Sidney Fussell & the Cross Keys Brewery

Sidney Fussell & Sons Limited, Cross Keys Brewery, Rode, Somerset by Sidney Fussell

Another industrial site in Somerset will shortly disappear from the scene now that planning approval to proceed has been obtained by the developers, Swan Hill Homes, for redevelopment of all non-listed buildings of the former brewery in the village of Rode.

The listed buildings comprise the Cross Keys Inn and the Reading Rooms.

Although not listed there are certain other buildings, such as the brewhouses, associated with the Cross Keys Inn that are to be retained.

The Cross Keys Inn, long vacant, is to be sold as an Inn if a buyer can be found. The Brewhouses, and Orneage Farmhouse (previously used as offices) are to be converted into dwellings. The Reading Rooms (not used as such since the 1930’s) are to be adapted for Class B1 (office or light industrial) use. The remainder of the buildings and site, covering about 4 acres, will become an estate of 42 housing units, including 6 "affordable" houses managed by a Housing Association. There will be car parking areas and an open area.

Sidney Fussell & Sons Limited was acquired by Bass in 1962; within six months brewing on the premises ceased; bottling continued until March 1968, but from that date until October 1992 the premises were used only as a distribution centre. Shortly afterwards Bass sold the premises to developers. Because of the nature of the development and of its implications for the village of Rode, the planning process has been prolonged and the consequent passage of time has allowed the fabric of the buildings to deteriorate due to neglect and vandalism.

The acquisition by Bass in 1962 brought to an end 105 years of brewing in Rode by the Fussell family. The first reference to the Cross Keys Inn appears in a mortgage deed of 1730, although it was not until in a conveyance of 1818 that there was mention of a brewhouse; the likelihood is that brewing for consumption on the premises dates from a much earlier time.

In 1857 Henry Fussell, a local baker, bought The Cross Keys Inn, brewhouse, yard and garden for the sum of £85 and an undertaking to pay off an existing mortgage of £250. At a date not yet known he built his bakehouse and shop on part of the premises of the Cross Keys. He continued to trade there successfully as a brewer, innkeeper and baker until his death in 1875. His widow Ellen Fussell died in 1878. One of their sons, Sidney, who by 1878 was managing the business, continued to do so until by 1886 he had become the sole owner, having gradually acquired the interests of his ten brothers and sisters who, like himself, had all been left equal shares of the business under the terms of their father’s will. The business again prospered and grew under Sidney’s control. By the time of Sidney’s death in 1913 three of his sons had been working for some years in the family concern that in 1909 had been incorporated as a limited company.

Surveys carried out by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, now English Heritage, and by Selwood and Duncan of Frome for the developers, have revealed that parts of the fabric of the Inn can be dated to the 17th century and that in addition to the bakehouse and shop there were extensions to, and some rebuilding of, the brewhouse at the rear of the Cross Keys Inn after 1857: regrettably no business records covering the period up to 1904 have survived. Fortunately, specifications prepared for a local builder by Llewellins & James, brewery engineers of Bristol, for the major work that was done in 1904 have been discovered. These specifications show, inter alia, the construction of a new brewhouse, new boiler house and beer stores involving demolition of stables, a cart house, and an adjacent cottage acquired in 1904 for the site of the boiler house.

There was further development between 1904 and the mid-1930’s, particularly so after acquisition of the adjacent Orneage Farm. This provided land on which the much needed enlargement of existing buildings, and of the erection of additional buildings, could be undertaken. Again no business records of those projects have survived.

In 1935 or thereabouts a second brewhouse was constructed on the site of what had been the bakehouse(baking having ceased during WW1) and linked to the existing one of 1904; the new buildings provided:

New loading bays were constructed for the dispatch of these products to meet what was by then a rapidly increasing trade to private houses (known as family trade), and to the pubs that had been acquired over the years from 1913 onwards.

It is believed the water from the brewery’s well was particularly suited to brewing; this is borne out by the fact that in the 18th century the village had two medicinal springs, and a pump-room which was just across the road from the Cross Keys. After WW1 when the output of beer began to gather pace it became necessary for an additional source of water for brewing to be found -mains water was not brought to Rode until the mid-1930’s. Rights to use springs, a distance of more than a mile away, were acquired and collecting tanks, filters and a covered reservoir were built from which the water was piped by gravity to the brewery. At that time other water for cleaning purposes was already being pumped to the brewery from the nearby flooded brickyard, where clay had been dug in the late 19th Century.

When lack of petrol during WW2 caused the cessation of deliveries to The family trade Fussells concentrated on supplying their own pubs and free trade accounts, which they continued to do until the brewery was taken over by Bass in 1962.

After the premises ceased to be used by Bass in1992 the late Paul Stacey, who was then chairman of Rode Parish Council, suggested to Capt. Brian C. Foyston R.N. Rtd. of Rode that he might like to research the history of brewing in the village while it was still possible to interview former employees of Fussells; there had been in years gone by brewing for consumption on the premises of other pubs in the village and it was proposed that those also be included in the history.

Brian has been joined in researching this history by Sidney William Fussell, a grandson of the earlier Sidney: they have visited the brewery on a number of occasions to make measurements; to determine the use of the various parts of the brewery buildings; and to photograph the inside and the outside of the buildings. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived on the scene almost all brewing and bottling equipment and machinery had been removed by Bass, what little remains cannot be identified.

As a result of their work they were able to provide information for the purpose of the two surveys referred to above. Apart from the personal knowledge of Sidney and others their task has been made greatly more difficult by the fact mentioned above that the Fussell business records have not survived. Currently a full history and detailed description of the brewery buildings, so far as information has become available, is being drafted with a view to its eventual publication.

The end of the brewing activity follows the much earlier demise of another industry in Rode, namely, that of the woollen mills, the last of which closed in 1904.

The Author is grateful to the Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society for their permission to reproduce this article which first appeared in their Bulletin No 90 and English Heritage for permission to use photographs from their collection.

"Since the text of the article was drafted in early 2002 for Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society all the buildings scheduled to be demolished have been cleared from the site. The Brewhouses, both pre- and post 1900, are under conversion to flats and the one-time farnhouse and its office extension, which are now alongside a new site entrance, will soon become two five-bedroom houses. Almost half the main housing provision is now complete. The Cross Keys Inn is being renovated prior to re-opening and will incorporate part of the Reading Rooms. The pub will also have a dining room and letting bedrooms."