Benskins was the pre-eminent
brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...
in
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by
Ind Coope
Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds).
In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The bre ...
in 1957.
While Benskins has not existed as an independent company for over half a century, the brand continues to be well known in north London and Hertfordshire, through being used as a brand name on many tied houses into the 1990s, and in some cases later.
History
Benskins had its roots in the brewery founded in Watford by John Pope, a local miller and baker around 1693. The brewery was inherited by his second son, Daniel Pope in 1722, and passed to Daniel's sister Sarah Pope and her husband William Dyson in 1741 at his death.
For the next three generations part of the brewery was inherited by a John Dyson (son, grandson, and great-grandson of Sarah Pope and William Dyson) each of whom bought out his co-heirs. When the third John Dyson died in 1867 the brewery was sold at auction to retired London hotelier Joseph Benskin and Watford draper William Bradley for £34,000. Bradley soon left the partnership, and in 1870 Benskin continued alone.
Upon Joseph's death in 1877, the management of the brewery passed to his widow Maria, and their second son John Pusey Benskin. His third son Thomas Benskin became a partner in 1884, bringing to the company James Panton of the Wareham Brewery in Dorset, reputed to be the first person to study scientific brewing at University College, London. Thomas' son Eric Seagrave Benskin later became a director, and Colonel William Briggs, husband of Doris Benskins was appointed to the board in 1908, latterly becoming chairman.
The brewery as taken over by Benskin and Bradley in 1867 was one of the smaller Hertfordshire brewers of the time, with 42
tied house
In the United Kingdom, a tied house is a public house required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. That is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely.
A report for th ...
s in its estate. However over the following ninety years Benskins became predominant in the area, ultimately acquiring all other Watford breweries; Healey's in 1898,
Sedgwick's in 1923, and Wells' Watford Brewery in 1951. Healey's had previously, in the months prior to its acquisition, purchased the Victoria Brewery on St Albans Road from the
Chesham Brewery. Benskins rose to become the only regional brewer Hertfordshire ever produced, and during its life its estate included pubs, beer houses and off-licences not only in its home county, but as far afield as Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent and Greater London.
The brewery remained a family business until a take-over bid was accepted from
Ind Coope
Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds).
In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The bre ...
on 13 March 1957. In 1959, Ind Coope merged with
Ansells
Ansells Brewery was a regional brewery founded in Aston, Birmingham, England in 1858. It merged with Taylor Walker and Ind Coope in 1961 to form Allied Breweries. The brewery remained in operation until 1981, after which production transferred ...
, and
Taylor Walker & Co
Taylor Walker was a large English brewery.
History
Taylor Walker & Co was founded in 1730 in Stepney as Salmon and Hare, and later became Hare and Hartford. In 1796 John Taylor acquired Hare's share, and the company took the name Taylor Walker i ...
to form
Allied Breweries
Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds).
In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The br ...
.
At the time of the sale to Ind Coope, the Benskins estate numbered 636 pubs and hotels, and 16 off-licences.
The Benskins name was retained for a number of years after the sale, and brewing continued at Watford until 1972. Despite the closure of the Cannon Brewery site, and its subsequent demolition in 1979, the brand was again revived and applied to a number of pubs in the Allied estate during the early 1980s. A new beer, Benskins Best Bitter, went into production in mid-1980 as part of the relaunch, however this was brewed in Romford and bore no resemblance to any of the original Watford ales. Benskins continued to trade as a separate business unit, Ind Coope Benskins Limited, although now existing only to manage the tied estate, and maintained its head office in Watford during this time. Occupying the former Clarendon Hotel on Station Road, the hotel's original accommodation repurposed as offices whilst the former stables were converted into a new pub named after Benskins' famous logo – The Pennant (latterly The Flag (and Firkin), currently O'Neill's). Benskins Best Bitter continued to be produced in
Burton-upon-Trent until it ceased production in 2002.
As a result of further mergers and acquisitions over the intervening years, ownership of the Benskins trademarks currently rests with
Carlsberg International AS,
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.
Acquisitions
Chronology of breweries, beer sellers and maltsters acquired by Benskins:
*1895 – Crown Brewery, Hertford
*1897 – Groome's Kings Langley Brewery (Kings Langley), Kingsbury Brewery (St Albans)
*1898 – Healey's King Street Brewery (Watford), Hawkes & Co Brewery (Bishop's Stortford), Down & Needham (Woburn Sands)
*1913 – Locke & Smith's Brewery (Berkhamsted)
*1915 – Bailey's Fox Brewery (Bishop's Stortford), Barber's Brewery (Aston Clinton), Taylor's Brewery (Saffron Walden)
*1920 – Pryor, Reid & Co Brewery (Hatfield)
*1923 –
Sedgwick's (Watford)
*1927 – Roberts And Wilson's Brewery (Ivinghoe)
*1929 – Wellers Brewery (Amersham)
*1951 – Wells' Watford Brewery (Watford)
Beers
Beers brewed under the Benskins name, either by Benskins at the Watford Cannon Brewery or by Ind Coope at Burton-upon-Trent or Romford.
Pale Ales: India Pale Ale, Guinea Ale, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Light Ale, Light Sparkling Ale
Mild Ales: Pale Mild, XX Ale, XXX Ale, XXXX Ale, KK Cask Mild
Bitters: Best Bitter, Jubilee Beer, Watford FC FA Cup Commemorative Ale 1984
Stouts: Brown Stout, Single Stout, Double Stout, Digestive Stout, Imperial Stout, Porter
Barley Wines: Strong Ale, Colne Spring Ale
Uncategorised: Coronation Ale (ER II), Primrose Ale, Bitter Ale
Additionally, Benskins held contracts to bottle a number of products for other producers, including
Guinness' Dublin Brewery, and
Gaymer's of Attleborough, Norfolk.
As of late 2012, Carlsberg UK were again producing a beer under the Benskins name, a limited availability product known as Benskins Smooth Bitter.
Legacy
![Holly Bush, Hampstead, NW3 (2911898706)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Holly_Bush%2C_Hampstead%2C_NW3_%282911898706%29.jpg)
Benskins had close ties to the local football team,
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football.
The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecede ...
In 1921, Benskins purchased the current
Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200.
History
It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
ground and leased it to the club, at a peppercorn rent. In 2001, the club purchased the ground from
Punch Taverns
Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constit ...
, who had inherited the freehold as part of their acquisition of the
Allied Domecq
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. Th ...
estate.
In 2006, the club also purchased the freehold of the Red Lion pub opposite the ground, which had previously been part of the Benskins tied estate. The pub, notable for its external tiling advertising "Benskins Celebrated Watford Ale & Stout" still extant, re-opened briefly between 2012 and 2014 under new ownership, however it was sold on again during 2015. In September 2015, the pub was designated an
Asset of Community Value
In England, an asset of community value (ACV) is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011. Voluntary and community organisations can nominate an ass ...
by
Watford Council
Watford Borough Council is the local authority for the Watford non-metropolitan district of England, the United Kingdom. Watford is located in the south-west of Hertfordshire, in the East of England region. The council is based in the Town Hall o ...
.
Pubs in and around the Watford area carried Benskins branding into the 1990s.
The Holly Bush pub in
Hampstead, London displayed a number of original brewery artefacts, but was bought by
Fuller's in 2010.
The Benskins name lived on for a number of years in the English
folk dance team, Benskins
Morris
Morris may refer to:
Places
Australia
*St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia
Canada
* Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry
* Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba
** Morris, Manitob ...
of Watford name, although they themselves have now disbanded.
Before demolition, the wider brewery site was used as a filming location for the "Heroes" episode of the British TV drama series, ''
The Professionals''.
The former Brewery House of the Cannon Brewery, built in 1775, is now home to
Watford Museum
Watford Museum is a local museum in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Watford Borough Council and is located on the Lower High Street in Watford.
The museum opened in 1982 and is housed in a Grade II-listed Georgian ...
.
During 2010, the main part of the original brewery site was once again redeveloped, after the demise of the Watford Springs swimming pool. During the construction of the Wellspring Centre for Watford Community Church, a 15-metre deep industrial well was discovered, likely to have been the brewery's primary source of water drawn from the
River Colne.
References
{{Reflist
Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom
History of Watford
Companies based in Watford