Local legend recounts that Richard Gale (born 1802) bought the Horndean Ship and Bell public house and its brewery in 1847, when he saw it was where his workers spent their wages! The Gale family were already well known in Horndean as grocers, bakers, coal and corn merchants. The Ship and Bell had been a coaching Inn (and smugglers haunt) since the early 1700’s. A brewery had been built across the road to keep up with demand. Water for the ‘liquor’ came from a well within the building that was fed from the surrounding ancient chalk hills (Laver, 2023).
Gales Brewery was an icon of Horndean, that produced a range of distinctive ales spanning an impressive 158 years.
• 1847 - Richard Gale buys the Ship and Bell public house in Horndean.
• 1860s - The original wooden brewery was destroyed by fire. Only the flint-built Blacksmiths shop and Coopers shop survived.
• 1869 - The new brick brewery buildings built across the road are complete. The date 1869 can be seen within the initials GA on a plaque on the tower, which remains a local landmark.
• 1888 - The brewery is registered in the name of George Gale – Richard’s youngest son. George expanded the business to include malting and built thirty houses for his employees. Investment from partners resulted in the growth of the brewery, and the purchase of many more public houses.
• 1914 - Process brewing method was developed by the Head Brewer, Mr Steel. This process enabled production to continue despite wartime shortages. Mr Steel was well esteemed, winning almost every award for his beers at the Brewers Exhibition in London.
• 1920 - Motor drays replace horse-drawn drays.
• 1930’s - Gales rebuilt a number of their public houses, including the Spotted Cow at Cowplain and the Woodman at Purbrook.
• 1980’s - Export to America begins and a new process floor increased production by 40%.
• 1990’s - Further purchases bought the number of Gales public houses to 157 spanning Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Sussex, Surrey and Oxfordshire.
• 1991 - a new six tonne copper was hoisted by crane into the new process room, replacing the 1926 copper and doubling output.
• 1992 - Richard Gale retires as managing director after 31 years at the brewery.
• 2005 - Gales Brewery was sold to Fuller, Smith and Turner.
• 2006 - The Horndean site was closed and production transferred to Chiswick, making many local people redundant.
• 2017 - The brewery buildings are converted to apartments and shops.
The sale of the brewery in 2006 to Fuller, Smith and Turner, brought to an end 159 years of Gales Brewery. A year later, the Horndean brewery was closed and production transferred to Chiswick. CAMRA (campaigners for real ale), tried to encourage Fullers to continue production in Horndean, but to no avail. The site was closed in January 2006, with staff redundancies (Wikipedia, 2024). The News ran a tribute to the brewery with photos taken through the years and reported that it was “dearly missed” (The News, 2020).
The brewery buildings have now been converted to apartments and shops, but aspects of the heritage are preserved. The Gale & Co sign remains on the tower and the complex has been named ‘The Old Brewery’. The surrounding road names have taken inspiration from the brewery too, with Old Brewery Way, Barley Rise, Coopers Way, Barrel Mews, Oast House Drive, Malthouse Way and Gale Drive.
A beautiful mural painted by Mel Holmes near the entrance, shows brewery workers pulling back a curtain embellished with George Gale & Co. Ltd, to reveal workers raising their glasses. Illustrations on the building’s opposite are a reminder of the transport yard and depict the horse-drawn drays.
Gales horse-drawn drays can still be found displayed at country shows, and a 1926 Austin motorised dray is exhibited at Milestones Museum in Basingstoke.
Bibliography
Brewery History. (2023). Retrieved from https://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=A_History_of_Gales_%26_Co._Ltd
Hampshire Records Office. (2022). Retrieved from https://hampshirearchivesandlocalstudies.wordpress.com/2022/05/21/gales-breweryarchive/
Johnlp. (2008). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4671383
Jones, S. (2015). The Public Houses and Inns of Waterlooville, Cowplain, Lovedean, Purbrook and Widley. Retrieved from Havant Borough History No.30: https://archive.org/details/ThePublicHousesAndInnsOfWaterloovilleCowplainLovedeanPurbrookAnd
Laver, M. W. (2023). A History of Gales & Co. Ltd. Retrieved from https://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=A_History_of_Gales_%26_Co._Ltd
The News. (2018, 12 20). Retrieved from https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/family-mournthe-loss-of-gales-brewerys-well-known-ex-managing-director-169141
The News. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage-andretro/retro/people-miss-the-old-iconic-brewery-19-amazing-old-photos-of-galesbrewery-at-horndean-2552648?page=2
Wikimedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from • Gales brewery van - Gales Brewery - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gales_Brewery#/media/File:Gales_brewery_van.jpg
Wikipedia. (2024, 12 30). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gales_Brewery
