Anchor Brewery
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The Anchor Brewery was a brewery in Park Street, Southwark, London, England. Established in 1616, by the early nineteenth century it was the largest brewery in the world. From 1781 it was operated by Barclay Perkins & Co, who in 1955 merged with the Courage Brewery, which already owned the nearby Anchor Brewhouse. The Park Street brewery was demolished in 1981.
History
The brewery was established in 1616 by James Monger Sr. in Southwark, on land adjacent to the Globe Theatre.<ref name="RichmondTurton1990">Template:Cite book</ref> On his death, the brewery passed to his godson, James Monger Jr.<ref name="RichmondTurton1990" /> James Child acquired the brewery after the younger Monger's death in 1670, and owned it until his death in 1696.<ref name="RichmondTurton1990" /> His son in law, Edmund Halsey, managed the business with James Child from 1693, and subsequently as sole proprietor until his death in 1729.<ref name="RichmondTurton1990" /> The brewery was then purchased by Ralph Thrale, the brewery manager and a nephew of Halsey, for £30,000 in instalments over 11 years.<ref name="RichmondTurton1990" />
Barclay Perkins & Co was founded in July 1781 after chief clerk John Perkins and Robert Barclay (of the banking family) acquired the Anchor Brewery from Henry Thrale's widow, Hester for £135,000, to be paid over four years.<ref name="Oliver2011">Template:Cite book</ref> They additionally paid her for permission to keep using the Thrale & Co name until 1795.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp In 1782, 85,700 barrels were brewed.<ref name="Hornsey2003">Template:Cite book</ref>
By 1809 the venture had an annual output of 260,000 barrels, making it the largest brewery in the world.<ref name="Oliver2011" /> Between 1809 and 1853 the Anchor had the largest output of any brewery in London.<ref name="BlockerFahey2003">Template:Cite book</ref> The brewery produced exclusively porter until 1834, when it began to brew pale ale.<ref>Barclay Perkins Ale production 1861-1870</ref>
A fire at the brewery in May 1832, caused £40,000 worth of damage, destroying many buildings and resulting in considerable rebuilding of the site. The new brewery attracted considerable interest: visitors included the Prince of Wales, the German statesman Otto von Bismarck, Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, the Austrian general Julius Jacob von Haynau, who was attacked by draymen while touring the brewery in 1850, and the Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1864.
In 1867, Barclay Perkins brewed 423,000 barrels.<ref>The Brewery of Barclay, Perkins and Co.</ref>
Barclay Perkins was an early adopter of lager production in the UK, with the Anchor brewing lager from 1922.<ref name="BlockerFahey2003"/>
In 1955, Barclay Perkins merged with rival London brewer Courage.<ref name="Oliver2011" /> Brewing continued at the Anchor site until the early 1970s.<ref name="Oliver2011" /> In 1981 the brewery buildings were demolished, although the former brewery tap, the Anchor Tavern, remains.
The brewery was well known for its Russian Imperial Stout, which continued to be brewed by Courage and later Scottish & Newcastle until 1993.<ref name="Oliver2011" />
The nearby Anchor Terrace was built in 1834, after the fire of 1832, for senior employees of the brewery and stands on top of William Shakespeare's original Globe Theatre.
See also
References
Further reading
- For more information, see [1]
- Days at the Factories, George Dodd (1843)
- "Barclay, Perkins & Co", unsigned, illustrated article in Westcott Local History Group Annual Report for 2004, pp. 17 – 22. This article tells the history of the family of Robert Barclay (1751 – 1830) and their home, Bury Hill, Westcott, a village to the West of Dorking.
- Milligan, Edward H (2007). The Biographical Dictionary of British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920. York, UK: William Sessions Limited. Pages 31/33 and Articles on Robert Barclay (1751 – 1830), Charles Barclay (1780 – 1855)