Historian and author Martyn Taylor takes a look at the history of Bury St Edmunds-based brewer Greene King

Local historian, author and tour guide Martyn Taylor has trawled his archive to find some of his favourite Bury St Edmunds pictures and stories from the past. This week, he takes a look at Greene King.

It is no coincidence that Matthias Wright, whose family had owned a brewery on the corner of Bridewell Lane and Westgate Street for much of the 18th century, would call his brewery The Westgate Brewery.

The executors of his will eventually sold this as it had been on the market since 1798. An offer was put in by a newly formed business partnership, that of former Bury wool merchant William Buck and newcomer to Bury, Benjamin Greene a brewer from Oundle, Northamptonshire, the year 1805.

Benjamin’s third son, Edward eventually took over running the brewery, leading to an amalgamation with Frederick King’s, St Edmunds Brewery in 1887, becoming Greene King. They would go on to assimilate other local and distant breweries.

Some of the biggest employers through-out the 19th century were those engaged in the preparation of barley for the brewing of beer, the germinating barley had to be continuously raked on the maltings floor.

Amazingly Bury had 12 separate malsters in 1844. In 1852 farmer Frederick King had married Emily Maulkin eldest daughter of Robert Maulkin one of Burys major malsters, Fred then set up his own brewery, The St Edmund Brewery.

In 1868, Edward Greene had purchased the recently deceased Henry Braddock’s Southgate Brewery, maltings and pubs to stop them falling into rival Fred’s hands. In 1880 Edward built his own large Foundry maltings and seven years later amalgamated his Westgate Brewery with Fred King to become Greene King.

Built in 1869 the brewery brick chimney emanating from the boiler house was demolished in August 1983 after it was found to be leaning nearly 18 inches out of upright. Due to its precarious location it could not be blown up and was taken down brick by brick by steeplejacks.

The brewery’s main asset is the ‘Art Deco’ Brewhouse built with some difficulties, opening in 1939. Beneath it are the Victorian cellars, where modern day pipes run through carrying the beer elsewhere.

Over the years the number of pubs in the town has declined. For instance, around 1960 there were more than 60 pubs in the town. If you count bars there are now around 25, many closing for economic reasons and others as being too close to each other – such as in King’s Road, Southgate and Eastgate streets.

Greene King is now the country’s leading pub company and brewer. It employs more than 650 people directly.

Among its five divisions are: The Pub Company, which has more than 3,000 pubs, restaurants and hotels with brands such as The Hungry Horse, Chef & Brewer and Old English Inns. There is also Loch Fynne fish restaurants and Pub Partners, which supports around 1,200 licensees, Brewing & Brands.

Greene King has two breweries: the Westgate Brewery, in Bury, and the Belhaven Brewery, in Dunbar, Scotland. This, the oldest brewery in Scotland from 1719, was purchased by GK in August 2005 for £187 million.

Other breweries were taken over, such as the Panton Brewery, in Cambridge, and Wells & Winch, in Biggleswade.

In 2000, the Morland Brewery of Abingdon-On-Thames was also taken over but then closed down, however their flagship ale, Old Speckled Hen, and their other trade-mark beers are now brewed in Bury. These are now part of the GK portfolio of well-loved beers, along with IPA and Abbot Ale among the most popular.

In 1980 a new draught beer cellar was built on concrete ’stilts’ in case the nearby River Linnet flooded.

It cost £1.4 million and was designed by the renowned Hopkins Architects (who also designed the triple pipe stack replacing the old chimney). The beer comes from a pipeline from the brewery. The ‘raised cellar’ facilitates the easier loading of delivery lorries.

Greene King’s modernisation has rapidly increased since the Morland purchase. Across town, at Kempson Way a new bottling plant was opened in 2006 (on the old Britvic site) costing £8 million, producing 25,000 bottles an hour.

Greene King is definitely looking forward, still supporting the community, such as through the opening of a Beer Café plus the very popular brewery tour with knowledgeable guides. Not forgotten, though, were their retired employees, who enjoyed a free pint weekdays at the Brewery Tap.

Wealthy Hong Kong company CK Asset Holdings completed a takeover in 2019 – by then Greene King was the largest independent brewer in the country.

With the recent news of a relocation to a purpose-built brewery costing some £40 million pounds at Suffolk Business Park, the brewery’s existing portfolio of buildings – many of which are listed – will have a new future. What, we wait to see!

— Martyn Taylor’s latest book, Bury St Edmunds Through Time Revisited, is widely available.