Old Truman Brewery - History

History

The site's first associations with brewing can be traced back to 1666 when a Joseph Truman is recorded as joining William Bucknall's Brewhouse in Brick Lane. Truman subsequently became manager in 1697, and through his family's efforts - not least those of Sir Benjamin Truman (who joined the firm in 1722) - the business expanded rapidly over the following 200 years. The Black Eagle Brewery was constructed in the early 18th century (c.1724) and eventually employed over 1000 people, becoming the largest brewery in London and the second biggest in Britain.

In the mid-18th century Huguenot immigrants introduced a new beverage flavoured with hops, which proved very popular. Initially, Truman's imported hops from Belgium, but Kent farmers were soon encouraged to grow hops to help the brewery meet growing demand.

Sir Benjamin died in March 1780 and, without a son to take on the business, it passed to his grandsons. In 1789, the brewery was taken over by Sampson Hanbury (Hanbury had been a partner since 1780; the Truman family became 'sleeping partners'). Hanbury's nephew, Thomas Fowell Buxton, joined the company in 1808, improved the brewing process, converted the works to steam power and, with the rapid expansion and improvement of Britain's road and rail transport networks, the Black Eagle label soon became famous across Britain (by 1835, when Buxton took over the business upon Hanbury's death, the brewery was producing some 200,000 barrels (32,000 m3) of porter a year).

The Brick Lane brewery – now known as Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co – took on new partners in 1816, the Pryor brothers (the company's owners were renowned for their good treatment of their workers - providing free schooling – and for their support of abolitionism). The affluence of these brewers was also noted in fiction: in Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield (1850), Mrs Micawber makes specific reference to Messrs Truman, Hanbury and Buxton):

... I have long felt the brewing business to be particularly adapted to Mr Micawber. Look at Barclay and Perkins! Look at Truman, Hanbury, and Buxton! It is on that extensive footing that Mr Micawber, I know from my own knowledge of him, is calculated to shine; and the profits, I am told, are e-NOR—mous! But if Mr Micawber cannot get into those firms—which decline to answer his letters, when he offers his services even in an inferior capacity—what is the use of dwelling upon that idea? (Chapter 28)

However, the company also faced competition from breweries based outside London – notably in Burton upon Trent, where the water was particularly suitable for brewing – and in 1873 the company acquired a brewery (Phillips) in Burton and began to build a major new brewery, named the Black Eagle after the original London site.

In 1888, Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co became a public company with shareholders, but the balance of production was now shifting to Burton. The Brick Lane facility remained active through a take-over by the Grand Metropolitan Group in 1971 and a merger with Watney Mann in 1972, but it was in terminal decline. It eventually closed in 1988.

However, the old brewery buildings still stand in Brick Lane, where they have become home to an arts and events centre and various fashionable shops and bars. The Old Truman Brewery today is a unique microcosm, attracting visitors from all over the world. Business and leisure come together on the sensitively regenerated 11-acre (45,000 m2) site that is now home to restaurants, bars, shops, creative businesses, events spaces, offices, workshops and two weekly fashion markets.. This self-contained creative resource is open for many activities. The brewery is likely to undergo significant changes in the next few years, as part of the Tower Hamlets Council City Fringe Area Action Plan.

The Old Truman Brewery was the location for the second Summer of Sonic event, a convention for Sonic the Hedgehog fans, which took place on 29 August 2009.