Mortlake Stag Brewery

Some accounts suggest that Mortlake Stag Brewery may have started as a small domestic brewery serving Richmond Palace or a monastic brewery connected to Mortlake Manor House. However, the first clear record dates to 1487, when it was founded next to a monastery.

By 1765, the brewery had grown into a commercial operation, with James Weatherstone and William Richmond running breweries on opposite sides of Thames Street. This road no longer exists but once continued from Lower Richmond Road to the river. Weatherstone bought out Richmond in 1807, merging the two breweries.

The business passed through several hands before Charles Phillips and James Wigan took over in 1852. They expanded the site dramatically, buying neighbouring properties and enclosing the brewery within a large wall. This laid the foundation for the 100-acre site we see today.

1889, Phillips retired, and the brewery was sold to James Watney & Co., one of London's most prominent brewing families. They expanded the operation and built the Maltings building in 1903. Mortlake Brewery became known for producing high-quality pale ales. Watney's expanded over the next several decades, merging with other major London breweries and becoming one of the country's biggest beer producers.

By the 1970s, Watney's was part of the "Big Seven" national brewers, with multiple brewing sites and thousands of pubs. One of their most infamous products, Watney's Red Barrel, became synonymous with the poor-quality keg beer of the era. Though Red Barrel had a bad reputation, Watney's remained a dominant force in brewing.

The original Stag Brewery in Pimlico, where Watney's started, closed in the 1950s, and Mortlake became the leading site, inheriting the "Stag Brewery" name. Over the years, the brewery became a significant hub for brewing Budweiser, starting in 1995 when Anheuser-Busch InBev began operating on-site.

In 2009, AB InBev announced they would move operations to South Wales. By 2015, Budweiser production had ceased at Mortlake, and the brewery closed its doors for good in 2016.

Since then, the site's future has been the subject of much debate. Reselton Properties Limited purchased the land in 2016, sparking years of consultations and planning applications. Proposals for redevelopment have gone through various revisions and public consultations, with many stops and starts along the way. In 2022, the latest planning applications were submitted, blending elements from previous plans.

The Mortlake site is currently being used as a film studio. In May 2023, Disney+ was filming a new Victorian drama series called *One Thousand Blows* at the Mortlake Brewery site in Richmond, southwest London. Written by *Peaky Blinders* creator Steven Knight, the series stars Stephen Graham, Malachi Kirby, and Erin Doherty and dives into the gritty world of Victorian boxing. The historic Maltings building was transformed into a workhouse, and the outdoor set recreated the bustling streets of Victorian London.

Meanwhile, the Mortlake Brewery site is also in the spotlight for a major redevelopment. Dartmouth Capital Partners, working for Reselton Properties, has plans to build 1,068 new homes, a secondary school, and 5,000 square meters of office space on the site. But it still carries a rich legacy, with some historic structures surviving alongside more modern buildings. The site's future remains uncertain, but its past is a testament to London's brewing industry's long, intertwined history.

 [JL1]There is a piece of information missing here, you cant just jump for a place to a brewery, it makes us think the population of the brewery was 110 households