INDUSTRIES 



list issued by the firm early in the i gth cen- 

 tury is attached a pictorial frontispiece which 

 shows the quaint and comfortable-looking 

 inn (with its recreation ground and gardens) 

 which was then attached to the brewery. In 

 1880 the old buildings of the brewery were 

 required for improvements, but the proprietors 

 secured another site close adjoining and con- 

 sisting of 3 acres, on which to build their new 

 premises. The new brewery was designed 

 with considerable attention to architectural 

 effect, a result very rarely attained or even 

 possible in buildings devoted to this trade. 

 The walls are built of red bricks with Corse- 

 hill stone dressings, and the roofs are covered 

 with Broseley tiles ; the interior arrangement 

 of the brewery is notable for its extreme 

 simplicity. The main supply of water is 

 from a well sunk on the premises to a depth 

 of 450 ft. ; for the first 30 ft. it is inclosed 

 in iron cylinders, 7 ft. in diameter, which are 

 sunk into the London clay and prevent any 

 contamination by surface water. One of the 

 special features of this brewery is its well- 

 appointed chemical laboratory fitted with every 

 apparatus necessary for the examination of 

 malt and all other brewing materials. The 

 Swan Brewery, though not ranking among the 

 largest metropolitan breweries, is notable for 

 its excellent design, cleanliness, and complete- 

 ness in every detail. 



The Stag Brewery at Pimlico, of Messrs. 

 Watney & Co., arose from small beginnings. 

 In the first half of the i8th century it con- 

 sisted of some few buildings attached to a 

 small brewhouse standing in the midst of 

 green fields and far away from any habitations. 

 The site now covered by Messrs. Watney 

 & Co.'s premises is one of great interest. It 

 formerly was part of St. James's Palace, being 

 occupied by the royal mews, which were 

 removed when Buckingham House became a 

 royal palace. Underneath the cooperage of 

 the brewery runs the King's Pond water- 

 course, a stream which issues from the lake in 

 St. James's Park. In 1782 this lake was 

 simply a marshy pond surrounded by a green 

 pasture for cows, whose milk was disposed of 

 on the spot. In 1820 no one dared to set 

 out for London from that quarter at night, as 

 Pimlico was infested with footpads. So late, 

 too, as 1859 there stood, on the site now 

 covered by the brewery yard, Pimlico House, 

 with its pleasure grounds extending beyond 

 the confines of the present Victoria Street. 

 In 1763 an old plan of the estate shows the 

 brewery situated on its town side amidst a 

 cluster of tea gardens, and places of amuse- 

 ment famous for dancing, concerts, and fire- 

 work displays. Close by was St. Peter's Chapel, 



of which the notorious Dr. Dodd was incum- 

 bent, and within the brewery gates was the 

 residence of Richard Heberr the accomplished 

 scholar, and owner of perhaps the most 

 famous private library ever known. 



At the close of the I7th century the 

 brewery belonged to a Mr. Green, of whom 

 nothing definite is known ; nearly a century 

 later, in 1786, the proprietor wasone Matthew 

 Wiggins, who two years afterwards disposed 

 of it to Edward Moore and John Elliot. 

 This Mr. Elliot, who was an active man of 

 liberal education, built Pimlico House, already 

 mentioned, and used it as his town resi- 

 dence. He was prominently connected with 

 public affairs in the city of Westminster, 

 where he was held in high esteem. Sir John 

 Call joined the firm in 1792, and somewhat 

 later Mr. Elliot was succeeded by his son 

 J. Lettsom Elliot. The latter took into 

 partnership Mr. James Watney of Wands- 

 worth in 1837, and himself retired in 1856 

 in favour of Mr. Watney's two sons, James 

 and Norman. From this time the firm con- 

 sisted solely of members of the Watney 

 family until the year 1884, when Mr. James 

 Watney, the head of the firm, died, and the 

 business was turned into a private limited 

 company. The fame of the Pimlico Stag 

 ales began to spread early in the i8th cen- 

 tury, and in 1830 the business had developed 

 into a great and important brewery, taking 

 rank among the first-class breweries of London. 



As may be expected, the buildings are on 

 an extensive scale. The malt stores contain 

 fifteen iron bins, four of which rise from the 

 ground level to the top of the building. The 

 largest has a capacity of 5,300 quarters, and 

 the smallest holds 1,200 quarters. The 

 mashing-room is a fine apartment 200 ft. long 

 and 1 1 o ft. broad, and its arrangements are 

 unique in their completeness. On the right 

 hand is the malt department, on the left the 

 cooling and refrigerating rooms, at the end 

 the fermenting department, carried on in 

 another series of rooms. All is so ar- 

 ranged that each process follows the other, 

 almost under the eye of the head brewer, 

 whose private office is on the same level, and 

 situated to the right of the entrance into the 

 hall. The Stag Brewery employs upwards 

 of 600 hands, for whom model dwellings 

 abutting on the brewery premises have been 

 built by the firm, the occupants forming quite 

 a colony among themselves. Attached to the 

 dwellings are a club-room, library, and baga- 

 telle-room, for purposes of recreation. In 

 June 1898 Messrs. Watney acquired the two 

 celebrated breweries of Messrs. Combe, Dela- 

 field & Co. and Messrs. Reid & Co. The 



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