Oakhill Brewery 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 ...

Oakhill Oakhill is a village in Somerset, England, in Ashwick parish approximately north of Shepton Mallet. It lies between the A37 and the A367 (which is part of the ancient Fosse Way). Oakhill is today mainly a commuter village of in size, and i ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, that was founded in 1761 by

John Billingsley John Billingsley (, born May 20, 1960) is an American actor best known for his role as Doctor Phlox on the television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life and education Billingsley was born in Media, Pennsylvania, and subsequently liv ...

History

In its heyday the Oakhill Brewery was a major producer, known for Oakhill Invalid Stout. In 1904, due to its volume of production – between 2,000 and 2,500 barrels per week – the brewery constructed its own

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

to take barrels of Oakhill Invalid Stout to the

Somerset & Dorset Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR, also known as the S&D, S&DR or SDJR), was an English railway line jointly owned by the Midland Railway (MR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) that grew to connect Bath (in north-ea ...

in nearby Binegar. Until the railway's construction, the brewery had used a

Wallis & Steevens Wallis & Steevens of Basingstoke, Hampshire, England produced agricultural equipment, traction engines and steam and diesel road rollers. History The company was founded in 1856 by Arthur Wallis and Charles Haslam in newly built premises whic ...

traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any ...

to deliver their barrels to the station. Production continued at the brewery until the advent of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

sent it into decline. The brewery was destroyed by fire in 1924, and subsequently taken over by

Courage Brewery Courage was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in London, England, in 1787. History Origin and family ownership The Courage Brewery was started by John Courage (1757 – October 1793). He was a Scottish shipping agent believed to b ...

. Although brewing stopped in 1938, the malt sheds remained in use.

Beacon Brewery

In 1981 brewing resumed in the former Oakhill Brewery building when Beacon Brewery took over the premises to brew Fosseway Bitter and later Fosseway Forty. The brewery went out of business in 1983.

New Oakhill Brewery

In 1984, the brewery plant and premises were bought by local businessman Reg Keevil. Under the name New Oakhill Brewery, he brewed beers until 1997, when he moved the plant to the old Courage

maltings A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...

in order to expand. The brewery produced 31 different beers through the company's 13 year history, and acquired a small chain of

tied house In the United Kingdom, a tied house is a public house required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. That is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely. A report for th ...

s in the local villages. The brewery closed in 2004 when the owner retired and as at 2014 was being converted to housing.

References

External links

The Directory of UK Real Ale Breweries on Oakhill
{{Authority control Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom Food and drink companies established in 1761 1761 establishments in England British companies established in 1761