J.Nimmo & Sons Ltd Small Round Tin

J.Nimmo & Sons Ltd tin tray dating from 1955.

The Castle Eden Brewery

The business was founded in Castle Eden in County Durham, by John Nimmo.
In 1826 John leased the Castle Eden Inn, with its own brewhouse, from the Burdon family who lived in Stockton-on-Tees.
The Castle Eden Inn was a well-known staging inn which had been operating since 1758.
From the beginning business increased apace, and a new 500ft well had to be sunk at New Winning to keep up with demand.
John died in 1867 and was succeeded as chairman by his son, William John Nimmo.
William was an innovator responsible for increasing the value of the business considerably. He built only the second pneumatic maltings in England in 1879, and was one of the first to adopt powered drays in 1892.
The Company, with 45 public houses, was registered as J.Nimmo & Sons Ltd in 1892.

J.Nimmo & Sons Ltd Expansion

In 1901 William was succeeded as chairman by his son-in-law, John Ingledew Hopper. William's son, also named William John Nimmo, was appointed as managing director.
With the two of them at the helm, sales continued to increase for the next seven years.
In 1908 John Ingledew Hopper died with William John Nimmo jnr becoming the firm's chairman.
Alterations to the site completed in 1910, resulted in Castle Eden becoming one of the most up-to-date breweries in the country.
Between 1906 and 1914 the firm doubled its output, and unlike most breweries in Britain, the First World War did not affect sales.
In 1912 the Company acquired Thomas Chilton of Seaham Harbour, with 12 public houses.
During the 1920s the business continued to increase its production,
Throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s Nimmos purchased numerous public houses, increasing its estate considerably.
In 1946 the Nimmos purchased the freehold to the Castle Eden Brewery and surrounding land, from the Burdon family.
By 1942 a third of Nimmo's output was in bottles resulting in the installation of an automatic bottling plant in 1950.
Nimmo's Red Star logo was introduced in 1951.
When William John Nimmo jnr died in 1952 without any sons, his daughter Eileen Denton Trechman, became chair of the Company, the only female to hold this position in Britain.
J.Nimmo & Sons Ltd became a public company in 1956.
In 1957, the Company claimed to have opened the most modern malting plant in the North of England.
In 1958 Nimmos acquired the Tyneside brewery of Davison & Wood, with 20 public houses.

Whitbread & Co. Ltd Takeover

The Castle Eden Brewery, with 202 public houses, was acquired by Whitbread & Co. Ltd in 1963.
Whitbread rationalised Nimmo's product portfolio in 1966 discontinuing brewing of all cask ales in favour of keg beers, such as Trophy Special.
In 1999 Whitbread & Co. Ltd sold the business to a management buy-out which was named Castle Eden Brewery Ltd.
The new Company purchased ownership of the Trophy Special brand essential to keep the business afloat, whilst Whitbread maintained ownership of the Castle Eden Ale and Best Scotch brands. The new Company was granted a seven year licence by Whitbread & Co. Ltd to brew these beers.
In 2002 the new Company acquired J.W.Cameron & Co. Ltd's Lion Brewery from Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd.
All brewing was transferred to Hartlepool and the Castle Eden Brewery was closed.
The site was cleared for a new housing development.
Castle Eden continued to be brewed until 2009 when AB-InBev, which had acquired the brand from Whitbread, refused to renew the licence.
in 2013 Camerons announced the return of Castle Eden production.
Since 2014 Castle Eden has been brewed at a microbrewery in Seaham.

The manufacturer's mark states - Reginald Corfield Ltd Lombard Road.London.S.W.19. 557