Charrington United Breweries Ltd was an English brewery company founded in 1738 which merged with Bass in 1967.
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[1] Robert Westfield, a member of the Brewers' Company from 1738, owned a brewery in Bethnal Green, London, prior to 1757, when he took Joseph Moss into partnership and moved to new premises at Anchor Brewery, Mile End Road (Mile End, London).
In 1766, John Charrington, who had served his apprenticeship with Hale brewers in Islington, took a third share in the business, which then traded as Westfield, Moss & Charrington.
Robert Westfield retired in 1769, and his share in the partnership was purchased by Charrington. After Moss retired in 1783, Charrington and his brother, Henry, were in full control of the business. By 1807/8, they were the second largest brewers in London, producing 20,252 barrels of beer per year. Following John's death in 1815, the business was continued by his brother and his son, Nicholas, who had joined the partnership in 1806.
The firm acquired Steward & Head in Sratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1833 and subsequently traded as Charrington & Head Co, establishing the Abbey Brewery on Abbey Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, in 1972.
Nicholas' two sons, Edward and Spencer, succeeded their father in 1859, and following the death of Head in 1880, the firm was known as Charrington & Co. The London and Burton breweries were operated as separate concerns until 1897, when Charrinton & Co Ltd was registered in July to acquire the business of both breweries.
In 1962 Charrington United Breweries Limited was registered to undertake the merger of Charrington & Co Ltd and United Breweries Ltd by an exchange of shares. In 1967, Charrington merged with Bass and Mitchell & Butlers and formed Bass Charrington Limited.
In 1997 Bass Charrington sold off its public houses. The buyer then created Punch Taverns. In 2000, the company sold off its brands to Interbrew and remaining properties to Six Continents Plc.
The Anchor Brewery on Mile End Road ceased production in January 1975, but remained the company's head office. By now, most of the brewery buildings have been demolished.[2]
Bottling and warehousing facilities were also housed in a former distillery at Three Mills, in Bromley-by-Bow. Today, the site at Three Mills is used as offices serving a film studio complex, and the main Anchor Brewery site has been redeveloped as housing, offices and a shopping centre. [2]
The company took over the brewing business of:
The Brewing of Pale Ale was transferred from Abbey Brewery, Burton-on-Trent, to the Anchor Brewery, London in 1925 and the former was closed in 1926 and sold with 86 tied houses.