Local List: Former Brewhouse, The Old Albion Brewery (WNC)

A brewery founded by Thomas Ratliffe and operating from Commercial Street from around 1861. Ratliffe was joined in partnership with William Jeffery in 1869 forming Ratliffe and Jeffery. The brewery was extended from 16 to 22 Commercial Street and right back to Foundry Street during the early 1880s. The brewery is thought to have dropped the word steam from its title by 1890 and Ratliffe and Jeffery became a limited company in 1895. When William Jeffery died 1899 the company was acquired by P. Phipps and Company and the brewery closed and from 1901 used as a store. A bottling plant was built prior to World War I. The brewery was sold in 1919 to wholesale grocers Messrs James and James, and was also used by confectioners Sarjeant and Company Limited until the 1940s. It was a clothing factory from 1960 to 1980, and from 1982 housed Northampton Auction Galleries. The building was demolished in 2007 to make way for a casino which was completed in 2008. The new building had been designed to resemble the brewery.

Record last edited

May 8 2026 12:30PM