The Trust has reunited a substantial archive collection relating to the Mansfield Brewery. Boxes of historic documents from the Brewery have been transferred from the Trust’s archive in Burton upon Trent, to Nottinghamshire Archives, which is run by Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council.
The collection includes ledgers, documents, photographs and plans and gives an insight into the day to day running of a busy and successful brewery. Among the items recorded are the regular purchases of hops and sugar, essential to the brewing process and the payment of dividends to the shareholders.
Mansfield Brewery was established in 1855 when brewer John Watson formed a partnership with farmer Samuel Hage and local investor William Edward Baily. Over the following century the business grew substantially by acquiring other breweries and businesses, and by the 1980s it operated over 400 licensed premises. In 1999 the company was acquired by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries and eventually production ceased in Mansfield in 2002.
The archive collection was a loan from a private individual who worked for the company. Nottinghamshire Archives also have an archive collection from the Mansfield Brewery, so this transfer means that the company records from the Mansfield Brewery are now reunited and will be accessible to researchers in Nottinghamshire and beyond, where the company began 170 years ago.
Trust Deputy Chairman Brett Rathbone made the transfer to Nottinghamshire. He said: “This fascinating collection of documents was originally on loan. As part of our archive management and inventory work, we have been looking to secure the future of loaned items to their owners. In this case it was felt that the right approach was to reunite the collection with the remainder of the Mansfield Brewery archive and we are very pleased to work with Nottinghamshire Archives to do so.”
“The company records from the Mansfield Brewery are now reunited and will be accessible to researchers in Nottinghamshire and beyond.”
Ruth Imeson, Heritage Services Manager at Inspire, commented: “We are delighted to be receiving this collection from The National Brewery Heritage Trust, and to reunite the documents enclosed with those already stored at Nottinghamshire Archives. Inspire are dedicated to preserving our county’s rich heritage, and our hope is that documents like those relating to Mansfield Brewery can be accessed by the public for years to come, and help paint a vivid picture of life in Nottinghamshire.”
Read other archive stories here
