 |
Burton on Trent
An introduction...
Beer - almost guaranteed to be the first word that comes to mind when Burton is mentioned. From the brewing monks at Burton Abbey to the height of brewing in Burton in the late nineteenth century, when there were thirty brewers, to today's multi-national companies and smaller craft breweries producing 'real ales' Burton was a 'beer town' although other industries such as tyre making and roof tile manufacture flourished on the outskirts. A by product of brewing, Marmite, generates as much debate on its qualities as a discussion on the relative merits of different ales.
Burton lies between the Trent and Mersey canal to the west and the River Trent to the east and, despite the Derby post code, is just inside Staffordshire. There is a good shopping centre with the major supermarkets, national retailers and local businesses well represented. New business parks and industrial estates are springing up all around Burton, including huge distribution depots on the Centrum100 Business Park.
The railway station has services to Derby (17kms) and Birmingham (50kms) on the cross country route linking Scotland and the South West. Buses serve all areas and there is a service to Derby every 15 minutes. The nearest airport is the East Midlands at Castle Donington 25kms away. The A38 bypasses the town to the west and the A50, accessed from the A38, links the M1 at Castle Donington with the M6 at Stoke on Trent.
There are many opportunities for exploring the history of the area, including Shugborough Hall (20kms), Sudbury Hall (12kms), Lichfield (20kms) and the nearby Tutbury Castle. Repton, a small town just ten kilometres away, was the capital of Mercia and burial place for Mercian kings as well as being home to the famous Repton School. Burton lies inside the area designated for the 200 square mile National Forest, which includes the National Arboretum and Armed Forces Memorial at Alrewas just south west of Burton.
A brief history...
From the late seventh century when St. Modwen founded a religious settlement on Andressey island on the Trent to the early 11th.C. Abbey built between the High Street and the river the history of Burton upon Trent is linked to religious observance. The remains of many buildings, including the sixteenth century school founded by Abbot Beyne, can be found in the area near the Market Hall. The monks operated water powered mills, for grinding corn and fulling cloth, on the river banks from the 15th.C. and kept sheep on the Trent washlands before discovering that water from their wells, rich in gypsum salts, made excellent beer. The Winshill flour mill ground corn until 1993, the fulling mill was converted to a forge in 1719, making gun barrels, thimbles and iron plates. Iron from the water powered forge was used by James Watt to build the steam engines that eventually made water power obsolete.
Robert Peel converted, and then rebuilt, the mill for cotton spinning. More mills were built by the Peel family, until they were employing 800 people by the early nineteenth century. They opened two schools for the children of employees, although the children then went to work in the mill at the age of ten. A Bolton and Watt steam engine, the first in Staffordshire, was installed at the Bond End mill.
The reputation for good ale brewed by the monks grew from the thirteenth century until ended by the dissolution of the abbey in 1539. William Bass opened his first brewery in 1777, his son followed with his brewery in 1799 and many other breweries were built, particularly when the railway came to Burton in 1839. At one time there were so many breweries with extensive sidings that it was noted that other manufacturers were unable to start businesses in the town. A decline in beer drinking in the late 19th.C. led to closures and by 1928 there were only eight breweries still operating.
The closure of the superb Bass Museum of Brewing, housed in the old joiner's shop, by the new owners Coors was greeted with dismay in Burton. Groups are trying to find ways of funding the museum to keep it open as a national museum of brewing to retain this tourist attraction with fascinating exhibits, the shire horses that pulled the brewery drays and a place where locals can hold events and weddings.
« Previous Page | Back to top ^^
|
|
