Additional information on the Crown Brewery, Sutton in Ashfield

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The Crown Brewery shown on an Ordnance Survey extract from 1914. "Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland" http://maps.nls.uk/index.html

Crown Brewery (Sutton in Ashfield)

The BHS thanks Heather Faulkes for this information

William Houldsworth Walton (1852-1900)

William Walton was recorded as an "Ale and Porter Merchant" in the Post Office Directory of 1876. Between 1881 and 1891 he was a Licenced Victualler at the Durham Ox, Sutton-in-Ashfield. The last evidence of him being there was from Kelly's Directory of 1891, which would have been prepared the year before. On the 1891 census, he was listed as a Beer Dealer living at 33 Kirkby Road in Sutton.

From White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, 1894, the entry reads:

  • Walton, W H & Co. brewers, Crown Brewery, Alfreton Road
  • Walton, Wm Houldsworth, (W H & Co.) h. Kirkby Road.

Mansfield Reporter - Friday 30 March 1894 - Collector and Manager of the Water Department for the town charged with embezzling money. The only part that relates to Mr Walton was this sentence in the article: "Mr W H Walton, brewer, stated that he used the town's water, and on the 1st September paid prisoner £8 7s 2d, and produced the receipt."

In Kelly's Nottinghamshire Directory of 1900 the entry reads: Walton, William Houldsworth & Co., brewers and bottlers, Crown Brewery.

William Houldsworth Walton died on 19th January 1900, aged 48. He died intestate, leaving a gross estate valued at £4080 15s 11d and a net personal estate of £695 15s. His widow was granted probate on 9th July 1900.

In May 1900, the Red Lion at Hognaston, near Ashbourne, Derbys was advertised as available to let with "possession at once -- Apply Crown Brewery, Sutton-in-Ashfield".

James Graves (c.1850-1917)

I have found no reference in local newspapers to the brewery being sold after Walton's death. James Graves may have bought the business privately from William Walton's widow. Sutton isn't a big town and the two men had likely known each other. However, the Crown Brewery was advertising in the Nottingham Evening Post in June 1900 for a "Brewery Hand (good, all-round) for country brewery" so it was up and running, or possibly just about to reopen for business at that time.

James Graves had previously taken over the licence of the Duke of Sussex in 1891 after marrying the former landlady. He was still recorded there in Kelly's Directory of 1900, but by the census of 1901 he is listed as a Brewer on Alfreton Road, at the location of the Crown Brewery. The census entry shows him working with another man named John Sinclair who also gives his occupation as Brewer and was also recorded as an employer rather than an employee. I wondered if he might have been a partner in the business.

Kelly's Nottinghamshire Directory of 1904 includes:

  • Graves James & Co. brewers, bottlers, and mineral water manufacturers, Crown Brewery

But there was a second entry in the same directory:

  • Graves James, Wine and Spirit Merchant, Alfreton Road

I suspect the second entry was James Graves' actual business in 1904 as he had reportedly sold the Crown Brewery in 1902 to Herbert Joseph Roberts. In August 1903 "James Graves & Co Brewers of Sutton in Ashfield" sued a local baker for "an account owing for beer supplied". The result was a net loss for James Graves & Co, who won judgement in the original suit for £11 4s 2d, but lost the counter-claim for the return of beer etc. to the value of £15 7s 10d. I assume the supplying of beer happened before the sale of the brewery, and the suit took a while to grind through the legal gears.

James Graves also had a later connection with Fletcher's Erewash Valley Brewery Ltd. In October 1904 he was named on an advertisement selling the brewery premises in Ilkeston, and in February 1905 the Book Debts of the Erewash Valley Brewery were available for sale by tender, and James Graves was again mentioned in the advert.

Herbert Joseph Roberts

In October 1902, a report in the Nottingham Daily Express (Nottingham Journal) titled "Sale of a Sutton Brewery" covered an application in the High Court in respect of unpaid commission after the Brewery Agent found a purchaser for the Crown Brewery.

A second longer article, also from the Nottingham Daily Express titled "The Sale of the Crown Brewery, Sutton-in-Ashfield" confirms the purchaser as Herbert Joseph Roberts and states that the agreement to sell was reached on 27th July 1902 and the sale was to take effect from 1st August 1902, transferring the brewery from James Graves to Mr Roberts "for £18,850 and valuation". There is also mention of a Mr Albert Eastwood, uncle of Mr Roberts "who was assisting Mr Roberts".

Following the change of ownership, the Traveller's Rest (beerhouse) Alfreton, Derbys, was sold to "The Crown Brewery Co, Sutton in Ashfield" in July 1903 for £3,025.

I went back to look again at the 1904 Directory, and it shows Herbert Joseph Roberts listed as a private resident living at Stoney Gate, Sutton in Ashfield. "Stoney Gate" appears to be a house name and not a street, although I've not been able to find it on a map. He isn't listed in the trade section of the directory at all. He doesn't appear to be in Sutton for either the 1901 or the 1911 census. So either the entry for James Graves & Co. Brewers from 1904 was just out-of-date information that made its way into the directory, or Herbert Roberts continued the business in the old name?

Shoulder of Mutton Inn, Wymeswold, Leics. Owners Crown Brewery Co. Sutton in Ashfield. At the Loughborough Licensing session Feb 1906 it was said that there had been six transfers (of licence) in the last seven years and they questioned whether the property should be closed. The lawyer representing the brewery said they did not want to lose the property. The licence was provisionally renewed but referred to the compensation board.

I do not know when Herbert Roberts sold the brewery, or who he sold it to, but I do know that it was in the hands of the Home Brewery Co. Nottingham by 1908.

Home Brewery Co. Daybrook, Nottingham

I have no evidence the Home Brewery were using the building as a "working" brewery. It could have been used for local supply, bottling, or just convenient additional storage. There were ten pubs, just in Sutton-in-Ashfield, either owned or otherwise tied to the Home Brewery, and others in neighbouring towns.

The 1908 Telephone Book - Sutton-in-Ashfield Exchange Home Brewery Co. Crown Brewery (tel no. "30") Prior to this, the 1906-7 phone book had no entry for Home Brewery in Sutton, and the phone numbers on the Sutton-in-Ashfield exchange only went to 20. There was no Brewery listed in the 1906-7 phone book, only Adlington Bros. Maltsters (tel no "4") The old phone books are formatted to show the customer's name "Home Brewery" and then their address "Crown Brewery".

  • Kelly's Nottinghamshire Directory of 1912 includes: Home Brewery Co. Ltd. (Robert Percy Dalton, agent) Alfreton Road
  • Kelly's Nottinghamshire Directory of 1916 includes: Home Brewery Co. Ltd. (Robert Percy Dalton, agent) Alfreton Road
  • Kelly's Nottinghamshire Directory of 1922 includes: Home Brewery Co. Ltd. (Robert Percy Dalton, agent) Alfreton Road (T.N.30)
  • Kelly's Nottinghamshire Directory of 1925 includes: Home Brewery Co. Ltd. (Robert Percy Dalton, agent) Alfreton Road (T.N.30)

The telephone books for 1922 and 1925 do not include any mention of the brewery.

On Friday 6th May 1927, the Mansfield Reporter and Sutton Times carried an advertisement for the sale of "the Substantially built premises known as the Crown Brewery". On the 20th May that year, a report of the auction confirms that after the bidding reached £1,500, the lot was withdrawn. They sometimes did that when they'd received an offer for a private sale.

The OS map published in 1884 and 1887 shows only fields where the brewery later stood.

  • Map dated 1900: [1]
  • Map dated 1916: [[2]]
  • On the OS map published in 1921, the buildings are still there but it's no longer marked as "Crown Brewery". Same outline as in previous maps but there's no label at all.
  • Map dated 1938: (brewery buildings no longer present) [[3]]