Decorative ceramics in the buildings of the British industry

Lynn Pearson

Ceramics have long been an integral part houses. Even in country house brew- of the structures of the brewing industry. houses, which sometimes reached the From perforated ceramic malt kiln tiles to size of the later commercial , entire ceramic facades of both and tiles are notable by their absence. In con- breweries, many types of tile, architectur- trast, the use of fashionable Dutch tiles in al ceramic and glazed brick have been the British eighteenth-century country used internally and externally throughout house dairy has been well documented; it the industry. Until recently, however, seems the lady of the house might be there had been hardly any systematic expected to take an interest in the deli- investigation of the pattern of use of cate workings of the dairy but not in the ceramics within the brewing industry. more steamy, smelly activities of the This paper considers the relationship brewhouse (or its frequent neighbour, the between the ceramics and brewing laundry).1 industries by taking a chronological approach to the use of ceramic materials Decorative ceramics, then, appear to be for specific functions in the and solely a feature of commercial, large- the public house, and attempts to scale brewing and retailing. The industri- describe the interconnections between alisation of the brewing industry was well brewing and ceramics firms. advanced in by the mid eigh- teenth century, and the first recorded use of ceramics in this new industry occurred, Brewing industry buildings up to 1870 not surprisingly, in London, where early eighteenth-century delftware manufactur- The predecessors of the industrial-scale ers produced pictorial tiled panels for use breweries were small-scale brewhouses as inn signs. These signs appear to have which could be found throughout the been sited externally, and a surviving country in farmsteads, cottages, monas- panel showing a cock and bottle is teries and other domestic environments thought to have been connected with the up to the eighteenth century. Despite eponymous inn on London's Cannon their ubiquity there is, however, no evi- Street.2 dence of any use of tiles in these brew-

Brewery History Number 124/5 63 The brewer's house, potentially with a 1850, when The Builder reported that the number of tiled fireplaces, had always billiard room of Gurton's tavern, in been an integral part of the industrial London's Old Bond Street, had been dec- brewery. Two fire surrounds, complete orated with tiled pictures of appropriate with delftware tiles, can still be seen subjects including 'Bacchus and Ariadne'; today at what is now the brewery tap of they were said to be 'not without merit'.3 Tolly Cobbold's Cliff Brewery, . The manufacturer may have been This distinctive little building dates from Doulton of Lambeth, a firm which built up soon after 1746 and used to be known as a strong association with the licensed Cliff House; it was once the home of the trade from the mid nineteenth century. Cobbold family. The fire surrounds are Thus by the mid nineteenth century, dec- undated, but could be contemporary with orative ceramics had been recorded the original building. It is almost certain inside and outside the tavern, but only that other brewer's houses of this period, externally at the brewery itself, apart from for instance at Wethered's in Marlow, the special case of the brewer's house, a would have contained similar fire sur- rather more domestic environment than rounds, but their fate is unknown. the brewhouse and associated struc- tures. There is no evidence of the use of wall or floor tiles inside the brewing areas of the early industrialised breweries, but the The brewery 1870-1914 best-known piece of ceramic decoration on the exterior of an early brewery build- The amount of brewery construction ing is the splendid Coade stone lion began to grow in pace during the 1860s, which stood above the river facade of rising steadily to become a major boom in Goding's Lion Brewery, Lambeth. The the 1880s. These construction works brewhouse was built in 1836-37 in classi- were generally carried out at the brew- cal style by Francis Edwards, one of the eries of the medium- to large-scale first architects to specialise in the design industrial brewers, who prospered in this of industrial structures. Goding's trade- period, whilst the publican-brewers and mark lion was supplied by the nearby small-scale producers were in decline.4 Coade's artificial stone works, and was Towards the end of the nineteenth cen- one of their last products before its clo- tury breweries became not only more sure. Fortunately the lion survived the numerous but more ornamental, with tiles demolition of the brewery in 1949, and and colourful glazed bricks used as now looks across the Thames from the exterior decoration from the early 1870s east side of Bridge. onward. The emphasis was usually on decoration of the brewhouse tower or The first recorded instance of ceramics chimney, thus attracting public attention used decoratively inside an inn occurs in to the brewery within the townscape.

64 Journal of the Brewery History Society The 120' high brewhouse tower of including everything from , bot- Cronshaw's Alexandra Brewery, tles and jugs to internal and external , was built in 1872 by the decorative faience for public houses; architect James Redford, a local man this important element of their overall with a wide-ranging general practice. The production began in the mid nineteenth architectural style of the brewery was century and continued until the 1930s. described by The Builder as being 'early Their involvement with the brewers Lombardian Gothic'; Redford used stone Watney's even extended to the produc- dressings, ornamental brickwork and tion of several sizeable tile panels for panels of glazed green and red bricks to the Watney family home at Pangbourne, enliven the tower. The Italianate style , in 1885; one panel purported was used for occasional breweries, for to include a view of the brewery itself, instance the Swan Brewery in distinguished largely by its plethora of Leatherhead, erected in 1874 by the chimney stacks.8 London architect W. Barns-Kinsey. Here, the basic red brick form of the steam From the early 1880s, glazed bricks brewery was decorated with blue and were preferred by brewers' architects as white moulded bricks, while the chimney the most hygienic finish for internal walls shaft sported bands of encaustic tiles.5 of the brewhouse and fermenting rooms. The brewhouse tower at Kirk's The first report in the trade press to Brewery, Stockton-on-Tees, built as part mention this material concerns John of the enlargement of the brewery in Smith's majestic new brewery at 1878, was decorated with a broad che- Tadcaster, built in 1883 and designed by quered frieze of tiles just below roof the well-known London brewers' archi- level.6 tects Scamell & Colyer. Here only the tun room was faced with white-glazed All these 1870s breweries have long bricks, but by the end of the decade a since been demolished, along with the publicity-orientated Brewers' Journal brewery warehouse built for the London article on Ramsden's Stone Trough firm of bottlers M.B. Foster & Sons in Brewery, Halifax, enthused 'The internal 1874 by the architect Thomas Harris, a facings of the brewery are almost entirely strong advocate of iron construction. of white glazed bricks, with coloured The warehouse, illustrated and glazed brick dados, thus adding consid- described at length in The Builder, was erably to the maintenance of cleanli- ornamented with glazed tiles and terra- ness.' The Stone Trough was designed cotta by Doulton of Lambeth. Lettering by William Bradford, the most high-pro- on the tiles spelled out Foster's name, file and prolific of the late nineteenth- address and trade; they were probably century brewers' architects. In one of his the largest bottling firm in the world at many published pieces on brewery this time.7 Doulton's produced all types design, he opined: of ware for brewers and publicans,

Brewery History Number 124/5 65 Figure 1. Decorative glazed brickwork in the former hop store of the Mersey Brewery, .

'Where the first outlay is not such a seri- larger new breweries, with specially made ous consideration, I would most strongly bricks used to turn difficult internal angles, advise the free use of glazed bricks for thus doing away with sharp, hard-to-clean the interior, more especially for the corners. Coloured glazed bricks were engine room, mash tun stage, and fer- often added to form decorative dados, as menting house, as walls thus built are in the attractive fermenting room of Cain's much slower to receive the natural accu- Mersey Brewery, Liverpool, which was mulations of dirt, dust, and moisture aris- built by 1902 (Fig. 1). ing in a brewery than an ordinary brick wall, and the air can consequently be During the 1880s, although the decora- kept in a much purer condition; and tive or ornamental brewery became absolute cleanliness ... which is of the almost commonplace, external ceramic greatest importance ... can be easily display was far from lavish. William maintained by washing down the walls, Bradford used terracotta dressings on his and without interfering in any way with first substantial brewery contract, the working of the brewery.'9 Stansfeld's Swan Brewery, Fulham (1881-82), while Scamell & Colyer speci- By the turn of the century, internal white fied specially-designed external tile pan- glazed brick finishes were the norm for els beneath the windows of Walker's

66 Journal of the Brewery History Society Clarence Street Brewery, Burton upon Trent (1883). The tiles were Brown's patent tiles, ornamented with and foliage.10 One of the most elaborate of the ornamental breweries was Eldridge Pope's Dorchester Brewery, designed in 1880 by a combination of Scamell & Colyer and local architect George Crickmay, who later built up a national practice. The brewery has much poly- chromatic brickwork and a small amount of tiling above windows on the facade overlooking the main road.

Terracotta dressings were most often used to emphasise brewery entrances or names, as at Brickwood's Brewery (1900) or Whitbread's Garrett Street stables near their Chiswell Street Brewery, London (1897). The most flam- boyant use of terracotta in a brewery con- text was for the rebuilding and enlarge- ment of Cain's Mersey Brewery, Liverpool, in 1896-1902 (Fig. 2). The Figure 2. Terracotta detail of the Grapes, the Mersey Brewery tap. sculpted shapes of rich, red Ruabon ter- racotta, probably supplied by J.C. Edwards, and broad expanses of red standard, although few could compete brick make for an emphatic architectural with the Newcastle Breweries' Haymarket statement, modified slightly in later years Office, built in 1901 by the local architec- when the brewery was taken over in 1923 tural practice Joseph Oswald & Son, who by Higson's, who naturally amended the often did public house work for the wording on its exterior (Fig. 3).11 The uni- Breweries. The exterior was impressive corn, still complete with intact horn, is a enough, but inside was (and still is) a superb example of the art of terracotta magnificent ceramic display. The entire manufacturing. ground floor was faced with glazed faience in shades of brown, green and Another area of the brewery on display to buff, which included the Breweries' name the public, apart from its landmark tower, and logo; the open arches of the clerks' was the office, which was often given a and accountants' room are especially more ornate architectural treatment. The grand (Fig. 4). The ceramics were proba- interiors were also fitted out to a high bly supplied by Burmantofts of ,

Brewery History Number 124/5 67 Figure 3. Terracotta work on the Mersey Brewery reflecting its sale to Higson's in 1923. with whom the Oswalds had collaborated were subjected to changes over exactly on other local ventures. This type of inte- the same period of time, nor that the rior tile scheme, often included in late pace of change was everywhere identi- nineteenth-century bank, insurance com- cal. In London, the most significant pany and utilities offices, is a rarity in a periods for building and alteration brewery context, perhaps because there were 1886-92 and 1896-9, the latter was less need to impress paying cus- being the greater boom; after 1899, pub tomers. alterations in London almost came to a halt. In the provincial towns and cities, although the effects of the brewery wars The public house 1870-1914 were felt, the exact outcome depended on the financial situation of the local The British brewery wars of the late nine- breweries, strength of competition from teenth and early twentieth centuries have the national brewers, public house own- been well documented, as have their ership patterns (particularly ownership effects on public house ownership, build- by non brewing interests) and the state ing and rebuilding. It must not, however, of local economies. be assumed that pubs throughout Britain

68 Journal of the Brewery History Society In Portsmouth, alteration and rebuilding Scottish public house seemed to avoid hardly slackened, continuing throughout decline altogether between the mid the 1900s and into the inter war years, 1880s and 1914. while Birmingham saw booms in pub building work around 1891-2, 1896, The importance of the brewery wars for 1899-1902, 1906-7, 1909 and 1913. In pub design and the use of architectural Newcastle upon Tyne, where public ceramics lay in the fact that attractive, house ownership was spread widely colourful, easily cleaned, hygienic tiles amongst non brewers as well as brewers, and faience could be used on the facade pub rebuilding peaked in 1890 and again to catch the eye of the passer-by, to pres- in 1897, but continued at a slower rate ent the symbol or brand image of pub or into the 1900s. In nearby North Shields, brewery, to brighten up long corridors, to the prosperity of the fishing industry add colour and intricate form to the bar ensured that pub building was still taking area, and to provide a modern appear- place all through the 1900s. A series of ance for toilets. Ceramics were widely giant pubs was built in Sunderland in the used in the public house from the early early 1900s, but then pub building 1880s, but their finest hour came in the ceased almost completely in 1907. The late 1890s and especially the early

Figure 4. Detail of a fire surround in the Haymarket Office of the Newcastle Breweries, Newcastle upon Tyne, showing the Breweries' logo.

Brewery History Number 124/5 69 1900s. The exact nature of the relation- They could be found in the entrance halls ship between brewer, architect, builder, of several leading London taverns by tiler and ceramic manufacturer deter- 1886, and although other ceramic manu- mined the ultimate design of the public facturers rapidly developed their own tile house. It is clear from the differing histo- murals, Carter's remained successful in ries of pub building around the turn of the this field until well into the next century as century in even the few areas quoted they tended to be cheaper than their above that designs are likely to show competitors.13 Picture panels were even- considerable local peculiarities. tually combined with wall tiling and even a ceramic bar front to give a complete The regular use of decorative ceramics in ceramic interior. An outstanding example the pub context began around 1883, of this type of design, which peaked in when the Poole firm Carter's started to popularity in the early years of the twenti- produce historical tile murals for public eth century, is the Mountain Daisy, houses and other public buildings.12 Sunderland, built in 1900-2 by local archi-

Figure 5. The Mountain Daisy, Sunderland, with ceramics by Craven Dunnill of .

70 Journal of the Brewery History Society tects (and theatre specialists) William & glazed bricks or faience with white letter- T.R. Milburn (Fig. 5).14 Here Craven ing; United preferred green faience. Most Dunnill of Jackfield supplied seven hand- of the faience, along with the doorway painted tile panels showing local scenes mosaics, appears to have been supplied ranging from Durham Cathedral to by Carter's.17 Many small pubs around Bamburgh Castle, as well as decorative North Shields, Tynemouth and Blyth have wall tiling and a quarter-circle bar front brown or brown and yellow ground floor displaying an animal head motif. A photo- faience facades, usually in a version of graph of this miniature drinking palace classical style and occasionally highly appeared in Craven Dunnill's catalogue, ornamented. Most of these pubs were perfectly illustrating the publicity value of built between 1900 and 1914. The this type of work for the ceramic manu- Newcastle based Oswald family architec- facturer. The Garden Gate, Leeds, built in tural practice was responsible for several 1902, is a similar ceramic tour-de-force, of these pubs, notably those built for minus the pictorial panels but with a Newcastle Breweries and local wine and ceramic facade; the manufacturer was spirit merchants Bell & Taylor. Green almost certainly the local firm, glazed brick ground floor facades are Burmantofts. Ceramic bar counters were also common on smaller pubs in many something of a northern taste in design areas, including Weymouth and Great terms. Yarmouth, but there are many other local and regional variations. Red and blue As to external ceramic work, the use of a faience facades can also be found ceramic facade - usually coloured - to amongst early twentieth-century pubs, brand the pub as part of a particular but green and particularly brown are brewer's estate began in earnest around more common; this doubtless has a rela- the turn of the century.15 There are clear tion to the cost of the various colours of regional differences in types of facade, faience as well as brand identity. with the Birmingham 'tile and terracotta' style - a terracotta facade with an ornate During the Edwardian period, use of the interior including tilework - being some- public house facade as an advertisement thing of a pioneer in the field. It was pop- developed to the extent that products - ular during 1896-1904, the terracotta beer, India Pale Ale, lager, and so forth - manufacturer often being the Hathern the brewery name (sometimes as a logo) Station Brick and Terra Cotta Company of and the pub name (often in pictorial form) Loughborough.16 During the 1900s and were all portrayed in ceramics. This into the inter war years the competing resulted in some splendid facades, for Portsmouth breweries, Brickwoods and instance the Howard Arms in Carlisle, Portsmouth United, vied to produce where the facade is signed by Doulton's, memorable ceramic pub facades. and the superlative white on the Brickwoods were first to introduce this eponymous hotel in Aberystwyth; no material, using dark red and brown maker is known in this case. The Swan

Brewery History Number 124/5 71 Inn (now Murphy's) at Poole has a glazed These complex tile and terracotta brick facade in lime and emerald green, facades and interiors were not always with rich brown faience dressings, a profitable for the ceramics manufactur- panel reading 'Marston's Poole Ales'and ers; indeed, they were often seen as loss a dolphin keystone above the door; this leaders, sold in the hope of obtaining the refers to Marston's Dolphin Brewery. The more lucrative contracts for bricks and tiles were probably manufactured by sanitary ware. The excruciatingly difficult Carter's. Tiles could also be used to enliv- production system for terracotta was one en a more traditional facade, as in the reason for this state of affairs, with draw- use of strips of delicate red floral tiles by ings being exchanged between architect Sherwin & Cotton on the pilasters of the and terracotta draughtsman, models and Half Moon in Durham (1894). photographs needing agreement, and finally the labour-intensive manufacturing process itself.18 The Stork Hotel, Birkenhead (1903), appears to be an example of a tile manufacturer using a pub to display its wares, in this instance tiles from the Swan Tile Works, Liverpool; the unusual design of the facade is com- plemented by rather more elegant Art Nouveau tiles within. It is known that some architects built up long-term rela- tionships with particular ceramics manu- facturers, for instance James and Lister Lea of Birmingham with Hathern and Minton Hollins around 1900, and with Maw's of Jackfield in the years after the First World War. Three Birmingham brew- ers - Mitchells & Butlers, Holt's and Atkinson's - also commissioned Maw's directly a number of times after 1914, both for tilework at pubs and at the brew- eries themselves.19 However, the source of pub ceramics is often unknown, despite being of high quality, for example at the Pier Hotel, Birkenhead, with its unusual stonework facade and spectacu- Figure 6. The Pier Hotel, Birkenhead, display- lar Birkenhead Brewery logo (Fig. 6). ing the stonework logo of the Birkenhead Doulton's collaborated with the Great Brewery Company. Yarmouth architect, inventor and

72 Journal of the Brewery History Society Borough Surveyor John William Carter's for the Tangier, a Portsmouth pub 'Concrete' Cockrill in 1893 to patent the built in 1911-12 for Portsmouth United Cockrill tile. Cockrill's invention was an L- Breweries, are said to have originated shaped wall facing tile which obviated the with a holiday in Morocco taken by the need for shuttering during the building of brewery company chairman. The pub was concrete walls by acting as a retainer for also the first in the Portsmouth United the concrete. It was used in the construc- estate to display the trademark green tion of Yarmouth's licensed Fish Wharf faience facade.22 Refreshment Rooms, completed in 1904, later the Dolphin public house.20 The crucial point in the production of a pub facade or interior was the actual The exact nature of the brewer-architect- assembly of the tiles or faience at the pub. builder-tiler-manufacturer relationship is The role of the tiler has previously been often hard to define, as the records from underestimated and poorly understood; it both the ceramics and brewing industries turns out to carry much responsibility for are lacking in this area. Apportioning the ultimate design, and substantial eco- responsibility for the final design is a diffi- nomic weight with ceramics manufactur- cult task, and one that is probably impos- ers. Tilers and tile merchants Conway & sible given the collaborative nature of the Co worked on many pubs in the work. The relationship between the vari- Manchester area around the turn of the ous parties might be linear, that is the century, using Maw tiles and faience; brewer commissioned the architect, who detailed design work was carried out by obtained estimates from the builder, who Maw's, on the basis of mutual under- brought in the tiler, who obtained materi- standing of historic architectural styles as als from the manufacturer. However, the depicted on pub facades. Conways nor- relationship could be short-circuited, if not mally specified only the faience colour all parties were involved; for instance, in and any lettering, leaving Maw's to pro- an earlier incarnation of 'design and build', duce a detailed design, although tiler and manufacturer could be responsi- Conway's sometimes referred to styles ble for the design work, with no clear such as 'Norman' which Maw's were architectural involvement. The relation- expected to interpret without further ship could also become circular: a ceram- explanation, or asked to use the moulds ic manufacturer might take a financial of a previous design.23 In 1906, Conway's interest in a brewery. Charles Canning of demanded a substantial reduction in Gibbs & Canning, terracotta manufactur- Maw's prices, which was granted, the ers of Glascote, near Tamworth, was one alternative being that Conway's would of the founder subscribers in 1873 to the certainly have found another supplier.24 Tamworth Brewery Company, although the concern did not thrive.21 Sometimes Local differences in the interaction the relationship became more personal: between the brewing and ceramic indus- the Arabic-style tile designs produced by tries resulted in a wide variety of turn-of-

Brewery History Number 124/5 73 the-century public house designs. inter-war years were something of an Although design of the pub was theoreti- anticlimax in terms of brewery construc- cally the responsibility of the architect, in tion, while the 'improved public house' - practice an architect might not even be respectable, airy, spacious, less ornate appointed by a brewer, who might simply and often a little dull - came to dominate rely on the judgement of builder and tiler; pub construction, especially after 1926.25 in addition, the options available in terms There was a certain amount of use of of tiles and faience were determined by ceramic materials within breweries, but it the chosen manufacturer's capabilities. was pretty small beer, emphasising func- Because of the competitive economic tion, not display: Maw's provided white conditions in both the brewing and ceram- glazed tiling in the engine room at ic industries, loyalty to a single ceramic Mitchells & Butlers' Cape Hill Brewery, manufacturer on the part of brewer, archi- Smethwick, in 1920, and decorative wall tect or tiler was not necessarily the norm; tiling for their drinking fountain room the all looked for the best deal, although qual- following year, while Atkinson's ordered ity and reliability were issues. In the fer- decorative tiling from Maw's for their ment of pub and brewery building around refrigerator room in 1922. In Great 1900, relationships between all the par- Yarmouth, Lacon's brewery stores of ties tended to the promiscuous. The end 1930 were unusually decorative for the result was enhanced product develop- period, with terracotta detailing and a ment as ceramic manufacturers attempt- tiled inset of the Lacon's falcon symbol.26 ed to outdo each other and gain or retain contracts, while memorable pub facades Between the wars, Lacon's brewery was evolved from this exciting design environ- one of the few which continued to use ment. The brewers, ever conservative, decorative ceramics on their pubs, partly were helped to survive by the innovations because of the enthusiasm of their in- of the ceramics firms, competing with house architect A.W. 'Billy' Ecclestone, each other by means of the public house. who designed pubs in both neo-vernacu- Brewers, architects, builders, tilers and lar and modern styles. For the former he ceramic manufacturers together evolved had bricks and tiles specially made by the brewer's trademark styles over time; small Somerleyton Brick Company and scale variations in this relationship pro- Tucker's of Loughborough respectively, duced the style of the local. while his modern pubs - for instance the Schooner, built in 1938 - almost always sported a tile panel by Carter's, Breweries and pubs during the inter- which acted as the pub sign; these pan- war years els continued to be manufactured for Lacon's into the 1950s. Similar tiled pub After the heady days of the brewery con- signs can be found in other areas, for struction boom and the pub wars, the instance at the Two Ships Hotel in

74 Journal of the Brewery History Society Rochdale, built during the 1920s for the some time after pub names were com- Bury Brewery Company. Inter-war monly placed on the outside of pubs, it Rochdale pubs developed their own spe- was their policy to have only the brewery cific style of decoration, which involved a name on the exterior of their houses. tiny lobby, with wall tiles giving a visual Threlfall's was one of several brewery rendition of the pub name or brewery clients supplied by Shaws of Darwen dur- logo, and a doorway mosaic containing ing the mid-1930s, as was Meux's the pub name. Examples are the Merry Brewery, for whom Shaws provided the Monk, with the Phoenix Brewery logo in cream and black faience facade of the its lobby wall tiling; the Globe, with tiling Blue Coat Boy in Islington, a relatively showing delightful floating globes; and rare venture into a lightly modern style. the Albion, where 'CB & Co' probably The design included a full size Blue Coat indicates the Cornbrook Brewery. Boy modelled in suitably coloured faience.28 Ceramics remained popular throughout the inter-war period as a means of identi- Perhaps as a reaction against all this fying the brewery, albeit using distinctive blandness and good taste in pub design, plaques fixed to pub exteriors rather than the occasional adventurous brewery did entire facades. Doulton's of Lambeth pro- come up with an art deco facade, or at duced a handsome polychrome least a smidgeon of daring art deco orna- stoneware plaque for of mentation. The entrance to the New Inn , designed by the sculp- at Selby, built around 1930, harbours a tor George Edward Kruger-Gray in 1933; fine panel of colourful art deco tiles made one appeared on all Greene King's pubs. by Candy Tiles of Newton Abbot, in the After the closure of the Lambeth works in context of old-fashioned wood- and 1956, these plaques were made at glasswork; the Globe Inn, Leeds has a Carter's; the design was almost the tiled dado made by the Lancashire firm same.27 Doulton's also made plaques for Pilkington's around 1930, with a striking the brewers Tamplin's (), Arkell's art deco inset. Both these houses may () and Cheltenham & Hereford have been part of the John Smith's from the 1930s. Tadcaster Brewery tied estate. In the Scottish Borders at Tweedsmuir, the A few breweries persisted with the idea of Crook Inn still displays a colourful art complete ceramic facades between the deco tiling scheme dating from 1936 in its wars, although these generally tended bathrooms and toilets. More unusually, toward the bland, often using white the early 1920s logo of the Winchester faience, for instance Doulton's Brewery, as portrayed on their public Carraraware, in a form of stripped classi- houses, was a distorted version of the let- cal style. Threlfall's of Liverpool often ters 'WB' repeated in art deco tiling combined the white facade with a ceram- around the top of the facade. The colours ic sign indicating the name of the pub; for used were red and white, thus providing

Brewery History Number 124/5 75 an easily distinguishable branding for block rather than a traditional towered their estate. However, as the firm was brewery, was faced with Doulton's taken over in 1923, few of the houses Carraraware and designed by Stone & have survived intact; one remaining Partners. However, since construction example is the Englishman, English work at the site had begun in 1934, only Road, . to be delayed by the war, this is not exactly a post-war building. The brewery It is interesting to note that while British closed in 1981, a victim of highly compet- pubs were becoming less decorative, the itive trading conditions within the brewing situation was different in Australia. There, industry. The few new breweries built Tooth & Co of the Brewery, Sydney, since that date tend to be huge beer fac- built and renovated many pubs during the tories, housed in tin sheds with no need 1930s in art deco or early modern style. for external ceramics; internally, white Their reasoning was that the use of good faience supplied by Shaws of Darwen architects would improve the image and was occasionally used to line brewhouse appearance of their pubs, thus helping to walls during the 1960s and 1970s. combat the increasingly powerful temper- ance movement. The pubs were some- In and on the public house, however, times tiled, inside and out, and also fea- there was a minor resurgence of ceramic tured elaborate paintings on glass by use after the war. Carter's were particu- leading artists. These 1930s pubs, which larly active in this field, producing trade- eventually became known as 'toilet tile' mark plaques for a number of brewers pubs, inevitably went out of favour and including Morland's of Abingdon, Greene were often badly altered or demolished, King, Charrington's - the Toby Ale sign - but are now seen by historians as 'a and Greenall's of Warrington, as well as unique and distinctive Australian building being responsible for the Guinness tou- style'.29 The 'toilet tile' pubs were, appar- can, which was modelled by Reginald ently, hideously noisy when in use, as the Goodwin.31 The firm also did larger-scale noise made by the customers reverberat- work, for instance the 5' by 3' hand-paint- ed around the tiled interior.30 ed panel by Phyllis Hunter showing Garibaldi, for the Lacon's pub of the same name in Great Yarmouth, which the Post-war buildings of the brewing brewery rebuilt in 1957; the panel was industry installed on its exterior the following year. Carter's work for breweries during the The only substantial post-1945 brewery 1950s varied from fireplaces and murals to be built with significant use of ceramics behind the bar counter to external was Ansell's Brewery, completed in plaques and many entire facades, often 1954. This impressive, flat-iron shaped including picture panels or logos.32 structure, which resembled an office

76 Journal of the Brewery History Society The Poole firm probably also manufac- al identification within the pub. The tured the 'Devenish's Brewery' sign on Hartlepool brewers Cameron's (owned by the facade of Brewers Quay, Hope & Dudley Breweries) Square, Weymouth, originally the Hope now brand their pubs as selling Brewery of John Groves & Sons (1903- Cameron's Strongarm by means of a 4). The brewery was designed by Arthur large tiled pictorial panel, showing 'olde Kinder & Son, a leading London firm of worlde' figures, set just inside the brewers'architects, and was taken over entrance; the Hop & Friar in Shrewsbury by its near-neighbours, Devenish & Co, in has had this treatment. This rather brings 1960; it ceased to brew in 1985. To the pub ceramics full circle within the last right of the brewhouse, on a building half-century, as Cameron's was a cus- which probably dates from the early tomer of Carter's - buying patterned wall 1960s, is the handsome full-length tiles and a 'Cameron's' mosaic floor - for framed tiled sign, in red sans serif letter- the Spotted Cow, West Hartlepool, in ing with a black shadow on yellow 1954. ground. Carter's definitely did design and make the full-height, large-scale tile Another interesting modern ceramic panel showing the brewing process occurrence was instigated by Eldridge which was installed in Truman's Black Pope, well known both for their ornamen- Brewery, Spitalfields, around 1965. tal Dorchester Brewery and their often The panel, possibly still extant, was one decorative tied estate - the Branksome of a series which Carter's produced for Arms in is an especially industrial customers in the 1960s.33 good example of their houses, built around 1909 and displaying the brewery During the early 1970s, tiles produced by in ceramics by Carter's. In 1986 the Hereford Tiles Limited were used on brewery decided to sponsor and build a Mitchells & Butlers' and Ansell's pubs in new railway station for the town; this the Birmingham area.34 The onset of action was commemorated by a hand- mass pub refurbishments, carried out by painted tile panel sited on the platform of the remaining large industrial-scale brew- the new Dorchester South station. ers from the late 1970s onward, resulted However, this century of ceramic activity in a fetish for neo-Victorian style pubs has now probably come to an end, as complete with new versions of Victorian- Eldridge Pope ceased to be brewers in style tiling; during the 1990s, H. & E. 1997. Indeed, future connections Smith's Britannic Works at Hanley pro- between ceramics and brewing may well duced ceramic brewery logo plaques for relate only to the industry's history, as this market, while Shaws of Darwen were shown by the inclusion of images of involved with the restoration of several breweries in the Wrexham millennium tile faience pub facades. The popularity of mural; the town was once the brewing retro-styling has even induced some capital of , the Burton upon Trent of brewers to return to old methods of visu- the Principality.35

Brewery History Number 124/5 77 Conclusion indeed, of the brewer. Economics also played a part; when the use of ceramics Around the end of the nineteenth century, became more expensive, after the first brewers tended to have a rather dismis- world war, trademark plaques rather than sive attitude towards the architectural whole facades became the norm. In addi- merits of their breweries. The proprietor tion, architects probably had more influ- of Edward Winch & Sons' Chatham ence over the pub design process from Brewery felt it important to have his com- the inter-war years onward than they had plete estate of public houses pho- been able to exert in the early 1900s, tographed - but not his brewery.36 In fact, when ceramics manufacturers and tilers - despite their only grudging interest in the almost by default - were in control, due to appearance of breweries, brewers - the nature of the manufacturing process. through their architects or engineers - Long-term relationships between brew- made an effort to produce attractive ers, architects and ceramics manufactur- industrial buildings. In some cases, for ers were not uncommon, with Carter's, instance Eldridge Pope of Dorchester, Doulton and (later) Shaws being the most the remit to design decorative buildings important manufacturers, although Maw, appears to have run throughout the com- Minton Hollins and Craven Dunnill pany, whether brewery or estate was become more significant the further north under consideration. This example is par- the location of the pub or brewery.37 ticularly unusual as south-west breweries Because of the paucity of records relating in general tended towards the less deco- to pub and brewery design in both indus- rative, perhaps because of the functional tries, more detailed conclusions are diffi- influence of the brewers' engi- cult to draw; however, it is likely that neers. In Scotland, the brewers' architect some of the many now-demolished brew- Peter Lyle Henderson was highly influen- eries also used ceramic decoration. Local tial; he produced several eye-catching relationships between brewer and ceram- breweries, sometimes using the Scottish ics manufacturers produced local styles Baronial style, and also designed many for the 'local', but it is certain that the turn-of-the-century pubs. He was also an innovatory capabilities of the ceramic enthusiastic user of tiles, including picto- industry were crucial in creating the time- rial panels, in public houses. less image of the British public house.

It is clear that personal influence, whether that of brewer or architect, had much to Acknowledgements do with the final appearance of buildings, in what was a conservative, largely fami- The author would like to thank the follow- ly-run industry. To look at the pub or ing for their help in the preparation of this brewery was to be presented with an paper: the School of Art and Design, image created by the brewer - almost, University of Wolverhampton; the

78 Journal of the Brewery History Society Manifold Trust; the Scouloudi Doulton of Lambeth is more likely; it would Foundation, in association with the then be an early example of Doulton's work Institute of Historical Research; the for the licensed trade, which eventually Pilgrim Trust; the Waterfront Museum, became a highly significant part of their over- Poole; the Ironbridge Gorge Museum all production. Trust Library; the Records 4. Pearson, L.F. (2000) British Breweries: An and Research Centre; the Whitbread Architectural History, Hambledon Press: Archives; Shaws of Darwen; Penny London, p 66. Beckett, Mary and John Bentley, Chris 5. The Builder, vol 30, 11th May 1872, p Blanchett, Tony Herbert, Kathy Huggins, 370; Brewers' Journal, vol 11, Jan 1875, p 10. Willem Irik, Biddy Macfarlane, Tony 6. Atkinson, F., (1974) The industrial archae- Page, Helen Ross, Judy Rudoe, Alan ology of North-East , David & Swale, Hans van Lemmen, Harry van Charles: Newton Abbot, pp 126, 303. Royen and Rob Whatley. An earlier 7. The Builder, vol 32, 7th Feb 1874, pp version of this paper was read at the 109-11. seminar preceding the Annual 8. Atterbury, P. and Irvine, L., (1979) The Conference of the Association for Doulton Story, Royal Doulton Tableware: Industrial Archaeology, Chatham, 10th Stoke on Trent:, pp 45 and 94. One tile panel September 1999. at the Watney family home is described as showing a view of Doulton's Lambeth works with Watney's brewery to the rear, as seen This articles was first published in the from the Thames. Since the brewery was in Journal of the Tiles and Architectural Pimlico, this clearly required the use of much Ceramics Society, volume 8, 2000, pp26- artistic licence; on the panel itself, the hand- 36. some facade of Doulton's is easily recognis- able, but the brewery is merely a clutch of chimneys. Was this a joke at Watney's Notes and references expense? Regarding the supply of ceramic ware to the brewing industry, Wedgwood also 1. Lemmen, H. van, (1997) Delftware Tiles, produced jugs and pub ware, for the brewers Laurence King: London, p 112. Worthingtons and Mitchells & Butlers (see 2. Ibid p 123; the panel is now held by the Batkin, M. (1982) Wedgwood Ceramics 1846- Museum of London. 1959, London: Richard Dennis, p216), while 3. The Builder, vol 8, 23rd March 1850, p an 1892 advertisement for the tile manufac- 141. Although the tiles are described as turers Woolliscroft's of Stoke-on-Trent offered encaustic, this appears to be used as a gen- perforated malt kiln tiles, as used by the sub- eral term for tiling; the artist was E.F. stantial maltings at Sawbridgeworth, Lambert. No manufacturer is mentioned, but . given the early date, Minton would be a 9. Bradford, W., (1891) 'Notes on brewery strong possibility. However, as the billiard construction', Transactions of the Institute of room was in a London tavern, perhaps Brewing, 4, pp 109-138.

Brewery History Number 124/5 79 10. The Builder, vol 44, 23rd June 1883, p Archaeology Review, 8, 2, pp 194-214. 844. Nothing is known of the firm Brown's 19. Shropshire Records & Research Centre apart from this reference. (SRRC), Maw & Co, Contract Jobs Abstract 11. Ruabon is likely to be the source of the Book No 10, 6001/5241. terracotta used at Cain's given its proximity 20. Patent No. 23,230, 4th December 1893, and the specific colour of the terracotta. Of J.W. Cockrill and H.L. Doulton. the two large Ruabon firms who might have 21. Brewers' Journal, vol 9, June 1873, p carried out this prestigious contract, Dennis 135. and Edwards, no mention of Cain's occurs in 22. Eley, P. and Riley, R.C. (1991) ‘The the catalogues of Henry Dennis; it therefore demise of demon drink? Portsmouth Pubs,’ seems likely that the terracotta was manufac- 1900-1950, Portsmouth Papers 58, tured by J.C. Edwards. Portsmouth City Council, p 8. 12. Austwick, J. and Austwick, B., (1980) 23. Pearson, L.F. (1991) 'Maw & Co, The Decorated Tile, Pitman House Limited: Conway & Co and the pubs of Manchester', London, pp 73-4. Glazed Expressions, 22, p 10; SRRC, Maw & 13. Building News, vol 51, 2nd July 1886, p Co Abstract Book No 28, 6001/5242. 13. See also Irvine, L., (1981) 'The 24. Pears, A. (1989) Maw and Company Decorative Spirit,’ Connoisseur, vol 208, Dec, 1900-1910, dissertation submitted for pp 273-5. Diploma in Industrial Archaeology, Ironbridge 14. Pearson, L.F., (1989) The Northumbrian Institute, University of Birmingham, Pub: An Architectural History, Sandhill Press: September, p26. Warkworth, pp 81-2, 123, 126. 25. Aslet, C. (1984) 'Beer and Skittles in the 15. Davison, A., (1992) 'A Genuine and Improved Public House', Thirties Society Superior Article: the Last Two Centuries of Journal, 4, pp 2-9. Brewing in York', York Historian, vol 10, pp 26. Alderton, D. and Booker, J. (1980) 31-51, points out on p 48 that Hotham's of Batsford guide to the industrial archaeology York, which changed its name to the of , Batsford: London, p 142. Tadcaster Tower Brewery in 1882, used a 27. Carter Archive Catalogue, Waterfront small range of pub facade types for its York Museum, Poole, 3C Industrial (Brewery) - 1. estate, including a model with a brown glazed 28. O'Connor, F., (1995) A Pub on Every tile ground floor. However, it is not clear when Corner - Volume 1: Liverpool City Centre, this type was first put up. Bluecoat Press: Liverpool, p 19. 16. Crawford, A., Dunn, M. and Thorne, R., 29. Pickett, C., (1989) Brewing and Pubs, (1986) Birmingham Pubs 1880-1939, Alan Powerhouse Museum: Sydney. From the Sutton: Gloucester, 1986, p 28. early 1900s, Australian hotels often included 17. Elwall, R., (1983) Bricks and Beer - a public bar with a heavily tiled interior; English Pub Architecture 1830-1939, British Denne, D. (1991) 'British Tiles in the Architectural Library: London, p 13. Antipodes: The context of 19th and 20th 18. Stratton, M., (1986) 'The Terracotta Century Decorative Tiling in Australia and Industry: its Distribution, Manufacturing New Zealand', paper given at the Tiles Processes and Products', Industrial Conference, Institute of Advanced

80 Journal of the Brewery History Society Architectural Studies, University of York, 30th every dray horse has been photographed, but October - 2nd November. none of the brewery workers. 30. Irik, W. (1999) personal communication, 37. With reference to Maw's, it would be 17th August. interesting to know if the brewers' consulting 31. Carter Archive Catalogue, Waterfront engineer George Maw Johnson was any rela- Museum, Poole, 3C Industrial (Brewery) - 1. tion to the Maws of the ceramics firm. Maw 32. Carter Archive Catalogue, Waterfront Johnson, the eldest son of a Canterbury brew- Museum, Poole, 3D Health and Recreation er, began work in Belgium in 1890, becoming (Public Houses) - 7. famous there and in France as a brewing 33. Uncatalogued photograph in Carter writer and publisher of the highly regarded Le Archive, Waterfront Museum, Poole. Petit Journal du Brasseur. George Maw 34. Hereford Ceramic Tiles, (1973) Johnson died in 1928, but his Journal remains Publication 118, Hereford Tiles Limited: the official publication of the Belgian Hereford. Confederation of Brewers. See Perrier- 35. Hampson, P., (2000) 'A Millennium Tile Robert, A. and Fontaine, C., (1996) Belgium Mural at Wrexham', Glazed Expressions, 40, by Beer, Beer by Belgium, Schortgen: pp 8-9. Luxembourg, p190; and Royen, H. van, per- 36. Page, T., personal communication, 3rd sonal communication, 14th June 1999. June 1991. There are also instances where

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