Kimberley Brewery
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Kimberley Brewery, Hardys & Hansons
As one of the oldest brewers in the country, Hardys & Hansons heritage dates back to 1832.
[edit] Origins
Samuel Robinson opened the first commercial brewery in Kimberley,in a rented bake-house using water from the Alley Spring in what is now called Hardy Street.[1]
Stephen Hanson meanwhile built Hansons Limited on Brewery Street in 1847, also using water from the Alley Spring.[1]
William & Thomas Hardy were successful beer merchants from Heanor who bought Samuel Robinsons brewery in 1857. The current brewery is largely based on the buildings erected by them in 1861 when they moved out of the old bake-house.[1]
Also in 1861 Stephen Hanson died and the business was carried on by his wife Mary and son Robert Hanson.[1]
There was much friendly rivalry between the two brewing companies who proceeded to buy pubs throughout the area to supply with their own ales.
Both breweries began to run short of water. By agreement the water from the local Holly Well spring was shared between them.[1]
Having been attracted by the supply of excellent brewing water from the Holly Well, both breweries thrived independently until 1930, when under increasing pressure from larger brewing companies and lack of male successors to the Hardy's Brewery, the two companies combined.
[edit] The Brewery Today
Kimberley Brewery was the last independent brewery in Nottinghamshire.
In 2006, The Hardys & Hansons Kimberley Brewery and all of its public houses were sold in a multi million pound deal to Greene King brewery who decided to end the brewing tradition in Kimberley in "a cost effective move" and will use the Kimberley site purely as a distribution centre. Brewing will switch to the main Greene King site at Bury St Edmunds. This has been seen by some as an upsetting loss of local heritage.
[edit] References
[edit] Further Reading
Lee, J.M., A Brief History of Kimberley, (2001)
