Some named brewhouses in early London Mike Brown On the river side, below St. Katherine's, says ed to be somewhat dispersed through a Pennant, on we hardly know what authority, variety of history texts. Members will be stood, in the reign of the Tudors, the great aware that the Brewery History Society breweries of London, or the "bere house," as has gradually been covering the history it is called in the map of the first volume of of brewing in individual counties, with a the "Civitates Orbis." They were subject to series of books. Some of these, such as the usual useful, yet vexatious, surveillance Ian Peaty's Essex and Peter Moynihan's of the olden times; and in 1492 (Henry VII.) work on Kent, have included parts of the king licensed John Merchant, a Fleming, London in the wider sense ie within the to export fifty tuns of ale "called berre;" and in M25. There are also histories of the main the same thrifty reign one Geffrey Gate concerns eg Red Barrel on Watneys, but (probably an officer of the king's) spoiled the they often see the business from one par- brew-houses twice, either by sending abroad ticular perspective. too much beer unlicensed, or by brewing it too weak for the sturdy home customers. The Hence, to celebrate the Society’s 40th demand for our stalwart English ale anniversary and to tie in with some of the increased in the time of Elizabeth, in whose events happening in London, it was felt reign we find 500 tuns being exported at one that it was time to address the question time alone, and sent over to Amsterdam of brewing in the capital - provisionally probably, as Pennant thinks, for the use of entitled Capital Ale or similar - in a single our thirsty army in the Low Countries. The text. This will be based on the work done exportation then seems to have been free, by Norman Barber and others and updat- except in scarce times, when it was checked ed by my own research. At present the by proclamation; but even then royal licences text alone stands at some 400 pages, to brew could be bought for a consideration. together with another 200 plus pages of notes and potential illustrations. Pub- The Tower Subway and London Docks, Old lication hopefully will be in Summer 2012. and New London: Volume 2 (1878), pp.122-8. To make the project viable, we have As can be seen from the above and the decided that the book will focus on the extracts which form the basis of this arti- commercial breweries post the Civil War/ cle, there has been much written about Great Fire period. However, many mem- brewing in London. However, it has tend- bers may not have easy access to the Brewery History Number 144 65 various London archives, nor the online brewing without licence or over strength. sites. Thus it was felt that supporting arti- The various online sites also provide cles in the Journal and Newsletter could information on wills, but in many cases capture some of the other information. this is little more than a name and date of This one looks at the references to probate. Where details of family and or ‘named’ brewhouses, rather than busi- location are included these will be exam- nesses themselves. One minor problem ined at some point in the newsletter, but being that the term brewhouse was the danger (for older fans of sometimes applied to what were primari- Beachcomber) is that one simply pro- ly retailers of beer, rather than producers. duces a list of names. That might be However, references to the actual brew- addressed at some point as the Society ing equipment do resolve this. develops a database for the website. In the main, those covered here have This research for this article is drawn their origins in the monasteries, as can from online sources such as British be seen from the sources mentioned. For History Online, Old Bailey Online, the example, in 1539 the forfeiture of church London Gazette and A2A. Hence, original property included: King's, Hartshorn, documents have not been checked, but Fleur de Lys, Three Kings and Katherine the author takes responsibility for any Wheel brewhouses. Some of the other sins of omission or commission. Hope- named breweries eg Red Lion, fully, any such can be rectified through Hartshead formed the basis for later com- the Q&A section of the Society’s mercial concerns and their story will be Newsletter or on the website blog. part of the book. Clearly some names were popular and Axe, King Street, Westminster used for more than one location. The phrase ‘le hop’ or ‘le hoop’ is applied to Demise by Elizabeth Palle, of several sites, but it is not quite clear as to Westminster, widow, to Richard Shele, of why. Some connection with hope or hos- the same, baker, of her tenement and pital seems likely and given the early brewhouse called 'the Axe,' in King dates it is not hops. Wikipedia associates Street, Westminster, with a close and all it with a garland of ivy, which perhaps utensils thereto belonging, for 18 years may have origins in the idea of indicating from Christmas next, at a yearly rent of when the inn was open etc. 7l. Other covenants specified as to repairs, payment of rent, &c. 6 November, Other articles are planned to contrast 14 Henry VIII'. information on legal brewers eg appren- Deeds: A.1501 - A.1600', A Descriptive ticeships and membership of the Catalogue of Ancient Deeds: Volume 1 Brewers' Society, with prosecutions for (1890), pp.171-184. 66 Journal of the Brewery History Society The Times, Friday 17 August 2007 in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, their ‘Questions Answered’ column the Henry VIII, Volume 5: 1531-1532 (1880), question was about what was in Downing pp.199-217. Street before No 10. ‘a great messuage or brewhouse com- The earliest building known to have exist- monly called "the Axe," along the said ed on the site of 10, 11 and 12 Downing west side up to and beyond Charinge Street, was the Axe Brewery. It belonged Crosse’. to the Abbey of Abingdon. It ceased to be From: 'Henry VIII: December 1531, 16-31', used in the middle of the 16th century and Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Queen Elizabeth I leased it to Thomas Henry VIII, Volume 5: 1531-1532 (1880), Knyvet, the keeper of Whitehall palace. It pp.271-288. passed into the hands of Elizabeth Hampden, aunt of Oliver Cromwell, and eventually it was taken into government Bear, St Giles ownership when Sir George Downing acquired it. In 1567 George Harrison purchased from Lord and Lady Mountjoy, inter alia, the The property acquired from the Abbey is messuage called The Bear, two mes- set out in the Act of 1531 (23 Henry VIII, suages lying between The Bear on the c. 33-Private). That on the west side of east and the tenement of Godfrey the road included the Abbey's properties Matthew (i.e., The Swan) on the west, and between the brewhouse called the Axe all other houses, etc., lying between (on the site of Downing Street). Godfrey Matthew's tenement on the west Whitehall Palace: History, Survey of London: and the Queen's highway from the Strand volume 13: St Margaret, Westminster, part II: to St. Giles on the east. Harrison sold the Whitehall I (1930), pp.10-40. property in 1568 to John Walgrave who in the following year parted with it to Indenture between the King and John Johanna Wise, who subsequently married Islyp, abbot of St. Peter's, Westminster, James Briscowe, and in 1582 the proper- relative to the exchange of a messuage ty, including brewing vessels and other called Petye Caleys, on the east side of implements belonging to the inn and the the King's Street at Westminster, extend- brewhouse, was acquired by James ing from the Lamb Alley, otherwise Lamb Mascall, brewer, who was then actually in Lane, to the bars near the King's manor occupation of The Bear. The property there, and of certain other messuages, continued in the Mascall family, and in &c. on the west side of the King's Street, 1634, according to a deed relating to the leading from a messuage or brewhouse marriage portion of Frances Godman, called the Axe, all the way to and beyond daughter of Olive Godman (née Mascall) Charing Cross, Dated 5 Sept. 23 Hen. VIII it included (i.) a messuage sometime in Brewery History Number 144 67 the tenure of John Vavasour and then of Bowl Yard Matthew Quire, (ii.) the messuage, inn or tenement commonly called The Black In 1631 Ann Barber, widow, and her son Bear, sometime in the tenure of Richard Thomas, sold to Henry Lambe a tene- Robins and then of Matthew Quire, (iii.) ment and two acres of land, adjoining on ten messuages in Black Bear Yard, (iv.) a the west ‘a parcell of ground called number of other messuages, and (v.) two Masslings,’ on the south ‘a parcell of gardens to the rear of Black Bear Yard, ground in the occuption of one Master one of them formerly in the tenure of John Smith,’ on the east a ‘parcell of ground in Vavasour, and the other occupied with the the occupation of Mistris Margarett inn. Vavasour's house, it is known, occu- Hamlyn,’ and on the north certain tene- pied the site of Ragged Staff Court, which ments and garden plots in the occupation was situated about 60 feet northwards of Robert Johnson and others.