Benskins
Encyclopedia
Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 in Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...

, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957.

History

Benskins had its roots in the brewery founded in Watford by John Pope, a local miller and baker around 1693. The brewery was inherited by his second son, Daniel Pope in 1722, and passed to Daniel's sister Sarah Pope and her husband William Dyson in 1741 at his death.

For the next three generations part of the brewery was inherited by a John Dyson (son, grandson, and great-grandson of Sarah Pope and William Dyson) each of whom bought out his co-heirs. When the third John Dyson died in 1867 the brewery was sold at auction to retired London hotelier Joseph Benskin and Watford draper William Bradley for £34,000. Bradley however quit the partnership in 1870 with Benskin continuing alone.

Upon Benskin's death in 1877, the management of the brewery passed to his widow Maria, and their second son John Pusey Benskin. His third son Thomas Benskin became a partner in 1884. Thomas' son Eric Seagrave Benskin later became a director, and Colonel William Briggs, husband of Doris Benskins was appointed to the board in 1908, latterly becoming chairman.

The brewery as taken over by Benskin and Bradley in 1867 was one of the smaller Hertfordshire brewers of the time, with 42 tied house
Tied house
In the UK a tied house is a public house that is required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery. This is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely.- Definition of "tied" :...

s in its estate. However over the following ninety years Benskins became predominant in the area, ultimately acquiring all other Watford breweries; Healey's in 1898, Sedgwick's
Sedgwicks Brewery
Sedgwicks was a brewery located in Watford, Hertfordshire, until its sale to local rival Benskins in 1923.-History:Sedgwick's is believed to have its origins in a brewhouse owned by William Smith and located in Watford High Street around 1655...

 in 1923, and Wells' Watford Brewery in 1951. Healey's had previously, in the months prior to its acquisition, purchased the Victoria Brewery on St Albans Road from the Chesham Brewery. Benskins rose to become the only regional brewer Hertfordshire ever produced, and during its life its estate included pubs and beer houses not only in its home county, but as far afield as Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent and Greater London.

The brewery remained a family business until a take-over bid was accepted from Ind Coope on March 13, 1957. In 1959 Ind Coope merged with Ansells, and Taylor Walker & Co to form Allied Breweries
Allied Breweries
Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope , Ansells , and Tetley Walker .- Ansells :...

.. As a result of further mergers over the intervening years, ownership of the Benskins trademarks currently rests with Carlsberg Breweries, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. At the time of the sale to Ind Coope, the Benskins estate numbered 636 pubs and hotels, and 16 off-licenses.

The Benskins name was retained for a number of years after the sale, and brewing continued at Watford until 1972. Despite the closure of the Cannon Brewery site, and its subsequent demolition in 1979, the brand was again revived and applied to a number of pubs in the Allied estate during the early 1980s.. Benskins continued to trade as a separate business unit, although now existing only to manage the tied estate, and maintained its head office in Watford during this time. Occupying the former Clarendon Hotel on Station Road, the hotel's original accommodation repurposed as offices whilst the former stables were converted into a new pub named after Benskins' famous logo - The Pennant (latterly The Flag and Firkin, currently The Flag).

The final product to carry the brewery's name, Benskins Best Bitter, continued to be produced in Burton-upon-Trent until 2002.

Beers

Beers brewed under the Benskins name, either at the Watford Cannon Brewery or by Ind Coope at Burton-upon-Trent.

Pale Ales: India Pale Ale, Guinea Ale, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Light Ale, Light Sparkling Ale

Mild Ales: Pale Mild, XX Ale, XXX Ale, XXXX Ale, KK Cask Mild

Bitters: Best Bitter, Jubilee Beer, Watford FC FA Cup Commemorative Ale 1984

Stouts: Brown Stout, Single Stout, Double Stout, Digestive Stout, Imperial Stout, Porter

Barley Wines: Strong Ale, Colne Spring Ale

Additionally, Benskins held contracts to bottle a number of products for other producers, including Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...

' Dublin Brewery, and Gaymer's
Gaymer Cider Company
The Gaymer Cider Company produces and markets Cider. It is owned by C&C Group plc since 2010, who also owns Magners Cider, Bulmers Cider in Ireland and Tennents in Scotland.-History:The Gaymer family had a cider making business in Banham, Norfolk, from 1680...

 of Attleborough, Norfolk.

Legacy

Benskins had close ties to the local football team, Watford FC. In 1921 Benskins purchased the current Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road, a stadium in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, is the home of the football club Watford and their tenants, the Saracens rugby union club. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 17,477.-History:...

 ground and leased it to the club at a peppercorn rent. In 2001 the club purchased the ground from Punch Taverns
Punch Taverns
Punch Taverns plc is the largest pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 6,800 leased, tenanted and managed pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire...

, who had inherited the freehold as part of their acquisition of the Allied Domecq
Allied Domecq
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, UK that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard.-History:...

 estate. In 2006 the club also purchased the freehold of the Red Lion pub opposite the ground, which had previously been part of the Benskins tied estate.. The Red Lion is notable for its external tiling advertising "Benskins Celebrated Watford Ale & Stout" still extant.

A number of other pubs in and around the Watford area still carry Benskins branding, such as the Estcourt Tavern and Nascot Arms in Watford. However, such examples are now increasingly rare. Of particular note is the Holly Bush pub in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

, London, which continues to display a number of original brewery artefacts.

The Benskins name lived on for a number of years in the Benskins Morris of Watford, although they themselves have now disbanded.

Before demolition, the wider brewery site was used as a filming location for the "Heroes" episode of the British TV drama series The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...

.

The former Brewery House of the Cannon Brewery is now home to Watford Museum.

As of 2010, the main part of the original brewery site is once again being redeveloped after the demise of the Watford Springs swimming pool. During the construction of the Wellspring Centre for Watford Community Church, a 15-metre deep industrial well was discovered, likely to have been the brewery's primary source of water drawn from the River Colne
River Colne, Hertfordshire
The Colne is a river in England which is a tributary of the River Thames. It flows mainly through Hertfordshire and forms the boundary between the South Bucks district of Buckinghamshire and the London Borough of Hillingdon...

.
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