Vaux Breweries Ltd

A sign in the Marlborough Arms, Cirencester

A turn of the century newspaper advert

A turn of the century newspaper advert

Vaux Breweries Ltd, Castle Street Brewery, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear.

Founded by Cuthbert Vaux 1837 at Matlock Street Brewery. Moved to Castle Street 1875. Registered 1896 as C.Vaux & Sons Ltd.

It became Associated Breweries Ltd in 1927. Name changed to Vaux Breweries Ltd in 1973. At that time they held 700 houses in England and 200 Thomas Usher & Son Ltd houses in Scotland.

Ward & Co. Ltd in Sheffield joined in 1972 and Darley Ltd at Thorne in 1978. It purchased a 75% share in Belgium’s Liefman in 1974.

After pressure from the City, they closed their remaining breweries in 1999. The site in Sunderland is to be redeveloped for mixed uses.

Takeover and closure history:

• John Heslop Ltd's Norton Grange Brewery, Norton-on-Tees, was acquired in 1923.
• Robinson Brothers of Houghton-le-Spring was partially acquired in 1925.
• Merged with North Eastern Breweries Ltd in 1927 to form Associated Breweries Ltd.
• They acquired Berwick Breweries Ltd in in 1937 and closed the breweries.
• In 1938, they acquired Ridley, Cutter & Firth Ltd of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and brewing ceased.
• They acquired Coldstream Brewery Co. Ltd in November 1943.
• In 1946, they acquired Lorimer & Clark Ltd of Edinburgh. This brewery was sold to its management in May 1987, and continues to brew as Caledonian Brewery Co. Ltd.
• They acquired Whitwell, Mark & Co. Ltd of Kendal in 1947 with 30 tied houses. Brewing ceased there on 18th September 1968.
• Hepworth & Co. Ltd of Ripon were acquired with about 51 pubs in 1947 and brewing ceased there in 1952.
• Thomas Usher & Son Ltd of Edinburgh were acquired in 1959 with 170 public houses. Sold to Allied Breweries in 1980.
• In 1959, they acquired Steel, Coulson & Co. Ltd of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
• In 1961, they acquired John Wright & Co (Perth) Ltd.
• In the early 1970s, they acquired Liefman's Brewery, Oudenaarde, Belgium, but sold it off in 1985.
• They acquired Ward & Co. Ltd of Sheffield in 1972 with 102 tied houses, and closed that brewery in 1999.
• W M Darley Ltd of Thorne, Yorkshire, were acquired in 1978 with 88 houses. Darley's Brewery was closed in September 1986.

• List of Vaux Breweries Ltd. pubs in County Durham
• List of Vaux Breweries Ltd. pubs in Northumberland
• List of Vaux breweries Ltd. pubs in North Yorkshire
• List of Vaux Breweries Ltd. pubs in West Yorkshire
• List of Vaux Breweries Ltd. pubs in North Western England
• List of Vaux Breweries Ltd. pubs in London

• Vaux Breweries, A Personal Recollection

The Bottling Department in 1907

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Views of the inside of the brewery taken in 1930

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An assortment of views of the brewery taken over the last 10 years of operation.

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  Compare this form of delivery transport to that in the next image.
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  Is this vast beer transporter any quicker than its equestrian predecessor?
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  The old Mash Tun in 1991 - still serving well.
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  The bottling hall in 1991.
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  7 March 1981: Courtesy Roy Denison
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  7 March 1981: Courtesy Roy Denison

The brewery in the 1990s. Courtesy Walter Dunlop

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Entry in the Trade Mark Registry Registration No  : 290,298 Description  : Signature Date of Application  : 09/02/1907 Used Prior to 1875?  : NO