Tolly Cobbold is a former

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 ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The name Tolly Cobbold is an amalgamation of the two family-run brewers: the

Tollemache Brewery Tollemache Breweries Ltd. was a brewing company which originated in Ipswich in 1888 and became a major brewer in East Anglia before merging with their rival Cobbold and Co. to form Tolly Cobbold in 1957. The brewery was founded by three sons of ...

owned by the

Tollemache family The Tollemache family (also historically spelt Talmach or Tallemache) is an English noble family, originally from Suffolk. The family's surname is pronounced . Members of the family have had a significant impact on the economy and politics of E ...

and the Cobbold Brewery owned by the

Cobbold family The Cobbold family is a prominent family that flourished in Ipswich since the eighteenth century. They first became prominent for their involvement in the brewing industry, but subsequently became involved in other areas of trade, banking politics ...

. The original Cobbold brewery was founded in

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

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 1723 and in 1746 the Cobbold

Cliff Brewery The Cliff Brewery is a Listed building, Grade II listed former brewery in Ipswich, England. The building dates to 1896 and was designed by William Bradford (architect), William Bradford. Location The building is located on Cliff Lane, near the ...

was founded, at Cliff Lane,

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. The current building of 1896 is a

tower brewery A tower brewery is a distinct form of brewery, identified by its external buildings being arranged in the form of a vertical tower. The purpose of a tower brewery is to allow this multi-stage flow process to continue by gravity, rather than lifti ...

by William Bradford. The ''Tollemache Brewery'' was founded in 1888 by three sons of

John Tollemache, 1st Baron Tollemache John Jervis Tollemache, 1st Baron Tollemache (; 5 December 1805 – 9 December 1890) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament, as well as a major landowner and estate manager in Cheshire. He was raised to the peerage in 1876 as Baron T ...

. The family acquired Ipswich Brewery from ''Cullingham & Co.'' in 1880, the Essex Brewery at Walthamstow in 1920, a controlling share of the Star Brewery, Cambridge in 1930 and full control in 1947. Tollemache and Cobbold merged in 1958 to form Tolly Cobbold. Peter Scully, head brewer at Tolly Cobbold until his departure in 1977 remarked that the decline in the number of agricultural workers in the Suffolk villages which both breweries served, meant that the two companies had to merge, and where there were two rival pubs, either the Tolly pub or Cobbold pub was closed. Tolly Cobbold was taken over by

Ellerman Lines Ellerman Lines was a United Kingdom, UK cargo and passenger shipping company that operated from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. It was founded in the late 19th century, and continued to expand by acquiring smaller sh ...

in 1977 who sold it to the Barclay brothers in 1983 who then sold it to

Brent Walker Brent Walker was a British company involved in property, gambling, distilled beverages and pubs. It was founded by George Walker, the brother of the boxer Billy Walker. In 1991, following the accumulation of debts which had been used to finance ...

in 1989. Brent Walker announced they would close the brewery for development as a marina, with production of Tolly Cobbold beers to transfer to

Camerons Brewery Camerons Brewery Ltd is an English brewery established by John William Cameron in Stranton, Hartlepool, County Durham, in 1865. It is the largest independent brewer in the North East of England, with a brewery capacity of 1.5 million hectoli ...

. Brian Cowie and Bob Wales led a management buy-out of the brewery (but not the pubs) for £4m, supported by the Tollemaches and Cobbolds among others. The brewery was then acquired by

Ridley's Brewery Ridley's Brewery is a defunct brewery. It was founded in 1842, and was located in Hartford End, Essex. In August 2002 the company bought out the Tolly Cobbold brewery. Then, in 2005 Ridley's was bought by Greene King for £45.6 million closing i ...

in 2002, who closed the Cliff Brewery.

was taken over by Suffolk-based

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. ...

in 2005. Ridley's continued to brew just one Tolly Cobbold beer, Tolly Original, in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

. Greene King have not indicated any plans to continue brewing it, but remained a major sponsor of Ipswich Town F.C., which was established by the Cobbold family in 1878.

Cobbold family

The Cobbolds have an important status in Ipswich as the family were landowners in the town and surrounding area.

John Chevalier Cobbold John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(1797-1882) was descended from "Big" John Cobbold (1746-1835), a 3rd generation brewer.

Christchurch Park Christchurch Park is a historical area of rolling lawns, wooded areas, and delicately created arboreta close to the town centre in Ipswich, Suffolk. The park hosts various facilities such as a children's play area, tennis courts, table tennis, b ...

was donated to "The people of Ipswich" by the family, along with many other donations of land such as

Ipswich Racecourse The Ipswich Racecourse is an area of Ipswich in Suffolk, England, that was formerly a racecourse from 1710 to 1911. The racecourse 1710–1911 The course was on what was part of the then Nacton Heath which at the time was just east of Ipswich, ...

. The family also provided several

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Ipswich over the years. In addition they have provided five chairmen of

Ipswich Town Football Club Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. Lady Blanche Cobbold was president of the club for many years. ITFC have named a stand in their stadium and a prestigious member's club after the Cobbold family.

Tolly Cobbold beers

Beers in the range included Tolly Original, Cobnut, Tolly Bitter, Tolly Mild, Old Strong, Old Strong Porter (bottle only). Tollyshooter (named in honour of the visit of Sir

John Harvey-Jones Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE (16 April 1924 – 9 January 2008) was an English businessman. He was the chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries from 1982 to 1987. He was best known by the public for his BBC television show, '' Troubleshooter' ...

to the brewery shortly after the 1990 management takeover) Cantab, Cardinal Ale, Cobbold's Conquest, Cobbold's IPA (a straw-coloured bitter), Beano Stout, Countdown, Election Ale (1997), Suffolk Ale, Final Brew and Last Orders – a final brew in 2002. For a short time in the 1960s, Tolly Cobbold produced an infamous lager known as Husky Brew, which John Cobbold himself compared to a dog's urine.

References

External links

Tolly Cobbold Cliff Brewery
- photos taken in Spring 2007
Tolly Cobbold Heritage
- An in depth history of the Tolly Cobbold Brewery Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom History of Suffolk Ipswich Companies based in Suffolk Cobbold family Tollemache family Companies based in Ipswich

History

Cobbold family

Tolly Cobbold beers

References

Further reading

External links