Fremlin's Brewery
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fremlin's was a brewery in
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, England. It was established by Ralph Fremlin in 1861, who eschewed the pub trade and focused on bottled beer, on religious grounds. The beer was known for the distinctive elephant logo on the bottles. The brewery expanded to become the largest in Kent, before going into decline after being purchased by
Whitbread Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in L ...
in 1967.


History


Expansion

The original brewery was founded on Earl Street, Maidstone, around 1790. It was bought by Ralph Fremlin in 1861, who rebuilt the premises, and expanded the production plant along the street, taking over a pub further down which was demolished. As well as being in charge of production, Fremlin managed all engineering and accounts. He did not approve of
public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
s and sold the ten premises associated with the brewery at that point. Instead, he produced bottled beer for the home trade, believing it could be consumed in moderation more easily, delivering bottles door-to-door via horse and cart. The beer was a success, and Fremlin's expanded to produce
lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...
and "National Temperance Ale", along with establishing a London branch on
Buckingham Palace Road Buckingham Palace Road is a street that runs through Victoria, London, from the south side of Buckingham Palace towards Chelsea, London, Chelsea, forming the A3214 road (Great Britain), A3214 road. It is dominated by London Victoria station, V ...
by 1894. Fremlin's was the first British brewery to mass-produce beer in bottles and jars, which became a key factor in their growth. A devout Christian, Fremlin ran bible classes for the brewery's employees, funded local churches, and was chairman of the local school board. He did not supply beer to pubs as he felt the typical Victorian beerhouse was ethically wrong. The company logo was an
elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
standing on top of the family's coat of arms, which appeared on bottles and glasses. It was used because of the Fremlin's association with the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
. Following Ralph Fremlin's death in 1910, the brewery was briefly run by his brother Richard until his death five years later. After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, it was necessary to revisit company policy, so a private limited company, Fremlin Bros Ltd was formed in 1920. The company reverted to the pub trade, buying up smaller breweries around Kent, and the Harris Browne Brewery in
Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
and Adams Brewery in
Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. Fremlin's had become Kent's largest brewery by the mid-20th century, having acquired around 800 pubs and other licensed premises. In 1949, the company bought out George Beer & Rigden in
Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...
, along with its production plant. It closed in 1954, with all brewing taking place in Maidstone, but reopened in 1961 to meet demand. In 1960, Fremlin's bought
Frederick Leney Frederick Barcham Leney (29 November 1876 – 25 July 1921) was an English brewery executive and amateur cricketer who played one first-class cricket match for Kent County Cricket Club in 1905.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part ...
& Sons of
Wateringbury Wateringbury is a village and civil parish near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows into the River Medway just above Bow Bridge. It formerly powered three watermills in the village, one of which survives. The Wa ...
, taking over their brewery and 189 pubs.


Decline

In 1967, Fremlin's were bought out by
Whitbread Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in L ...
, who closed the Maidstone premises to brewing on 15 September 1972. It remained in use as a depot in the 1970s, before closing entirely. In 1978, much of the brewery's infrastructure connecting it to the
River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...
was demolished in order to construct St Peter's Bridge and the
A229 The A229 is a major road running north–south through Kent from Rochester to Hawkhurst via Maidstone. It is a former Roman road that ran from Rochester to Hastings. The road is well known for Blue Bell Hill, which connects Rochester to Ma ...
diversion around Maidstone town centre. The remainder of the Earl Street brewery was demolished in 1980. The Earl Street site is now part of
Fremlin Walk Fremlin Walk is an outdoor shopping centre in Maidstone town centre, Kent, England. It opened in 2005 after several years of development by Centros Miller to include of shopping and a 760 space car park. The original owner was Landsec. Legal ...
, a shopping centre. The Faversham plant remained open for some years afterwards, producing Whitbread Trophy beer. It closed in 1990. A
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
store now occupies much of the site. The Wateringbury site closed down in 1981, but later reopened as a distribution centre for Whitbread.


Hodfellow and the origin of Gremlins

Carol Rose, in her book ''Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia'', attributes the origin of the
Gremlin A gremlin is a mischievous fictional creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft, and later in other machinery, processes, and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. ...
of
English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the region's Legendary creature, mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, Folk dance, dance, balladry, and Folklore, folktales tha ...
(malicious creatures said to be responsible for sabotaging aircraft) to a combination of the name of Grimm's Fairy Tales and the folklore surrounding Fremlin's beer; a favourite beverage of local
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
mechanics and pilots. Beginning as early as 1865, Fremlin's Brewery company tradition included the fabled existence of an unseen, ambivalent house spirit named Robin Hodfellow or Hödfellow; the name being a probable conflation of the woodland sprite
Robin Goodfellow In English folklore, The Puck (), also known as Goodfellows, are demon, demons or fairy, fairies which can be Household deity, domestic sprite (creature), sprites or nature sprites. Origins and comparative folklore Etymology The etymology of ' ...
and the popular legend of the kobold
Hödekin (spelled Hödeken, , and , etc.) is a kobold ( house spirit) of German folklore. The name is a diminutive meaning "Little Hat", and refers to the hat he wears, explained as being a '' pileus'' a felt hat of certain shapes. He famously haunted ...
as recorded by folklorist
Thomas Keightley Thomas Keightley (17 October 1789 – 4 November 1872) was an Irish writer known for his works on mythology and folklore, particularly ''Fairy Mythology'' (1828), later reprinted as ''The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves, and Other Little ...
. Hodfellow was said to be a
biersal A ''bieresel'' ()Ranke (1927): ''Bieresel''. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer (1927): ''Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 1 Aal-Butzemann''. Berlin/New York 2000 p. 1282. ("beer donkey"; sg., pl.; ; English mytholo ...
, a type of
kobold A kobold (; ''kobolt'', ''kobolde'', cobold) is a general or generic name for the household spirit (''hausgeist'') in German folklore. It may invisibly make noises (i.e., be a poltergeist), or helpfully perform kitchen chores or stable work. ...
; (a sprite stemming from
Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon paganism#Mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. O ...
and surviving into modern times in
German folklore German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Seeing as Germany was divided into numerous polities for most of its history, this term might both refer to the folklore of Germany proper and of all ...
) that inhabits breweries and beer cellars. Hodfellow was said to ride a miniature elephant (or sometimes was himself a miniature elephant) and kept the brewery machinery in working order when he was paid his due (in beer) and alternatively wrought havoc in the machinery works when not remunerated appropriately. Brewery workers and even publicans were said to leave small jars or dishes of beer out to appease Hodfellow, a tradition that survived at least into the late 20th century in some Maidstone and Canterbury pubs. Author
Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...
is credited with getting the gremlins known outside the Royal Air Force.Donald, Graeme
''Sticklers, Sideburns & Bikinis: The Military Origins of Everyday Words and Phrases.''
Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2008. .
He would have been familiar with the brewery and the myth, having lived in Kent with his family for ten years from the age of 13 before writing his first children's novel, ''
The Gremlins ''The Gremlins'' is a children's novel written by British author Roald Dahl and published in 1943. In writing the book, Dahl draws on his own experience as a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War. The story's principal chara ...
,'' in which "Gremlins" were tiny men who lived on RAF fighter stations and who regularly caused technical problems and mechanical damage that could not otherwise be explained.


Beers produced

* Three Star Bitter * AK Mild * English Stock Ale


References

Citations Sources * * * {{refend


External links


Fremlin's Brewery
– Dover Kent Archives Companies based in Kent 1861 establishments in England Breweries in England British companies established in 1861 Food and drink companies established in 1861 Gremlins Puck (folklore)