Buckley’s Brewery Ltd Tin Square

Buckley's Brewery Ltd tin tray dating from the 1960s.

130 Years of Brewing

The business was founded by Henry Child in 1769. He developed a substantial brewing and malting Company in Llanelli, which included a large estate of public houses.
He based himself at the Falcon Inn, a public house which would later become the offices of Buckley's Brewery Ltd.
In 1798 Child's daughter had married the Reverend James Buckley.
When Henry Child died in 1824 Buckley took over the running of the firm.
He too died in 1839 leaving the business to his son James, who would in turn pass it on to his own sons, James and William in 1893.
The Company expanded rapidly in the late 19th century, and in 1894, it was registered as Buckley's Brewery Ltd, with 120 public houses.
The New Brewery of Messrs Bythway & Co., with 95 public houses, was amalgamated with Buckley's Brewery Ltd in 1896, and Carmarthen United Breweries Ltd was acquired in 1900.
In 1903 the Company was granted a Royal Warrant of Approval as brewers to the Prince of Wales, and in 1910, when George V ascended to the throne, brewers to His Majesty the King.
With this success, the brewey was expanded.

The Last 30 Years of Trading

The brewery site was extensively modernised in 1970, however by 1984 the Buckley family no longer managed the business, resulting in troubled times.
Clowes and Cramer gained control of Buckley's in 1986 but this did not last long.
The brewery was acquired by the Brodian property group in 1987 which, with the backing of Guinness, merged Buckley's with the Crown Brewery Co. Ltd (Pontyclun), to form Crown Buckley PLC in 1989.
The Company became an Independent Welsh brewer once again after a management buy-out in 1993.
After a short-lived second few years of independence, and the acquisition of Crown Buckley PLC in 1997 by S.A.Brain & Co. Ltd, the brewery was closed in 1997.
All Buckley's beers, including Reverend James ale, were transferred to Brain's Cardiff brewery in 1998.
Buckley's brewery fell into disuse and was demolished in 2006.
The site was redeveloped into luxury apartments in 2020.

The tray featured is an earlier and much heavier version of a later tray produced in the 1980s.