele declined and in 1920 the brewery site was sold to Isleworth, and brewing production promptly ceased. Two years later, Fullers purchased the site as a means of expanding warehouse capacity, and a few years later they sold it onto the Standard Yeast Company, who occupied the site until 1952. Today the original Edwardian tower brewery structure is still standing, and functions as a mixture of offices and apartments under the name of Lamb Brewery Studios. It is sometimes the case that former brewery site have been turned into commercial outlets, the former Noakes & Co Brewery in Bermondsey has been turned into a estate agents, Lovibonds former site in Greenwich now operates as the warehouse for Davy’s Wine Merchants and Mortlake Brewery has been turned into a depot for the Post Office. A notable example of commercial repurposing is the former Chelsea Brewery which now operates as a furniture and arts centre. The brewery was established by John Bowden who set up the Royal Brewery around c.1850, operating initially from a premises in Fulham Road. Looking to expand his operations, in the 1880’s he acquired a larger premises in Chelsea and renamed it the Royal Chelsea Brewery, it was constructed in a grand ornate fashion, the offices were built in the Queen Anne revival style that was popular at the time, which surrounded a conventional tower brewery complex that would support an increase in brewing production. In 1900 it was renamed the Welch Ale Brewery after took over Smith’s Welch Ale Brewery Ltd, Old Kent Road. Although by this time it had acquired a sizeable estate 80 pubs, due to wartime restrictions and increasing competition from larger London brewers, in 1920 the company was brought out by Watney Coombe Reid. Four years later brewing ceased, and it was converted into a wine and spirits depot, known as Cremorne Gate Cellars. Today the structure of the building still retains it’s imposing late Victorian appearance, even-though parts of the tower brewery have partially been removed. Although the building is a fine example of late Victorian architecture, the garish lick of lime green paint is somewhat left to be desired. The building continues to be used for commercial use, and is perhaps one of the more prominent examples of a former brewery used in this manner that is easily accessible within London.
Although a good number of former breweries have largely maintained their original structures, some aren’t so lucky, indeed the Imperial Lager Brewery in Portland Rise, Tottenham, only the brewery gates have been maintained. Further north, on Tottenham High Street features part of the former Bell Brewery, established by the Gripper Bros in 1760, at the height of their success in the late 19th century, they employed a workforce of 30 and the company boasted one of the largest estates of tied houses in the region, operating around 64 pubs and to meet demand in 1871 they acquired a second brewery site in Enfield. Alas in 1896, the ailing George Gripper sold the Bell Brewery to Whitbread who subsequently ceasing brewing operations and turned the building into a bottling plant and depot. Large parts of the building have been demolished over the years, in 1927 the malt loft was removed and during the 1980’s when Whitbread sold on the site, more parts were demolished. Today only the Grade II Listed Southern Gate Building still survives and acts an entrance to a number of local community organisations, the Whitbread Clock which was added later has also become a local landmark in its own right. Meanwhile, in Kentish Town nestled on the junction of Hawley Crescent and Kentish Town High Roads, features the remnants of the imposing late Victorian structure that once housed the former Camden Brewery. The site was founded in 1859 by the consortium of Richard Garrett, Abram Garrett, Thomas Whitaker and George A. Grimwood. By the late 19th century, the brewery had an impressive workforce of 100 men and it was the centre of their extensive operations that also included a sizeable estate of 78 pubs around the London area, Ron Pattison notes that this push to buy more pubs in 1895, helped exceed their capital to £40,000. Yet trouble was in the air and in 1912, the company went into receivership, after World War One the company had managed to partially restore their finances, yet ultimately the brewery along with their estate of tied pubs was sold to Courage in 1923, two years later brewing operations ceased at the site. Today, only a portion of the brewery site still remains, the imposing terracotta frontage built in 1900 at the height of their success still bears down on passers-by, although the existing building is currently used as a mixture of offices. Near the top of Stanmore Hill is a luxury housing development that was once the site of one of Middlesex’s largest brewers, Thomas Clutterbuck & Co. At the height of their success, they became one of most prominent local brewers in the area, owning a sizeable estate of 74 pubs around Middlesex and Hertfordshire with outposts as far as Hemel Hempstead and Southall respectively. Established by Thomas Clutterbuck in 1749, the brewhouse site was built around c.1760. At the height of their powers, they became one of the largest employers in the area, boasting a workforce of over 50, and a fleet of shire horses where several horse-drawn drays per hour descended Stanmore Hill. By the time Thomas Meadow Clutterbuck took over the brewery in 1898, they became more subsumed with the running of their public houses, than with the upkeep of the brewery site and in 1916 they sold it onto Bass who turned it into a depot and bottle store. Subsequently in 1923 it was sold onto Cannon Brewery, who then sold it to H Patterson and Co, a firm of garden and sports ground equipment suppliers in 1926. The building continued to be used for industrial use for 60 years when the site was sold onto for residential redevelopment in the 1980’s. Although large parts of the brewery have been demolished, portions of the site remain such as the clock tower, coach house and head brewers house, since these were retained as listed buildings.
Around the Greater London area, there are perhaps over a dozen examples of former brewey sites that exist in one form of another. While in some cases the structures remain largely-intact and provide ideal examples of the tower brewery structures that dominated around the city during the 19th century, unfortunately there’s a good of examples where the original buildings have been largely demolished and the only extant features have only been preserved since they were given listed status, like Clutterbuck’s in Stanmore or the Bell Brewery in Tottenham. Its intriguing to see that many of these former buildings continue to be used for commercial and industrial use as they were originally intended, whilst others have been turned into residential housing. Some of the buildings are easy to view such as the former Royal Chelsea Brewery which now operates a furniture store, whilst a good deal of other examples are harder to find, indeed several have been incorporated into business parks and warehouses tucked away from street view. All these former brewery sites share something in common, they represent a veritable graveyard of London’s brewing past where at its height at the turn of the 20th century boasted 90 breweries, and a good number of these were large complexes that employed an equally sizeable workforce. The decline of these buildings represents the subsequent decay of London’s once bustling brewing industry, although in the past few decades the brewing industry in London has recovered, today the majority of breweries in London tend to be brewpubs, microbreweries or relegated to warehouses within industrial parks on the edge of the metropolis, yet from an architectural standpoint there’s nothing remarkable about these modern structures. Despite this uptick, alas many of the larger breweries like Young’s, Whitbread, Courage, Charrington, Truman’s and Watney Mann are no more and only Fuller’s expansive Griffin Brewery site in Chiswick survives to this day and continues to be used exclusively for brewing purposes, it is a unique representation of London’s brewing industry that dominated during the Victorian period, where large brewery complexes churned out hundreds of gallons of beer per year in order to serve the thronging masses.
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