A Century of Cheshire Brewers
Appleton
Alcuin Cowley (1892)
Bollington
Heaver Brothers Ltd, Bollington Brewery. 18 public houses offered for auction 20th January 1920. Acquired by Ind Coope 1931.
Bridge Trafford
George Williamson (1890)
Burtonwood
Burtonwood Brewery Co. (Forshaws) Ltd, Bold Lane. Founded 1867 by James and Jane Forshaw. Registered 1910 as the Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd and was re-registered as above April 1949. Some of the public houses were sold to Higson's Brewery Ltd 1925 and a further 23 houses went to Joshua Tetley & Sons Ltd 1949. Still brewing independently.
Chelford
Thomas Heald Gledhill. Founded 1880. Brewing ceased 1906.
Chester
Chester Lion Brewery Co Ltd, Pepper Street. Founded 1642. Registered May 1896 to acquire the business of Thomas Montgomery with 40 public houses. Acquired by Bent's Brewery Co Ltd 1902 and brewing ceased. Brewery demolished 1969 and replaced by a multi-storey car park with the lion from the brewery tower on top.
Chester Northgate Brewery Co Ltd, Northgate Street. Founded 1760 at the Golden Falcon Hotel. New brewery built in the 1850s. Registered March 1889. Acquired by Greenall Whitley & Co Ltd 1949 with about 140 tied houses. Brewing ceased 1969 and was demolished 1971. Centurion House now occupies the site.
Edward R. Seller, Foregate Street Acquired by the Albion Brewery Co Ltd of Wigan c.1890.
Other Breweries:
Robert Cooper Drury, Francis Street (1890)
John Dutton, Egerton Street (1892)
Henry Knight, Park Street (1902)
James Parry, Barr's Brewery, Foregate Street (1890)
Crewe
Woolf's Ltd, South Cheshire Brewery, Wistaston Road. Founded by 1877. Registered 26th March 1897 to acquire the business of Edward Samuel Woolf with 20 tied houses. Acquired by Ind Coope Ltd 1923 with 42 public houses and was closed.
Croft
Jane Ann Owen, Croft Brewery (1926)
Ellesmere Port
Samuel Hough, Ellesmere Port Brewery (1895)
Oak Brewery, 59 Merseyton Road. Founded August 1982 by Tony Allen. Still brewing 1990.
Farndon
Joseph Salmon. Acquired by the Chester Lion Brewery Co Ltd in 1898.
Handforth
Handforth Brewery Co. (1908)
Knutsford
Alfred John Claxton, Knutsford Brewery. Acquired by Chesters Brewery Co Ltd 1906.
Macclesfield
Harry Evans & Co. Star Brewery, Bond Street. Acquired by Bindley & Co Ltd of Burton-on-Trent 1890 for £23,000 with 20 tied houses.
William Hamson, junior,Royal Oak Brewery, 89 Hill Street. (1892)
C.A.Hordern & Co, Grapes Brewery, Lord Street.Acquired by the North Cheshire Brewery Co Ltd 1910.
Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd, Macclesfield Brewery, 45 Park Green. Founded 1790. Registered 1899 with 129 tied houses. Acquired by Ind Coope Ltd 1950. Brewery offered for sale 1967 and was bought by Whitbread.
F.W.Maurice & Co, Queen's Brewery, Albert Place. (1905)
North Cheshire Brewery Co Ltd. Charles Street. Founded 1862. In liquidation 1867 as the Macclesfield Brewery & Wine Co Ltd. Operating as the Macclesfield Brewery Co Ltd 1869-73. Registered 1897 as the North Cheshire & Manchester Brewery Co Ltd. Name changed as above 1898 after legal action by the Manchester Brewery Co Ltd who objected to the use of that part of the name which coincided with their own. Acquired by Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd 1928 with about 87 tied houses.
W.A.Smith & Sons Ltd. Crown Brewery, Bond Street. Acquired by Marston, Thompson & Evershed Ltd 1962 with about 20 public houses.
Stancliffe Brothers Ltd. Sutton Brewery, Byrons Lane. Registered 1897 to acquire Stancliffe Brothers of Mirfield and Macclesfield. Acquired by Lonsdale & Adshead Ltd July 1920 with 40 tied houses.
Malpas
Frederick Batterbee (1898)
Mollington
G.Williamson. Sold by auction 11th May 1912, to Thomas Crump of Chester.
Nantwich
Walley & Dutton, Cock Inn Brewery (1892)
Peover
George Bell & Sons, Tabley Arms Brewery (1921)
Runcorn
Bass Charrington Ltd, Whitehouse Industrial Estate. A large scale brewery opened 1973.
Thomas Jones, Navigation Brewery, Canal Street. Home brew house closed 1906. The Navigation is now a Marston, Thompson & Evershed house. Thomas Jones was a close friend of Edward J.Smith, Captain of the Titanic and an executor of his will.
Warrington
Bolton Brothers, 38 Mersey Street. Acquired by Greenall Whitley & Co Ltd November 1931.
Cunningham Brothers Ltd, Owen Street. Founded1895 as a wine & spirits merchants, moving to Owen Street in 1908 and began brewing in 1909. Known as B.Cunningham Ltd until 6th June 1969. In 1951 63 properties were sold, of these, 34 public houses and 18 off-licences were bought by Joshua Tetley & Son Ltd for £550,000. Merged with Howcroft's
Brewery Ltd of Bolton 1969, but due to financial difficulties they were wound up in December of that year.
Greenall Whitley & Co Ltd, Wilderspool Brewery, Wilderspool Causeway, and Hall Street, St.Helens. Founded 1762 at St.Helens and the Warrington brewery was established in 1787. Private company registered October 1880 and public company formed 1952. Late in 1990 it was announced that the breweries at Warrington and Nottingham were to close and their 1,510 tied houses would be supplied by Allied-Lyons under a 5 year contract.
John Evans, 33 Church Street (1920)
Walker Cain Ltd, Dallam Lane. Founded 1864 at King Street, Dallam Lane Brewery built 1866 and was replaced by a new brewery on the same site in1967. Registered 1889 as Peter Walker & Sons, Warrington & Burton Ltd. Also at the Midland Brewery, Burton-on-Trent 1890-1923 when lager brewing ceased. New company registered September 1921 as Peter Walker (Warrington) and Robert Cain & Sons Ltd. Name changed as above in 1946. Merged with Joshua Tetley & Son Ltd 1960 to form Tetley Walker & Sons Ltd, now part of Carlsberg-Tetley.
Widnes
Peter Laughton, Spring Brewery, Hough Green. Acquired by Greenall Whitley & Co Ltd, 1898.
Winsford
John Crompton Armitage, Over Brewery, Over. Offered for auction 1908 with 2 public houses and was presumably closed.
The above is taken from "A Century of British Brewers 1890-1990" by Norman Barber which is published by The Brewery History Society. The ISBN number is 1 873966 04 0.
For details of membership of The Brewery History Society, please write to the Membership Secretary, The Brewery History Society, Manor Side East, Mill Lane, Byfleet, West Byfleet, Surrey, KT14 7RS.
