Eldridge Pope
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Type | Brewery |
---|---|
Location | Dorchester, Dorset, UK |
Opened | 1881 |
Closed | 2003 |
Key people | Charles Eldridge, Sarah Eldridge |
Eldridge Pope & Co. was a traditional
History
The origins of Eldridge Pope can be traced back to 1837, when hotel landlord Charles Eldridge and his wife Sarah bought the Green Dragon Brewery in Durngate Street, Dorchester. Together they turned the brewery into a thriving small business, and following Charles's death in 1846, Sarah continued to run it in partnership with local brewer Samuel Mason, under the trading name 'Eldridge, Mason & Co'.
On his retirement in 1870, Mason sold his stake in the Brewery to Edwin Pope and his younger sibling Alfred Pope. Sarah Eldridge's son-in-law John Tizard inherited her share of the business, but when he died in 1871 the Popes assumed full control.
By 1879 the company had outgrown its Durngate Street premises, and the Pope brothers wanted to build a large new brewery to satisfy their expansion plans for the company. They bought up four acres of land next to the railway line, and commissioned distinguished local architect W. R. Crickmay to design the new structure.
The new brewery was officially opened in 1881, and very quickly became the biggest employer in Dorchester. Sixteen years later the Pope brothers incorporated the business as a private limited company under the name 'Eldridge, Pope & Co. Limited'.
The following decades saw the next generation of the Pope family take over the running of the company. In 1921 Clement Pope, son of Alfred, created the Huntsman trademark, which became one of the most recognizable and popular brands associated with the company.
In 1922 a huge fire ripped through the brewery, damaging much of the brewhouse and several other buildings. It was not until 1925 that the rebuilding work was completed and the brewery was able to produce beer again.
Denis Edwin Holliday was head brewer at Eldridge Pope throughout the 1960s and 70s. This era was associated with the production of popular real ales such as Royal Oak and
In 1997, the management of the brewery bought the business but not the site. They called their company Thomas Hardy Brewery & Packaging. In 1998, Thomas Hardy acquired another brewery in Burtonwood to form Thomas Hardy Burtonwood.[1]
In 2003, Thomas Hardy Burtonwood offered to buy the site from Eldridge Pope for £8m but the offer was declined. Instead, Eldridge Pope sold the site to property company Landworth Properties. Landworth then raised the rent to what the brewery felt to be an uneconomic level causing it to cease its business there with the loss of 57 jobs.[2]
One year after the brewery's closure, the family lost control of the business to pubs entrepreneur Michael Cannon who acquired the pubs for £40m plus £42m debt. He identified the need for a three-year, £14m investment programme and a focus on increasing disappointing food sales. He injected his Que Pasa bar chain into the business.[3] The company continued to operate for a further three years under Michael Cannon's management. In January 2007, the assets of Eldridge Pope & Co. Limited were sold to
The site of the Eldridge Pope brewery was subsequently developed into a shopping and eating complex with restaurants, shops, apartments, a cinema, gym and a hotel.[5]
Culture
In 1985, the brewery's founder, Sarah Eldridge was the subject of Entertaining Strangers: A play for Dorchester by the playwright David Edgar and produced as a community play by the people of Dorchester, In 1987 the play was transferred to The National Theatre, with Judi Dench[6] in the role of Sarah Eldridge.[7]
References
- ^ "History & Investments". Thomashardybrewery.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ 24-Jul-2003 (24 July 2003). "Thomas Hardy Brewery shuts with loss of 57 jobs". Morningadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Simon Bowers. "Cannon buys Eldridge Pope for £42m | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ "Cannon sells Eldridge Pope to Marston's for £155m". Telegraph. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ "Brewery Square, Dorchester". Brewery Square.
- ^ "Production of Entertaining Strangers | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 July 2019.