Cheltenham & Hereford Breweries Ltd Round Tin

Cheltenham & Hereford Breweries Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s.

Foundation of the Cheltenham Original Brewery

The business, and brewery, based on the High Street in Cheltenham, was founded in 1760 by Thomas Gardner.
John Gardner, presumably Thomas's son, took over the running of the brewery, and through his leadership, the Original Brewery was enlarged in 1818, and in 1834.
When John died in 1836, Mary Gardner John's sister, and her son, James Agg-Gardner, took over the running of the brewery business.
James died in 1858 leaving his son James Tynte Agg-Gardner as the sole proprietor of the brewery.
The Company was registered as the Cheltenham Original Brewery Co. Ltd in 1888, to acquire the business of J.T.Agg-Gardner.
In 1897, a fire almost completely destroyed the brewery which had to be rebuilt, reopening the following year. The brewery was one of the largest in England.
The Company registered its famous 'Tower with battlements' trade mark in 1898.

40 Years of Expansion

Between 1898 and 1930 the Cheltenham Original Brewery Co. Ltd purchased and closed eight local breweries, seven in Gloucestershire and one in Worcestershire.
The firm's first acquisition in Cheltenham was that of Stibbs & Co., with 10 public houses, in 1898.
The Company amalgamated with the Nailsworth Brewery Company Ltd, with 71 properties, in 1908.
During the 1910s it purchased Augustus Barton Green of Stow-on-the-Wold, in 1914, Lane Brothers & Bastow of Ledbury, with 15 tied houses, in 1919, and Tayler & Co. of Northleach, also in 1919.
Three further breweries were acquired in the 1920s and 1930s.
The large business of Arnold, Perrett & Co. Ltd of Wickwar, with 233 tied houses, was purchased in 1920, followed by the smaller concern of Sladden & Collier Ltd of Evesham, with 9 pubs, in 1927, and Wintle's Brewery Ltd of Mitcheldean, with 72 public houses in 1930.

Cheltenham & Hereford Breweries Ltd

In 1945 the Company acquired the Hereford & Tredegar Brewery Ltd, and its Imperial Brewery.
The merged company was registered as Cheltenham & Hereford Breweries Ltd in 1946.
The business was re-registered and renamed Cheltenham Brewery Holdings Ltd in 1956.
Cheltenham Brewery Holdings Ltd acquired Spreckley Brothers Ltd, with 68 public houses, based in Worcester, and the Stroud Brewery Co. Ltd, with 643 public houses, in 1958, forming West Country Brewery Holdings Ltd in 1959.
Spreckley's Worcester Brewery was closed in 1960.
The Company was renamed West Country Breweries Ltd, in 1961.

West Country Breweries Ltd Acquired by Whitbread & Co. Ltd

The Company and its 1,300 tied houses was acquired by Whitbread & Co. Ltd in 1963, and the Imperial Brewery, formely owned by Hereford & Tredegar Brewery, was closed that year.
West Country Breweries Ltd was liquidated in 1964, although the name continued to be used until 1968 when Whitbread & Co. Ltd merged the business with Flowers Breweries Ltd, and renamed the Company Whitbread Flowers Ltd.
Brewing ceased at both the Stroud and Flowers breweries in 1969, and at the old Cheltenham Original Brewery in 1998.
The site was demolished in 2004, and is now a shopping centre.