No. 1 Horninglow Street sits near the junction of High Street, Bridge Street and Wetmore Road; it currently forms part of the shop Spirit Games. A plaque by the door shows its previous life as apartments and 150 years ago it served as a private house for William Wright of Ratcliff & Wright, Druggists & Grocers at 102 High Street. Unusually for a brewing town like Burton upon Trent there appears to be no connection to that industry, so why have brewers Marston’s named a beer after the house?
It is important to preserve history wherever possible; not everything was documented in the past, or if it was it may not have survived to present day but if it has then it should be respected. Genuine mistakes do happen of course, words can be misread in historical documents (many being handwritten), facts are open to misinterpretation etc. An excellent example of this is the date of the formation of what was latterly known as Ind Coope Burton Brewery. Like many modern breweries this was a product of amalgamations, buy outs and name changes, but the roots of the business can be traced back to the 1700’s to an inn on High Street called “The Bloo Stoops” (in modern terms, where Molson Coors offices sit), where a gentleman called Benjamin Wilson started to brew. The literature appears confused around the actual year, some sources claim 1708 but the correct date is 1742, as shown in deeds later held in the Samuel Allsopp archive (Allsopp took over the business from Wilson’s son and it later merged with Ind Coope in 1934).
The mix-up can be traced back to a misinterpretation by Historian J. S. Bushnan in his 1853 work “Burton and its Bitter Beer”, he misunderstood a line from the 1798 book “History and Antiquities of Staffordshire” by Dr. Shaw. Shaw mentioned a brewer called “Benjamin Prilson” who founded his business in 1708 in Horninglow Street. Bushnan presumed “Prilson” to be a misspelling of “Wilson”, and the error was then compounded when Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd. started quoting this in the company magazine in the 1940’s. This historical “fact” became accepted as true due to it being from a credible source. One thing Bushnan did get right was that “Prilson” was a misspelling, however it should have read “Benjamin Printon”, who is accepted as the first Common Brewer in the town.
The 1889 classic “The Noted Breweries of Great Britain & Ireland Vol. II” by Alfred Barnard states that John Marston established a brewery on what is now the corner of Horninglow Road North and Dover Road (then called Patch Lane) in 1834; Barnard even included a drawing of the site from the spire of the Parish Church of St John The Devine. This location and the drawing would appear in the book “A Brewer of Pedigree” published by Marston’s in 1999 and written by Khadija Buckland from research by the official Marston’s Historian Eric Fower, making it credible and historically correct.
Historians fulfil various roles, research, education and preservation of the past, which is why when Marston’s announced a new beer under the name of “No. 1 Horninglow Street”, it caused some consternation. “The Horninglow Street speciality beers have been named after the original brewery John Marston’s (sic) started brewing at in 1834, the Horninglow Brewery in Burton upon Trent” read the press release, which is all very well and good but why choose to name the beer after a real place that has no connections to Marston’s?
When approached about the issue, it was obvious that their Marketing Department wasn’t aware that Horninglow Street already existed; they’d taken the place Horninglow and added Street for effect. Now not for a second is it inferred this was done intentionally, like Bushnan’s “Prilson” this is a genuine mistake, but it is one that needs correcting. When an official statement about the discrepancy was requested for, the following was supplied: “The Horninglow Street beer series has been named after Marston’s original brewery site, Horninglow Brewery, and Marston’s maltings on Horninglow Street.” Trent & Dove now occupy the site of the Maltings on Horninglow Street, but isn’t it odd to name a beer after the location of a Maltings when it is supposed to be about the brewery which was over a mile away?
Why this article, why all the fuss? Surely no one really cares as long as the beer tastes good? It is about expectation; if a brewery quotes their history, especially one as old and as respected as Marston’s, then people have every right for this to be correct. What has been done here is at best misleading and at worst wrong.
Unless the brand name changes there are more gaffes ahead as the series progresses; when they reach “No. 5 Horninglow Street” this is the site of Clay House, previously home to John Wilders / Joseph Clay’s Lamb & Flag Inn Brewery, next is “No. 6 Horninglow Street” which William Newton / Charles Leeson’s brewery, all of which surely defeats the object of celebrating Marston’s Horninglow Brewery!
To conclude, it isn’t the intention for this post to be controversial and cause any embarrassment for Marston’s, it simply fulfils the remit of protecting history and how important is it to get the facts? You decide.
The numbers refer to each beer in the series and not directly to the house no in Horninglow Street. It is a great concept which is doing wonders for raising the profile of the only remaining Burton Union system in the world and the incredible heritage of Burton as the brewing capital of the world. I am sure marketeers are not expected to have the incredible in-depth knowledge you impart. Without malt there would be no beer, the Horninglow maltings are an incredibly important part of marstons history. It is right that we celebrate Marstons, Burton and Brewing in this fantastic series of exclusive limited edition beers. Burton has been brewing craft beer for centuries let’s shout about it!
The article is in no way critical of the idea behind Horninglow Street as it is superb and from what I’ve been told the beer itself is a cracker, I just wish Marketing had done their homework and looked at a map of Burton.
Very interesting reading! Love BoT!