Courage & Co. Ltd

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Reading Festival Ale
Courage Glass Sign. Photo: Jorgen Langkilde Larsen, Aarhus, Denmark
Courage Pub Sign aa.jpg
Courage.jpg
Courage & Barclay logo.jpg
Courage & Barclay map.jpg

Courage & Co. Ltd, Anchor Brewery, Horselydown, Bermondsey, Southwark, London SE1

Acquired by John Courage in 1787. Registered in April 1888.

The Anchor Brewery, Horselydown was known as Courage (Eastern) Ltd from October 1970. The brewery closed in 1981 and brewing was transferred to Bristol and Reading. The Brewhouse has been converted to riverside residential apartments. Courage was acquired by the Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd in August 1972. The Imperial Group was acquired by the Hanson Trust in 1986 who sold Courage as a separate concern to Elders IXL, the Australian brewers of Fosters Lager - later known as the Fosters Brewing Group.

From 1978, they built a large new brewery near Reading. See: Courage (Worton Grange). This brewery was closed in 2010.

In 1991, Courage took over all of the Grand Metropolitan breweries (Ruddles, Ushers, Websters and Watney Mortlake) in exchange for the Courage public houses which were run by a jointly owned company, Inntrepreneur Estates. In 1995, Courage were sold by Fosters to Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd to become Scottish Courage.


The brewery features in The Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland by Alfred Barnard published 1890.

From the Brewing Trades Review 1954

An assortment of images of the brewery


The brewery in 2010. Courtesy Steve Peck.


21 Park Street is located alongside the site of Barclay Perkins' Anchor Brewery; photos WRB 2007: