Watney Combe & Reid was a leading

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 London. At its peak in the 1930s it was a constituent of the

FT 30 The FT 30 (''FT Ordinary Index'' or ''FTOI'', not "FTSE 30") is a now rarely used index that is similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As an index of stocks to represent the real trends on the market, the FT 30 has been superseded by the FTS ...

index of leading companies on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

. It produced Watney's Red Barrel.

History

Ministry of Information First World War Official Collection Q31063

The

Watney family The Watney family is an English family known for its association with the brewing firm Watney Combe & Reid,Janes, H. ''The Red Barrel: A History of Watney Mann'' (1963). as well as for its political activities, philanthropy and missionary work. Mem ...

were the main partners in the Stag Brewery,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, for much of the 19th century. In 1837

James Watney James Watney (18 December 1800 16 March 1884) was an English brewing, brewer and landowner who resided at Haling Park, Croydon, and Beddington, Surrey. He was born to Daniel Watney (1771–1831) of Mitcham, Surrey and Mary Galpin (1771–1830 ...

became a partner in the brewery, followed by his sons

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

and Norman in 1856. On his death in 1884, the brewery became a

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in Privately held company, "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a Public company, publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Example ...

. In 1889 James Watney & Co., acquired the Mortlake Brewery (latterly referred to as the

Stag Brewery Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

), which had been owned by Charles James Philips and James Wigan since the 1840s. In 1898 the company merged with

Combe Delafield and Co. Combe Delafield and Co. was among the major brewers in London during the nineteenth century, before being acquired by Watney in 1898, thus forming Watney Combe & Reid. The Woodyard Brewery, of Castle Street, Long Acre, situated midway between the ...

and Reid and Co., and was subsequently known as Watney Combe and Reid. The amalgamated company was the largest brewer in London. The Combe brewery in Longacre and the Reid brewery in

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

closed almost immediately, and production was concentrated on the Watney Stag Brewery in

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

. The company had an annual output of . Watney Mann was formed in 1958 with the merger of Watney, Combe, Reid & Co. Ltd with Mann, Crossman & Paulin Ltd. When the Stag Brewery in Victoria was demolished in 1959 the name was transferred to Mortlake Brewery. The business acquired other brewers, including Wilsons of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Phipps NBC Phipps Northampton Brewery Company Ltd has a long and varied history of brewing real ale and stout. It is based in Northampton, England. Early brewing history The company began in the South Northamptonshire town of Towcester where founder Pic ...

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, Samuel Webster & Sons of Halifax and

Ushers of Trowbridge Ushers of Trowbridge was a brewery in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, between 1824 and 2000. History In 1824, Thomas Usher and his wife Hannah acquired a small brewery in Back Street, Trowbridge, renaming it Usher's Wiltshire Brewery. In 184 ...

, before being taken over by

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...

, a hotels and catering group, in 1972 and closed in 1979.

Watney's Red Barrel

Watney's Red Barrel was a bitter which sold highly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. It was introduced in 1931 as an export

keg A keg is a small cask used for storing liquids. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids. Nowadays a keg is normally constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is ...

beer that could travel for long distances by being made stable through

filtering Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...

and

pasteurising In food processing, pasteurization (also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. ...

, as such it was the first

keg beer Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was serv ...

. It was reformulated and relaunched as "Watney's Red" in 1971. A 3.9%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

pale lager Pale lager is a pale-to- golden lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. In the mid-19th century, Gabriel Sedlmayr took British pale ale brewing and malt making techniques back to the Spaten Bre ...

called Watney's Red Barrel was sold by

Sleeman Breweries Sleeman Breweries is a Japanese-owned Canadian brewery founded by John Warren Sleeman in 1988 in Guelph, Ontario. The company is the third-largest brewing company in Canada. Along with its own Sleeman brands, the company produces under licence t ...

until 1997 and a 6.0% beer with the same name is still brewed by

Alken-Maes Alken-Maes is a Belgium, Belgian brewery created out of the 1988 merger of two small breweries, Maes located at Waarloos, Kontich-Waarloos and Cristal-Alken located at Alken, Belgium, Alken. It was bought by Scottish & Newcastle in 2000, who wer ...

. In 1964, Watney's Red Barrel was served at the British Pavilion at the World's Fair in New York. The exhibit featured a Pub called "the British Lion". Following its exhibit, Watney's Red Barrel was available in the United States in bottle and draft form. Red Barrel was considered as a premium ale and was priced the same as Fuller's London Pride and Charles Wells's Bombardier Ale, both of which are still being produced. Watney's Red Barrel was referenced five times in the Monty Python's Travel Agents Sketch which first aired on the BBC on 16 November 1972. The sketch featured Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Carol Cleveland. Eric Idle played a customer looking to book a holiday, Michael Palin the Travel Agent and Carol Cleveland the Receptionist.

Advertising

For many years, Watney's advertised with the

strapline Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etymo ...

"What we want is Watney's". The company sponsored the

Watney Cup The Watney Mann Invitation Cup (normally referred to as simply the Watney Cup) was a short-lived English football tournament held in the early 1970s. It was held before the start of the season, and was contested by the teams that had scored the ...

association football tournament from 1970 to 1973.

References

External links

Access to Archives: Files held at the London Metropolitan Archives on Watney Come Reid and Co Ltd and Watney Mann Ltd

Illustration of label of Combe Delafield & Co., Best London Porter
1898 establishments in England 1972 disestablishments in England 1972 mergers and acquisitions Breweries in London British companies established in 1884 British companies established in 1898 Companies based in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom Food and drink companies disestablished in 1972 Food and drink companies established in 1898 History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Watney family {{coord missing, London