Lorimer & Clark Ltd Round Enamel

Lorimer & Clark Ltd enamel tray dating from the 1910s. George Lorimer began brewing in 1865. In 1869 he formed a partnership with Robert Clark, also a brewer, and established the Caledonian Brewery on Slateford Road, Edinburgh. In 1892 the brewery was re-constructed and maltings were built. The Company expanded into West Scotland and North Eastern England and entered into a trading agreement with C.Vaux & Sons Ltd in 1919. The Company was registered as Lorimer & Clark Ltd in 1920. The Company was acquired by Vaux & Associated Breweries Ltd in 1946 and the Caledonian Brewery continued to brew. Vaux acquired Steel, Coulson & Co. Ltd of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and Thomas Usher & Son Ltd Park Brewery of Edinburgh in 1959, and John Wright & Co. Ltd of Perth in 1961. Production was concentrated at the Caledonian Brewery and the Park Brewery. When Vaux Breweries Ltd transferred all production to Sunderland in 1985, brewing ceased at the Caledonian Brewery. The brewhouse was purchased by the Caledonian Brewery Co. Ltd, a management buy-out led by Head Brewer Russell Sharp, in 1987. The new Company faced serious challenges when in 1994 fire destroyed the original maltings and in 1998, another fire destroyed the roof of the building. In 2004 the brewery site was purchased by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd and by 2008 the Company became wholly owned by them. The Caledonian Brewery is still operating and is currently owned by Heineken UK Ltd. When the Caledonian Brewery was established in 1869, Edinburgh was a city with 40 other brewers, today it is the last remaining Victorian Brewery. The manufacturer's mark states - Hancor Mitcham