Carlisle Old Brewery & New Brewery
The Atkinson and Son Brewery (Carlisle Old Brewery) opened in 1756 at Willowholme. The present buildings were largely built by Sir Richard Hodgson in the 19th century. He owned the brewery until 1916. The New Brewery (The Maltings) at Shaddongate was built in 1778. Although both former private breweries, their history is connected and associated with the years of the unique State Management nationalisation scheme. The State Management Scheme was introduced into Carlisle in 1916 as an attempt by the Government to control the drinking habits of the people in the area and reduce drunkenness during the First World War. Carlisle was well known for its array of public houses, and Navvies building the Gretna munitions works across the border, the largest munitions factory in Europe, took full advantage, flooding into Carlisle with high wages and a thirst to quench. Once the factory was built, large numbers of independent, young female workers were also employed as munition workers. Hung over munition workers and explosives do not mix so the need for control was even greater. The government took over the ownership and running of the Breweries and many of the districts pubs, hotels and off licenses, with a whole new approach to drinking taking place. All managers were now civil servants and had to follow strict rules. The strength of alcohol was reduced, opening and closing times were restricted and the whole atmosphere was changed. The Old Brewery at Willowholme and the Maltings on Shaddongate supplied the numerous pubs across the City with a variety of alcoholic beverages. At the time Shaddongate hosted a dozen pubs or more and was at the heart both of brewing and drinking beer in Carlisle. The Old brewery was owned by the government until 1971 and sold to Theakston's in 1974. It closed in 1987. The New Brewery - the Maltings site was sold to the Border Dairy Company in 1973 for £31,125. Nothing remains of the former site. |
Listen to Margaret talk about working as a civil servant for Carlisle Brewery in the Living Memories section HERE
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The area also had a third brewery, Graham's Queens Brewery in Caldewgate which opened in 1860, also sometimes known as Queen's Brewery (Graham's). The brewery was fronted by the Queens Head Inn and the Royal Oak Inn. In 1916 like it's neighbours, the brewery came under State control but was almost immediately closed down, the buildings being finally demolished in 1928/29.
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