Morland was a
brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...
in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England,
and the second oldest brewer in England, until it was bought by
Greene King
Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well as other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed o ...
in 2000. Morland's beers include Hen's Tooth,
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen is a Bitter (beer), bitter beer originally made by the Morland Brewery, but now brewed by Greene King Brewery. Old Speckled Hen was first brewed in 1979 in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire in England, to commemorate the 50th ann ...
, Tanner's Jack and Morland's Original.
John Morland founded the brewery in West Ilsley in 1711. In the 1860s, Morland bought Abbey Brewery and Eagle Brewery and in 1885 changed its name to United Breweries. The company bought several more breweries and around 1944 changed its name back to Morland. In 1979, Morland created Old Speckled Hen, one of their most popular beers, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory in Abingdon, England.
After Greene King bought the Morland brewery in Abingdon, it closed it and transferred the Ruddles and Old Speckled Hen brands to its own brewery in Bury St Edmunds. The building was converted into residential housing.
History
A farmer, John Morland, set up the brewery in 1711, and the
ale
Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
and
porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...
was bought by
pub
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
s in London. In the 1860s, Morland acquired
Abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
Brewery and then Eagle Brewery. In the 1880s, Morland moved its operation from West Ilsley to
Abingdon.
In 1885, Morland became a
limited company
In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
and changed its name to United Breweries and its trademark to a pyramid of three beer barrels, with the initials of the three breweries on the ends of them. In 1889, the company took over two brewers, H. B. Saxby and Field & Sons, keeping their names on the labels of their beers.

Morland acquired Field & Son brewery based at
Shillingford
Shillingford is a hamlet on the north bank of the River Thames in Warborough civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. It lies on the A4074 between Oxford and Reading, at the junction with the A329.
History
Roads and ford
At various ti ...
near
Wallingford. Thomas Skurray, at the age of 19, came with Field & Son. After 10 years at Abingdon Thomas Skurray was running everything apart from the offices. He was chairman of the board until his death in 1938 and was to build a new malthouse and a soft drinks factory.
Thomas Skurray had a son, Thomas Edward Deane Skurray, who was a partner in a company called Theobold & Skurray, a company of Architects.
Deane was responsible for the building of many new pubs in the 1930s: The Saxton Arms, Abingdon; the Ox, Oxford Road, Abingdon; the Royal Oak, Didcot; the Old White Hart at Hook; the New Inn at
Longworth
Longworth is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. Historically within the north-west projection of Berkshire, boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire in 1974. The village is between Faringdon, to the west, ...
and the Bystander at Wootton, Abingdon, also looking after over 300 other Morland pubs & hotels.
Morland bought more breweries:
* The Abbey Brewery.
* Saxby's Brewery.
* Field and Sons Brewery.
* Ferguson Brewery.
* The Wantage Brewery.
* Dymore-Brown & Sons. First owned by Thomas Skurray then Morland & Co Ltd.
* Henry Hewett & Co.
* Justin & Brinns Castle Street Brewery.
* The Tower Steam Brewery. This building was used by the Morlands as a vehicle repair centre until the 1990s, when they sold it to a housing developer. It is now Tower Close Abingdon.
In 1944, United-Breweries became a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...
called Morland and Co plc, and all the acquired brewery names were dropped except Ferguson's Ltd, which was retained for the wine and spirits business, and
Bass-Charrington Brewery which was kept separate because of its expensive new distribution warehouse. In 1997 Morland purchased
Ruddles Brewery
Ruddles Brewery (G. Ruddle & Co) was a brewery in Rutland, England. The brand is now owned by Greene King who still brew beers under the Ruddles name in Suffolk, although the current recipes are not those used at the original brewery.
The brewe ...
and moved their production from
Oakham
Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland (of which it is the county town) in the East Midlands of England. The town is located east of Leicester, southeast of Nottingham and northwest of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,14 ...
to Abingdon. In 2000 Morland and Co plc was sold to
Greene King
Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well as other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed o ...
brewery.
This led to the closure of the Abingdon brewery and the transfer of production to
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: . P ...
.
The Morland's sign, showing an artist with his palette, commemorated
George Morland
George Morland (26 June 176329 October 1804) was an English painter. His early work was influenced by Francis Wheatley, but after the 1790s he came into his own style. His best compositions focus on rustic scenes: farms and hunting; smugglers an ...
who was a noted artist and painter. "Artist's Keg" bitter was also brewed during the 1980s and 1990s. These can still be seen today on many old Morland
public houses
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
.
Morland buildings
Pubs and restaurants
In 1991, Morland and Co plc purchased 101
pub
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
s from
Courage
Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...
Ltd and a further 100 were added two years later from
Whitbread
Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in L ...
. More purchases were made in the mid-1990s, and also a number of restaurants nationwide. Morland opened their own restaurants called Artist Fayre'' as well as another 100 pubs from Whitbread & co Plc.'. Morland Plc owned over five hundred pubs when the brewery closed in 2000.
Brewery buildings
A large wooden house built for head brewer James Dymore Brown great-grandson of Jas Dymore Brown Reading Brewery once lived in was demolished when the company built a large air-conditioned draught beer warehouse. A lot of the brewery buildings are still standing. The big Malthouse which became Morland's offices and stores. Old malthouse cottages where Mr A.J.Steele signwriter painted the Breweries pub signs. And another part of a malthouse is used as the joiner's shop and a paint store. Bell Amusements a subsidiary of Morland owned was based in Northampton, and office in the old malthouse.
Beer
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen is a Bitter (beer), bitter beer originally made by the Morland Brewery, but now brewed by Greene King Brewery. Old Speckled Hen was first brewed in 1979 in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire in England, to commemorate the 50th ann ...
beer was first brewed by Morland in 1979 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
MG car factory there on 30 November 1979. Other variations launched by
Greene King
Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well as other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed o ...
include Old Hoppy Hen, Old Crafty Hen, Old Golden Hen.
Other Morland beers
*Morland Original
*Hen's Tooth
*Tanner's Jack
*1711 Bitter
*Fergusons Smooth Stream
*Revival Dark Mild
*Beechnut Ale
*Bill's Spring Brew
*Old Masters Bitter
*Fergusons
*IPA
*Beagle
*Viking
*Monarch
*Excalibur Strong
Morland Original, Hen's Tooth and Tanner's Jack are also still brewed under
Greene King
Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well as other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed o ...
of
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...
by Morland's Brewing.
References
External links
{{commons category
Greene King website Oxford Mail article on new brewery in Abingdon referencing the closure of Morlands.
1711 establishments in England
Abingdon-on-Thames
Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Oxfordshire
History of Berkshire
History of Oxfordshire
Food and drink companies established in 1711
British companies established in 1711