Industry
Tadcaster has long been associated with the brewing industry due to the quality and accessibility of the local water. Rich in lime sulphate after filtering through the Yorkshire limestone, in the right conditions freshwater springs - known locally as popple-wells - can still be seen bubbling up near St Mary's church. Tax registers from 1341 record the presence of two thriving breweries or brewhouses in the town, one paying 8d in tax and the other 4d. Today it is second in importance only to Burton-upon-Trent as an English brewing centre.
Three breweries have survived into the present day, The Tower Brewery (Coors, formerly Bass), John Smith's and Samuel Smith's Old Brewery, which is also the oldest brewery in Yorkshire and the only remaining independent brewery in Tadcaster. A fourth stood by the river on the site of the present central carpark. Sam Smith's dray horses are a common sight on the streets of the town. Tadcaster is one of the very few Yorkshire towns which still has the industry it grew up around. This helps it to maintain a community spirit not often seen in other towns. Having three breweries in the town employing a large number of the locals the breweries have seen fit to subsidise several of the public houses in the town. These establishments offer the locally brewed drinks at approximately half the price you would expect to pay in a city.
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