J.Arkell & Sons Ltd Round Enamel

J.Arkell & Sons Ltd enamel tray dating from the 1920s.

John Arkell - Farmer & Brewer

John Arkell was a farmer who emigrated to Canada in 1830 but returned to England in 1833 to marry his fiancee.
He lived in Stratton St.Margaret, near Swindon, where he grew barley on his farm.
It was a natural step to turn to brewing beer on his farm, which he did in 1843. His beer proved to be so popular that John's makeshift brewery outgrew the farm.

The Kingsdown Brewery

John saw the potential of supplying his beer to a number of local public houses, including his own Kingsdown Inn, which he purchased at Upper Stratton in 1861, not far from his farm.
John decided to build a steam brewery next to the Kingsdown Inn.
Arkell's soon expanded its pub estate, including the purchase of the Fox Inn at Highworth in 1862, the Golden Cross at Cirencester in 1864, the Tavern at Greatfield in 1866, and the Harrow at Wanborough on a ten-year lease.
By 1867 John's rapidly expanding site swallowed up the pub, incorporating it into the brewery offices. A new Kingsdown Inn had to be built across the road.
In 1877 new maltings were erected on the site.
John continued to expand his estate purchasing another 20 public houses in the next ten years.
John died in 1881 and he was much mourned by the local community.

Thomas and James Arkell

John's sons, Thomas and James took over the business and Arkell's continued to expand, focussing on the booming railway town of Swindon.
By 1900, Arkell's owned more than a quarter of the pubs in the Swindon area.
The latter years of the brothers management saw a period of consolidation for their brewery business. When Thomas died in 1919, the brewery had not purchased a single public houses in nearly two decades. However, a further five were added by James before he too died in 1925.

J.Arkell & Sons Ltd Registration

In 1927 the Company was registered as J.Arkell & Sons Ltd, with all the shares being owned by the Arkell's family.
James' sons, Thomas Noel, James Graham, and John Oliver were running the firm at the time of its registration.
A modernisation strategy during the 1930s saw the closure of the maltings, and the opening of a high-tech bottling plant.
This period also saw the foundation of a new mineral water plant, and a new brewery chimney was added to the Stratton skyline.
After the Second World War, business expansion was slow, with only a handful of public houses added to the Arkell's estate.
Peter Arkell, eldest son of Thomas Noel, joined the firm in 1954, bringing valuable brewing experience having worked as a former director of the Tadcaster Brewery Co. Ltd.
In the 1960s, Arkell's purchased the wine and spirits business of local firm, Brown & Plummer. Under the leadership of Nicolas Arkell it soon became known as one of the leading wine merchants in the South West of England.

The Modern Era

Peter Arkell became chairman in 1971.
Meanwhile the fifth generation of the family was being groomed to lead the business beyond its 150th anniversay in 1993.
Mainly through the acquisition of public houses from Whitbread & Co. Ltd, Arkell's continued to increase its estate, widening its reach as far as London.
In 1997, the original bottling store, which had closed in 1983, was replaced with a new, high-tech plant.
Peter Arkell died in 2010, leaving his son, James Arkell as the new chairman. Under his leadership, Arkell's was awarded the highly prestigious Gold Medal at the Society of Independent Brewers National Beer Awards, in 2016.
The Company owns around 100 public houses and is still brewing independently.

An exact version of this tray was reproduced in tin both during the 1960s and the 1970s.