Local Pubs & Breweries
David Ibberson
November 2014
Left: One of the many houses brewing their own beer and selling it was
The Northey Arms Hotel, the railway inn, run by the Shewring family.
Jug courtesy Rose Ledbury; photo CMP
David Ibberson
November 2014
Left: One of the many houses brewing their own beer and selling it was
The Northey Arms Hotel, the railway inn, run by the Shewring family.
Jug courtesy Rose Ledbury; photo CMP
Taverns, inns, alehouse, hotels, coaching inns, beer-houses and pubs (public houses) are names given to establishments that sold, or still sell, alcoholic beverages. There was a time when every village and town in England could boast at least one of these facilities offering conviviality and warmth in an otherwise bleak landscape. To others, these were centres of vice, hosting the dregs of society from ladies of easy virtue to highwaymen. But for all clients, rich or poor, good or bad, they could, for a short while, be lost in a cloud of merriment; in short, drunk.
Early History
We can thank the Romans for taverns and inns; the Anglo Saxons for alehouses and the Dutch for the beer-house. Why the Dutch you might say? Well, this nation introduced gin, which, by the early 19th century, was seen not just as mothers ruin but as the scourge of the working classes sold through infamous gin palaces. These prompted the 1830s Act which allowed the sale of beer from private houses; hence the beer-house. The beers sold in these establishments almost to the end of the 17th century were brewed in the establishment that sold them.
This sometimes gave rise to distinctive local flavours described as dark and heavy, very different to commercial beer described as light and smooth. By the end of the 18th century nearly all beer was brewed by commercial brewers although some pubs did continue the tradition of domestic production right up to the middle of the 20th century. (I remember entering the George and Dragon at the bottom of Bannerdown in 1960 and being served from a jug.)
In the 18th century most towns and cities had large numbers of small breweries but by the 19th commercial pressures resulted in most towns having just one or two significant breweries dominating the trade, larger brewers having taken over the smaller ones. For example, Trowbridge had Ushers; Devizes Wadsworths; Bristol Georges; Shepton Mallet the Oakhill Brewery.
Bath Breweries
Curiously Bath did not have a dominant brewer after the Northgate Brewery closed. However, the other companies were retailing in Bath. To protect their interests, brewers purchased pubs to sell their own beers; hence the tied house system. However, worse was to come: the opening of Green Park Railway Station gave local access to the massive northern brewers in Burton on Trent (an example of these was Bass Breweries).
It seems that breweries were often seeking finance, take the case of the Chiswick Brewery. In 1829, John Fuller of Neston Park agreed to buy into the business but by the early 1840s it was again in trouble, one partner having fled to France. John Bird Fuller, John’s son took over running the business and recruited, as partners, two men who understood the Industry. This proved hugely successful and over the next 150 or so years by buying out other companies they have over 300 outlets for Fullers products.
The foregoing raises many questions: why were there so many pubs in Box village; which of them brewed their own beer; why was Box Brewery built in what appears to be a very competitive industry?
In due course we hope to tell the story of all Box's beer sellers, the premises they owned and the breweries they operated.
You can see which pubs have been recorded so far under the heading Pubs at Places Index.
Early History
We can thank the Romans for taverns and inns; the Anglo Saxons for alehouses and the Dutch for the beer-house. Why the Dutch you might say? Well, this nation introduced gin, which, by the early 19th century, was seen not just as mothers ruin but as the scourge of the working classes sold through infamous gin palaces. These prompted the 1830s Act which allowed the sale of beer from private houses; hence the beer-house. The beers sold in these establishments almost to the end of the 17th century were brewed in the establishment that sold them.
This sometimes gave rise to distinctive local flavours described as dark and heavy, very different to commercial beer described as light and smooth. By the end of the 18th century nearly all beer was brewed by commercial brewers although some pubs did continue the tradition of domestic production right up to the middle of the 20th century. (I remember entering the George and Dragon at the bottom of Bannerdown in 1960 and being served from a jug.)
In the 18th century most towns and cities had large numbers of small breweries but by the 19th commercial pressures resulted in most towns having just one or two significant breweries dominating the trade, larger brewers having taken over the smaller ones. For example, Trowbridge had Ushers; Devizes Wadsworths; Bristol Georges; Shepton Mallet the Oakhill Brewery.
Bath Breweries
Curiously Bath did not have a dominant brewer after the Northgate Brewery closed. However, the other companies were retailing in Bath. To protect their interests, brewers purchased pubs to sell their own beers; hence the tied house system. However, worse was to come: the opening of Green Park Railway Station gave local access to the massive northern brewers in Burton on Trent (an example of these was Bass Breweries).
It seems that breweries were often seeking finance, take the case of the Chiswick Brewery. In 1829, John Fuller of Neston Park agreed to buy into the business but by the early 1840s it was again in trouble, one partner having fled to France. John Bird Fuller, John’s son took over running the business and recruited, as partners, two men who understood the Industry. This proved hugely successful and over the next 150 or so years by buying out other companies they have over 300 outlets for Fullers products.
The foregoing raises many questions: why were there so many pubs in Box village; which of them brewed their own beer; why was Box Brewery built in what appears to be a very competitive industry?
In due course we hope to tell the story of all Box's beer sellers, the premises they owned and the breweries they operated.
You can see which pubs have been recorded so far under the heading Pubs at Places Index.