Ridley's Brewery is a defunct

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 be ...

. It was founded in 1842, and was located in Hartford End,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. In August 2002 the company bought out the

Tolly Cobbold Tolly Cobbold is a former brewery in Suffolk, England. History The name Tolly Cobbold is an amalgamation of the two family-run brewers: the Tollemache Brewery owned by the Tollemache family and the Cobbold Brewery owned by the Cobbold famil ...

brewery. Then, in 2005 Ridley's was bought by

Greene King Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019. ...

for £45.6 million closing its operations at Hartford End and Braintree and dropping of rivaling beers to their own brands. Ridley's Old Bob continues to be produced by Greene King at Bury St. Edmunds.

The independent company

Ridley's was officially T. D. Ridley & Sons Ltd. It started as a water mill at Hartford End and from that it developed a flour milling business in Chelmsford, two maltings, also in Chelmsford, and the brewery which stayed at Hartford End. In the early 1970s, Ridley's is recorded as having "just over 60"

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, mostly in central and north-west Essex.

Re-born

Nelion Ridley, son of last Ridley chairman Nicholas, started brewing again on a micro scale in 2011 under the company Bishop Nick Ltd named after family member Bishop Nicholas Ridley who was burned at the stake in 1555 for championing the Protestant cause against Mary Tudor. The brewery operates in Braintree.

References

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External links

Ridley's at Beermad.org.uk
Food and drink companies established in 1842 Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom Food and drink companies disestablished in 2005 British companies established in 1842 1842 establishments in England Felsted