Morrell's Brewing Company, also known as the Lion Brewery, was the only major

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 ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. It operated between 1782 and 1998.

Early history

Morrell's was founded by Richard Tawney in 1743 as the Lion Brewery. In 1782 he formed a partnership with Mark and James Morrell, who eventually became the owners. 1863 and 1864 saw the deaths of James Morrell and his wife Alicia leaving the brewery to their ten year old daughter Emily Morrell. Her inheritance was put under the control of three trustees who tried to deal with Emily's crush on a distant cousin by sending her away to an aunt and forbidding any communication between the pair. Morrell's brewed its beers at the Lion Brewery in St Thomas Street. In the 19th century Morrell's redeveloped and extended the Lion Brewery a number of times. A large brewing shed was added in 1879, a blacksmith's shop and engine house in 1880, a further shed and new yard in 1882, stables in 1889, new offices in 1892, a tun room in 1895, further offices in 1897 and a tall octagonal chimney in 1901. All these developments were designed by the local architect Harry Drinkwater, who also designed a number of the company's pubs. The Lion Brewery was powered by a waterwheel on Castle Mill Stream, a branch of the

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. This was supplemented by steam engines for which the engine house was built. One rotative beam engine that was built for the Lion Brewery in about 1826 remained in service until 1964 and is now preserved at the Abbey Pumping Station,

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. The Morrell family lived at Headington Hill Hall and their estate included

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

. The family included Philip Morrell (1870–1943), who was a Liberal MP 1906–18 and was married to

Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (née Cavendish-Bentinck; 16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English Aristocracy (class), aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befri ...

. In 1929–31 Morrell Avenue was built along the south side of South Park. The family also owned the village of Streatley and one side of the family lived there, until Emily Morrell died in 1938, when the estate was sold. After an acrimonious family dispute the brewery was closed in 1998. Refresh UK bought the beer brands and for a time Thomas Hardy Burtonwood was contracted to brew them.

Marston's Carlsberg Britvic is a British subsidiary of Carlsberg Group, created in January 2025 by the merger of Carlsberg's UK business (including the former Marston's plc breweries) and Britvic, acquired by Carlsberg Group in 2024. History In 2020, ...

acquired Refresh UK in 2008 and now brew Morrells beers.

Post-brewing operations

In 1998 Michael Cannon, owner of the US hamburger chain Fuddruckers, bought Morrell's 132 tied pubs for £48 million through a new company, Morrells of Oxford. In 2002 Cannon sold 107 of the pubs to Greene King for £67 million.

Development of the Lion Brewery site

The Lion Brewery site was redeveloped for luxury apartments in 2002. The waterwheel and yellow brick chimney were retained but only the façades were retained of the other buildings.

References

Sources and further reading

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External links

{{commons category, Morrell's Brewery, position=left 1743 establishments in England 1998 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1782 British companies disestablished in 1998 Companies based in Oxford Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom History of Oxford 1782 establishments in England Food and drink companies established in 1782