The Aldermaston Brewery (later known as Strange's Brewery) was a brewery located near

Aldermaston Aldermaston ( ) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 1,015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basin ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, UK.

History

The brewery was established at

Aldermaston Wharf Aldermaston Wharf is a small village centred north-northwest of Aldermaston (where according to the Post Office the majority of the population taken at the 2011 Census was included) in West Berkshire, England. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes t ...

in 1770, adjacent to the

Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than sol ...

. The brewery was bought by Thomas Strange in 1833. William Jeffreys Strange operated the brewery until 1902, after whom it was managed by John J Strange. In 1910, W.J. Strange & Sons was registered as a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

. For many years, the Strange family lived at Bridge House in nearby Mill Lane. The house is now part of the local Steiner school. In 1922, Strange's bought The Bladebone in

Chapel Row Chapel Row is a hamlet in West Berkshire, England, and part of the civil parish of Bucklebury. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 627. History The hamlet was first documented in 1617 as ''Chapel Rewe'' and subsequently featured on Ro ...

for £3,500 (equivalent to approximately £150,000 in 2008). The brewery already rented a part of the

Bucklebury Bucklebury is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury and north of the A4 road (England), A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village ...

estate – including the pub – measuring . The dues for this land were £86 (£3,500 in 2008) per annum. The brewery supplied

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

stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...

to The Stocks pub in

Beenham Beenham is a village and civil parish centred east of Newbury in the West Berkshire district of Berkshire, England. Geography Beenham is north of Aldermaston. The Old Copse is a woodland within the village that is a Site of Special Scient ...

Buy-out

The business maintained operations until 1945, when it was bought out by Scrace's Brewery in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and stopped production. The company was acquired by Strong's of

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is situated northwest of Southampton, southwest of Winchester and southeast of Salisbury. It sits on the outskirts of the New Forest, just over northeast of ...

in 1950 and the site was demolished. In 1995, the site of the brewery was built upon in the expansion of Aldermaston Wharf.

References

Aldermaston Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom Companies based in Berkshire Food and drink companies established in 1770 Food and drink companies disestablished in 1950 1770 establishments in England 1950 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1950 British companies established in 1770 Breweries in England {{UK-company-stub