Wolverhampton Rivals
Wolverhampton Rivals
by Steve James
Recalling Wolverhampton & Dudley's Park Brewery and William Butler's Springfield Brewery
(From Brewery History Society Newsletter no.107, December 2024)
The Park Brewery
As heavy industry developed in Victorian times, it is not surprising that hundreds of pubs grew up in and around Wolverhampton to slake workers' thirsts. In the early days, most pubs brewed their own beer, but towards the end of the 19th century several commercial breweries had been established. At that time, your choice of pub was usually restricted to how far you could walk, or where your friends were, or whether you preferred a pint of Banks's mild from Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries or Butler's ‘Spring' from the Springfield Brewery.
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (W&D) was formed in 1890 to amalgamate Henry Banks' Park Brewery, Charles Smith's Fox Brewery and George Thompson's Dudley & Victoria Breweries, along with their 193 pubs. Henry Banks had established his maltster's business in 1840 and began brewing at Newbridge in 1874. In 1875, he moved to the Park Brewery at Chapel Ash, established by his father, Thomas, but retired when the brewery and his eight pubs were acquired by George Thompson in 1890. He died later in 1908, when his estate was valued at £20,692 (equivalent to £2.76m today). Charles Colonel Smith had established his Fox Brewery in Worcester Street, Wolverhampton by 1872, and had three tied houses when it was sold to W&D. George Thompson had taken over George England's Dudley Brewery in 1881, who also owned the Victoria Brewery, both in Hall Street, Dudley, which he had bought from John Dawes in 1880.
In 1894, Edwin Thompson became managing director of W&D and his family played a key role in the company for over a century. By 1896, the company was paying dividends of 5% and in 1898, a new 60-quarter brewery was built, designed by London architect, Arthur Kinder. W&D then began its expansion plans, starting with the acquisition of North Worcestershire Breweries in Stourbridge in 1910, followed by John Rolinson & Sons Brewery at Netherton and Bucknall's Kidderminster Brewery and the City Brewery in Lichfield in 1925. In 1943, W&D acquired Julia Hanson & Sons (Dudley) and first had their shares listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1947.
Further expansion took place in the 1960s, when they acquired Herbert Newman's Brewery of Lye, John Seedhouse's Brewery at Princes End and the Broadway Brewery. In the 1970s, Edwin Thompson ordered the removal of all handpulls in their pubs, replacing them with dispensing meters and over-sized glasses. He also insisted on all-natural ingredients in their beers, resisting the move to keg beer, preferring to ensure that his licensees were properly trained in cellar management. By 1988, the Daily Telegraph reported that W&D sold their beers for 68p a pint in the Black Country, compared with £1 in London.
In 1990, Edwin Thompson celebrated the centenary of the company by burying a time capsule of cask ale at the brewery. By this time, W&D had over 800 pubs, but in the same year, production of Hanson's beers shifted to Wolverhampton and the Dudley brewery was closed. In the 1990s, managing director, David Thompson, embarked on even more expansion, acquiring Camerons at Hartlepool in 1991 for £2.5 million and half the pubs of Hoskins (Leicester). In 1994, W&D acquired Langley Maltings from Showell's Brewery, but ceased brewing Hanson's Bitter at Wolverhampton a year later.
By the time Edwin Thompson had died in 1997, aged 73, W&D had become Britain's largest independent brewery. In 1999, W&D acquired Mansfield Brewery and the prize asset of Marston's (Burton-upon-Trent) for £292m, with its 918 pubs. This brought its estate to almost 2,300 pubs, later reduced to 1,800, making it the largest regional brewer in the country. By 2007, production of much-loved Hanson's Mild ceased.
In 2007, the company was renamed Marstons plc and, by now, had pubs in nearly all parts of the country. Further breweries were acquired, including Jennings (Cockermouth), Ringwood (Hampshire), Wychwood (Witney) and Charles Wells (Bedford). Most of the pubs have now been re-branded as Marston's houses, but brewing of Banks's beers continues at Park St. Brewery but sadly only until the end of 2025 as Marstons' successor the Carlsberg Marstons Brewing Group announced the closure in autumn 2024 citing lower demand and over capacity after losing a contract to brew San Miquel to AB InBev. Apparently there will be a £6 million investment at Burton to make it a national centre for craft beer and traditional ale brewing.
Over to Springfield
William Butler's extraordinary vision and business acumen paved the way for a Black Country success story that would eventually employ 900 workers. The Springfield Brewery became a landmark in Wolverhampton's fame and folklore.
In 1840, he started brewing beer at the Olde Shoppe in John Street, Priestfield and later set up the Priestfield Brewery, employing 30 men. In 1873, he bought a seven acre site at Springfield from Richard Woodcock and built the new Springfield Brewery a year later, producing 350 barrels a week. A second mash tun and extra fermenting vessels were added in 1878. In 1881, a new 60-quarter tower brewery was built, designed by London architects, R C Sinclair, making a total capacity of 120-quarters, producing 1,500 barrels a week and employing 300 people. Further expansion took place in 1885, and Butler's sons, William & Edwin, joined the company shortly afterwards. By 1891, the company had a registered capital of £300,000.
After William Butler died in 1893, aged 77, control passed to his eldest son, William. He embarked on further expansion, acquiring Cahill's Swan Brewery (Wolverhampton) in 1919 and Jack Downing's Black Horse Brewery (Dudley) and William Blencowe's Cannock Brewery in 1923. In 1925, he acquired Bloxwich Brewery, followed by Eley's Brewery (Stafford) in 1928. In the 1920s. the company also built new pubs and refurbished or rebuilt its older houses. Further acquisitions took place later, including William Bowen's (Greets Green) brewery, Thomas Oliver's (West Bromwich) brewery, Thomas Russell's Great Western Street Brewery (Wolverhampton), J A Thompson's (Oldbury) brewery, James Pritchard's Darlaston brewery and Radcliff's Kidderminster Brewery.
There's a fascinating tale about "rolling out the barrel", when apprentice coopers completed their five years of training at Springfield Brewery. The apprentice would be trussed up in a cask that he had made, covered with wood shavings, sawdust and cinders, doused with water and rolled around the cooper's yard. He was then tipped out of the cask in a dazed and wet condition, whilst his colleagues toasted him with a glass of ale!
In 1960, Butler's were taken over by Mitchells & Butler's (Cape Hill, Smethwick). At that time, it had over 800 pubs, but brewing ceased at Springfield in 1991. This was commemorated by playing the Last Post as real ale experts laid a wreath and paid their respects at the end of 118 years of production at the Springfield Brewery. The important brewery buildings were listed (Grade II) in the same year. Much of the site was cleared and some of the older buildings were damaged by fire in 2006.
In 2014, the site was taken over by the University of Wolverhampton, who revealed plans for a key strategic £120 million project, helping to regenerate this part of Wolverhampton. The brewery site is to become a new super-campus for the School of Architecture & Built Environment, and is also home to the National Brownfield Institute. It's also hoped to provide houses and apartments, and even an on-site micro-brewery! I think William Butler would be pleased to know that his former brewery site is being put to good use by the University of Wolverhampton.
So, although Wolverhampton is about the lose its one remaining major brewery, the town has a legacy of several pubs, once owned by the two major breweries, where memories of the past remain. Long may they prosper!
Steve James
With acknowledgement to Tony Hitchmough, Joseph McKenna, Bev Parker, Alec Brew, University of Wolverhampton, Brewery History Society and www.midlandspubs.co