Brewing Comes to Town

The former Shropshire Brewery on Holyhead Road

One of the catalysts for this change was the opening of the Shropshire Brewery by Richard Taylor in 1851. Located on the corner of Holyhead Road and New Church Road (which later became known as Brewery Street) the premises were supplied with water by a well that was over 200 feet deep and is still exists today. Taylor later sold the concern to JG Wackrill (who also built Sunnycroft, the National Trust property) and he extended the premises to incorporate a new malting in 1883.

The Union Brewery in Walker Street

The increasing importance of brewing as one of Wellington's key Victorian industries was demonstrated by the establishment of several other businesses in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century. In 1877, Edwin Pritchard and Company opened the Union Brewery in the old Parish Workhouse on Walker Street, where it remained until its closure in 1921. Another local firm, The Red Lion Brewery Company (previously known as the Millfields Brewery), which had been situated on the corner of King Street and Regent Street went out of business only three years later, in 1924.

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