Cutlack & Co Ltd
Cutlack & Co Ltd, Phoenix Brewery, 32/35 Priestgate, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
Brewing at this site probably dated from before 1811 and was acquired by William Cutlack of Littleport in 1866.
Registered 5th October 1896 with 23 tied houses. In 1897 they bought the Home-brewery, to which they then moved. The Priestgate site was sold in 1907.
Cutlack & Co, Main Street, Yaxley, Cambridgeshire.
Recorded in 1906. Purchased from William T Sharpe in 1871 but later used only as a malting.
Steve Williams writes:-
Mr Cutlack came from a large brewing family in Littleport, near Ely, and was to become one of the leading names in brewing in Peterborough. The premises that were taken over were in Priestgate (alongside W H Smiths) and were at that time being run as a brewery by a Mr T G Atkinson. The business continued to thrive under the Cutlack name and by 1871 the brewery was employing 6 men and 1 boy. The owner's younger brother John was now employed as a "brewers pupil". In 1878 Charles Cutlack died and the family business was kept going by his son Owen.
By the 1890s the premises that had been used for the last 40 years had become too small (The decision to change premises were not necessarily related to size. The reason is unclear.) and it was decided to move the operation. The site chosen was in Monument Street; the premises today are relatively unchanged and are occupied by Colourscope Ltd. Previous to the move the Monument Street Brewery had been run successfully by Thomas Stones, who sold the brewery and its pubs to Warwicks and Richardsons of Newark.
Soon after this sale the premises were again sold, this time to the Cutlack family. The brewery was described in the Peterborough Illustrated as:-
"Well and substantially built on the fireproof principle, the premises covering a large area. The utmost cleanliness is observed in all processes of manufacture, the tuns, casks, etc, being washed by steam. A staff of about 20 experienced hands is employed, under the most thorough supervision".
The brewery, now called "Phoenix Brewery" (The premises in Priestgate were also known as the Phoenix) was fairly typical of the period, utilising the tower system of production, ie malt in at the top, beer out at the bottom. At the turn of the century the average brewery would have been producing an extensive range of beers. Cutlacks was no exception: "the output of the brewery consists chiefly of pale ales, light dinner ales, extra and other stout, and beers of all kinds, a large trade with families and dealers being done throughout the district". Peterborough Illustrated 1900. It can be seen from the 1898 trade directory advertisement that Cutlack & Co were also making "Celebrated Invalid Stout" and "Fine Pale Shilling Ales".
In 1917 the brewery amalgamated with Cutlack and Harlock of the Quay Brewery, Ely, and ceased brewing in Peterborough. The premises were then used for the manufacture of aerated mineral waters. The many pubs owned by the company were supplied from Ely by means of the new "motor drays". Cutlack and Harlock became Hall, Cutlack and Harlock and were then absorbed by East Anglian Breweries. Eventually by means of various take-overs they became part of the Watney Mann Ltd empire.