Morland Brewery
Encyclopedia
Morland was a brewery
in Abingdon
in the English
county of Oxfordshire
(formerly Berkshire
). They first brewed in West Ilsley
in 1711. It was purchased and closed by Greene King in 2000; and production of the Morland beers was moved to their brewery in Bury St. Edmunds
in Suffolk
.
and porter
was sought after in London
's public house
s. During the 1860s, Morland acquired the Child family's Abbey
Brewery in Abingdon and then the Eagle Brewery in the same town. The West Ilsley operation relocated to Abingdon in the 1880s. A malthouse attached to the brewery was demolished to provide the site for the new brewery.
Morland became a limited company
, registered in 1885 as United-Breweries and the company's trademark
became a pyramid
of three beer barrels. In 1889, Morlands took over O. B. Saxby & Co of Stert Street, Abingdon and Field & Sons Brewery in Shillingford
. On the end of each of Morland's barrel was the initial of the old breweries with whom they had amalgamated. All the breweries that Morlands closed still had their own name and trademark
added to their own beer labels, even though all the beer was brewed in the Abingdon Brewery.
Soon afterwards, Thomas Skurray was invited to join the Morlands business. He had studied brewing on the continent and his knowledge, coupled with an astute business brain, enabled the company to achieve considerable growth over the next fifty years. He could well be described as one of the early entrepreneurs of the brewing industry, and he was to serve a term as Chairman of the 'Brewers' Society'. Not only was he instrumental in building a new maltings in 1908, a soft drink
s factory in 1910 and a replacement brewhouse in 1912, but he had already developed a malt extract plant in the old Abbey Brewery.
Morland's growth continued with the acquisition of:
In 1944 Morland became a public limited company
and all the previous brewery
names were dropped. Morland was now known as Morland and Co plc, with the exception of Ferguson's. In 1994, the distribution depot in Ock Street moved in to a new large warehouse in Abingdon which was formerly owned and operated by Bass-Charrington Brewery
, which cost £1.5 million. Greene King brewery, acquired Morland in 2000.
company Morlands took over from Northampton
. In the middle of the old Malthouse cottages was an old stable
which Mr A. J. Steel would use as his studio in which he painted new inn & pub signs.
Ock-lea which was the Brewers House and home of the Morland family in 1861 when they took over the Eagle Brewery from a bankrupt William Belcher. The Auction was held opposite the brewery in the old Cock & Tree pub. Jim Dymore-Brown, Head Brewer, lived in a very large wooden house behind the old brewery which had to be demolished when Morlands built a large air-conditioned draught beer warehouse.
s from Courage
Ltd and a further 100 were added two years later from Whitbread
. More purchases were made in the mid 1990s, and also a number of restaurants nationwide. Morland opened their own restaurants called Artist Fayer. All these extra pubs placed enormous strain on all sections of the business particularly distribution, which was now required to deliver to a very much enlarged area.
celebrated the 50th anniversary of their move to Abingdon, from Edmund Road in Cowley. They asked Morland to brew a special commemorative beer
for the occasion, for which they would suggest the name and they would design the bottle label. The name chosen was Old Speckled Hen
which took its name from a car which was brought to Abingdon, when the factory moved.
The car was called the MG Featherweight Fabric Saloon made from cellulosed fabric stretched over a wooden frame and was black speckled with gold. It became the factory's demonstration model and general runabout and as it chugged about the factory people would say "There guz the Owd Speckl'd un".
The original beer label bore the MG colours of cream and brown. The bottle dressing was finished with a green foil capsule, which matched the background colour of the Borough of Abingdon Arms
. The beer was an amber
colour and was brewed at a gravity
of 1050 to denote 50 years (i.e. 1929 - 1979) of production of MG cars in Abingdon.
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
in Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
(formerly Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
). They first brewed in West Ilsley
West Ilsley
West Ilsley is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England.-Location and amenities:It is situated in the West Berkshire district north of the town of Newbury on the Berkshire Downs. There is also an East Ilsley approximately a mile southeast of the village.West Ilsley has a public house, The...
in 1711. It was purchased and closed by Greene King in 2000; and production of the Morland beers was moved to their brewery in Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
History
West Ilsley in Berkshire was the original home of the Morland Brewery. A farmer, John Morland, set up a brewery in 1711, and the local aleAle
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
and porter
Porter (beer)
Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts...
was sought after in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s. During the 1860s, Morland acquired the Child family's Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...
Brewery in Abingdon and then the Eagle Brewery in the same town. The West Ilsley operation relocated to Abingdon in the 1880s. A malthouse attached to the brewery was demolished to provide the site for the new brewery.
Morland became a limited company
Limited company
A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...
, registered in 1885 as United-Breweries and the company's trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
became a pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
of three beer barrels. In 1889, Morlands took over O. B. Saxby & Co of Stert Street, Abingdon and Field & Sons Brewery in Shillingford
Shillingford
Shillingford is a hamlet on the River Thames in Warborough civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. It lies on the main road between Oxford and Reading, at the junction with the A329.-History:...
. On the end of each of Morland's barrel was the initial of the old breweries with whom they had amalgamated. All the breweries that Morlands closed still had their own name and trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
added to their own beer labels, even though all the beer was brewed in the Abingdon Brewery.
Soon afterwards, Thomas Skurray was invited to join the Morlands business. He had studied brewing on the continent and his knowledge, coupled with an astute business brain, enabled the company to achieve considerable growth over the next fifty years. He could well be described as one of the early entrepreneurs of the brewing industry, and he was to serve a term as Chairman of the 'Brewers' Society'. Not only was he instrumental in building a new maltings in 1908, a soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
s factory in 1910 and a replacement brewhouse in 1912, but he had already developed a malt extract plant in the old Abbey Brewery.
Morland's growth continued with the acquisition of:
- Ferguson & Sons' Angel Brewery of Broad Street, Reading in 1899
- The Wantage Brewery
- Dymore-Brown & Sons of Queens Road, ReadingReading, BerkshireReading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
in 1927 - Hewett & Co of Shurlock Row near MaidenheadMaidenheadMaidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...
in 1927 - The Tower Steam Brewery, owned by Messrs Belcher and Habgood, was purchased in 1928 together with their public houses in and around Abingdon. The Brewery Buildings were used as a garage and vehicle repair centre by Morlands (also the home of the Royal British Legion, Abingdon), until 1987. Morlands then sold the site to the Vale of White HorseVale of White HorseThe Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
district council for the development of the Tower Close Housing Estate.
In 1944 Morland became a public limited company
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
and all the previous 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....
names were dropped. Morland was now known as Morland and Co plc, with the exception of Ferguson's. In 1994, the distribution depot in Ock Street moved in to a new large warehouse in Abingdon which was formerly owned and operated by Bass-Charrington Brewery
Bass (beer)
The Bass Brewery was founded as a brewery in 1777 by William Bass in Burton upon Trent, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, which was once the highest selling beer in the UK...
, which cost £1.5 million. Greene King brewery, acquired Morland in 2000.
Brewery buildings
A lot of the brewery buildings are still standing. The old joiners shop & paint store, malthouse cottages, and the big Malthouse which became Morlands offices and stores. Also area office & store of Bell Amusements Ltd, a fruit machineSlot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
company Morlands took over from Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
. In the middle of the old Malthouse cottages was an old stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
which Mr A. J. Steel would use as his studio in which he painted new inn & pub signs.
Ock-lea which was the Brewers House and home of the Morland family in 1861 when they took over the Eagle Brewery from a bankrupt William Belcher. The Auction was held opposite the brewery in the old Cock & Tree pub. Jim Dymore-Brown, Head Brewer, lived in a very large wooden house behind the old brewery which had to be demolished when Morlands built a large air-conditioned draught beer warehouse.
Public Houses and restaurants
In 1991, Morland and Co plc purchased 101 public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s from Courage
Courage (brewery)
Courage is a former British brewery. The brands are now 100 per cent owned and brewed by Wells & Young's Brewery as part of a venture called Courage Brands Ltd.-History:...
Ltd and a further 100 were added two years later from Whitbread
Whitbread
Whitbread PLC is a global hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom. Its largest division is Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with around 580 hotels and over 40,000 rooms. Its Costa Coffee chain has around 1,600 stores across 25...
. More purchases were made in the mid 1990s, and also a number of restaurants nationwide. Morland opened their own restaurants called Artist Fayer. All these extra pubs placed enormous strain on all sections of the business particularly distribution, which was now required to deliver to a very much enlarged area.
Beer
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen was first brewed by Morlands of Abingdon in 1979. MG carsMG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
celebrated the 50th anniversary of their move to Abingdon, from Edmund Road in Cowley. They asked Morland to brew a special commemorative beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
for the occasion, for which they would suggest the name and they would design the bottle label. The name chosen was Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen is an English ale from the Morland Brewery, now owned by Greene King Brewery. Old Speckled Hen was first brewed in 1979 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory there. Since 2000, when Greene King bought Morland and closed down the...
which took its name from a car which was brought to Abingdon, when the factory moved.
The car was called the MG Featherweight Fabric Saloon made from cellulosed fabric stretched over a wooden frame and was black speckled with gold. It became the factory's demonstration model and general runabout and as it chugged about the factory people would say "There guz the Owd Speckl'd un".
The original beer label bore the MG colours of cream and brown. The bottle dressing was finished with a green foil capsule, which matched the background colour of the Borough of Abingdon Arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. The beer was an amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
colour and was brewed at a gravity
Gravity (beer)
Gravity, in the context of fermenting alcoholic beverages, refers to the specific gravity, or relative density compared to water, of the wort or must at various stages in the fermentation. The concept is used in brewing and wine making industry...
of 1050 to denote 50 years (i.e. 1929 - 1979) of production of MG cars in Abingdon.