The Brewery

The largest building in the market place for many years was the brewery. In the early part of the 19th century it was known as Fenwick & Company. By the middle of the century it was owned by Fenwick & Story. Abraham Story lived in Hermon House, Front Street and the Fenwick family lived at South Hill. By 1880 the title had once again become Fenwick & Company. In 1896 the Brewery was sold to George Youngers of Alloa and brewing continued until 1921. The brewery owned a maltings sited also in South Burns. These buildings long since disappeared. There original location was opposite the brewery which was situated on the site of the derelict area which was the Queens bingo hall. The entrance to the brewery yard was via an arch which still exists. This arch will be at least 160 years old and is made of weathered sandstone, although it is now in a poor condition. The maltings were probably located across the road from the brewery and may have been used for storage at a later date. After the closure of the brewery in the 1920’s the dark red brick buildings were used latterly as garages for buses before demolition to make way for the new Tesco supermarket. The eastern end of the supermarket marks the location of these buildings which would have included the maltings. No doubt the burn would have acted as a very handy drain to get rid of excess ale and finings. Water for beer production may well have come from a spring higher up hill to the south west or drawn from a well found in the west field beyond the modern viaduct. The are few photographs of the original brewery buildings in existence. However there is a drawing of the brewery which was used on marketing literature early in the 20th century. The drawing has artists licence as the maltings are shown alongside the main brewery buildings. Note the location of the maltings to the right of the main brewery building.( Artist’s licence to emphasise the size of the brewery complex). The arch can clearly be seen together with a forded crossing of the Cong Burn in the right foreground. Chester-le-Street Brewery Sketch