Charrington, Head & Co. Ltd.

Charrington, Head & Co. Ltd, Abbey Brewery, Lichfield Street / Abbey Street, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.

The Abbey Brewery, probably named after the adjacent Burton Abbey, was being run by Hill & Sherratt in about 1740. By 1828 it was trading as Hill & Meakin. In 1850, the business was trading as Meakin & Co. On 21 February 1862, it became London & Burton Brewery Company Ltd, when Meakin's Burton brewery merged with the Old Queen's Head Brewery of Stepney. The company was wound up in 1865, but brewing continued at Stepney.

In 1871, the Mile End brewers Charrington Head & Company decided to establish themselves in Burton, and acquired the premises. The buildings were in poor condition, and a new brewery was built in 1872 to the designs of Nottingham architects Martin & Hardy.

The Brewery operated as above until 1880 when it became plain Charrington & Co.

Run as a separate concern from the London brewery until Charrington & Co. Ltd was registered in July 1897. Brewing was transferred to London in 1925 and the brewery was sold to Yeomans, Cherry and Curtis for maltings. 86 tied houses were sold off separately.

Demolished late 1960s, site now occupied by DIY store. The adjacent Brewery Tap, the Leopard, survives.

Source: The Capital of Ale: Keith Osborne, 2008

Ordnance Survey extract from 1881. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (http://maps.nls.uk/index.html)