Charles Hammerton & Co. Ltd Round Black Backed Steel

Charles Hammerton & Co. Ltd black backed steel tray dating from the 1930s.

Charles Hammerton and the Stockwell Brewery

Evidence suggests that there was a brewery founded at Stockwell Green in 1730.
There were several owners of the Stockwell Brewery before Charles Hammerton obtained an interest in the business in 1868, when Hammerton and Lambert succeeded Chaplin and Lambert as brewers.
A newspaper advertisement in 1869 stated that Hammerton & Lambert were 'pale ale and porter brewers to H.M.Forces'.
Hammerton's partnership with A.B.Lambert was dissolved in 1873 when Lambert retired.
Hammerton became the sole proprietor of the Stockwell Brewery and traded as C.Hammerton & Co.
By 1881 Hammerton's employed 80 people, and in addition to the brewery it also traded as wine & spirit merchants.
Hammerton retired in the 1880s, nevertheless the Company was registered as Charles Hammerton & Co. Ltd in 1902.

Charles Hammerton & Co. Ltd - Sustained Expansion

Hammerton died in 1903, however this did not affect the Company's expansion.
The Stockwell Brewery site continued to be upgraded until the 1930s, including conitinual modernisation and expansion of its bottling facilities, and a new brewhouse in 1905, which was extended in 1914, when the Company employed more than 500 people.
The Company also expanded by means of acquisition.
The Kingston Brewery of E.Whicher & Co. of Portsmouth was purchased in 1915, and in 1934, it acquired Frampton Brothers of Christchurch, which ceased brewing but continued to be used as depot until 1957.
When Charles Hammerton & Co. Ltd purchased the licensed houses of the Commercial Brewery Co. Ltd of Stepney in 1937, the business was restructured and incorporated as a private company. The Company's name changed to the Stockwell Brewery Co. Ltd as a direct result.
In 1937, 1938 and 1939 Hammerton's was awarded Gold Medals for its Oatmeal Stout.
In 1938 the Company purchased the retail side of the Portslade Brewery Co., and in 1944, the Wallington Brewery of H.H. & R.J.Saunders. Kenward & Court Ltd of Hadlow, with 40 public houses, was acquired in 1945, and continued brewing until 1949.

Watney, Combe, Reid & Co Ltd Acquisition

In 1951 the business was acquired by Watney, Combe, Reid & Co. Ltd which retained Hammerton's off-licences but sold off its public houses to Charrington & Co. Ltd.
Watney's continued to use the Stockwell site primarily as a bottling plant in order to alleviate its shortage of bottling capacity. Under its ownership the site was described as 'Watney's Stockwell Brewery' in 1955 and 'Watney's Stockwell Bottling Stores' in 1956.
Evidence suggests that Hammerton's Oatmeal Stout was brewed by Watney's at Stockwell until the mid-1950s, and the brand name continued to be used until shortly after its merger with Mann, Crossman & Paulin Ltd in 1958.
The site continued to be developed by Watney Mann Ltd, although the last remaining brewery buildings were demolished in 1965, and the area was redeveloped for housing in 2010.

The manufacturer's mark states - 'Hancor' Mitcham