Bewell House, Bewell Street, Hereford, HR4 0BA
Our head office at Bewell House, Hereford has a long and rich history. The house was built in the latter half of the 18th Century (a map of 1757 shows buildings on the site of Bewell House but Bewell House does not exist at this time).
No details of occupants are known until the Census of 1851, where it is revealed that the occupants were John Palmer, aged 38, a Malster and Brewer, his wife Eliza 30, and his children, Mary, aged 6 and William, aged 3.
The link between brewing and Bewell House remains in 1861 with the occupant listed as John Bourchier, aged 38, a Brewer and Journeyman. He lived in the house with his wife, Mary, aged 42, his two daughters Ann, 9 and Mary, 8 and his two sons John, 6 and Oliver, 0.
By 1871 the house was occupied by William Wellington, also a Brewer, aged 44, with his wife Mary, aged 40, his two daughters Alice, 9, Mary 3 and his son Arthur, aged 7. Interestingly, at this time also living in Bewell Street was one William Watkins, an Accountant!
Up until 1881 the house was known only as Number 19, Bewell Street. Probably the most famous resident of Bewell House was Charles Watkins (father of the famous photographer Alfred Watkins). Charles Watkins was responsible for naming the property Bewell House during his time living here. At the Census of 1881 he was living here, aged 61, with his wife Ann, aged 60, his daughter Charlotte, aged 33, his two sons Henry, aged 27, and Alfred, aged 26, and his three servants.
The occupation of Charles Watkins was listed as Brewer, Malster, Wine Merchant, Inn Keeper, Farmer, Employer of 59 men, 16 women and 6 boys. Charles Watkins was the owner of the Imperial Brewery on Bewell Street. There had been a brewery on Bewell Street since 1834 when John Reynolds relocated the Fownhope Brewery to the purpose built site on Bewell Street. By the end of the decade the brewery was trading as Reynolds and Wase. The venture, however, failed and the site was auctioned in October 1842, the buyer being Charles Watkins. Charles had been brewing on a small scale prior to acquiring the brewery on Bewell Street, but the move to the larger premises allowed him to produce his ales on a larger scale.
The name was changed to the Imperial Brewery and brewed Imperial Household and Pale Ales. Later different ales were added to the range and in 1886 the brewery won a gold medal at the International Exhibition for their Golden Sunlight Pale Ale (the only gold medal awarded that year).
Charles was quite the entrepreneur and adopted vertical integration methods and started farming the raw materials required in the brewing process. There also followed an estate of Public Houses through which the ales of the Imperial Brewery were sold. Charles had significant property interests around Hereford and the nearby Holmer Park was built for Charles around 1860.
Following Charles’ death in 1889 the ownership passed to his sons Henry and Alfred, who sold the brewery to the Tredegar Brewery for £64,000 (around £3.5m in today’s money). Management of the brewery fell to Henry Hull, who is listed as the occupant of Bewell House in 1891 aged 44. He lived here with his wife, Prudence, aged 44, daughters Allan Gertrude, aged 15, Mabel, aged 8 and Mary Gladys, aged 6, sons Alfred, aged 13, Percy, aged 12 and Claude, aged 10, and a boarder and servant.
By the Census of 1901 Bewell House was listed as unoccupied. A map of Hereford from 1903 shows Bewell House situated just inside the city walls, next door to the Brewery. Bewell House became occupied once more in the Census of 1911 by Arnold Briscoe, a Brewery Manager, aged 42. He lived here with his wife Ellen, aged 42, daughter Mabel, aged 19, son Arnold, aged 10 and a servant.
The name Bewell has a couple of potential meanings. The first is that Be-
Bewell House is a Grade II listed building, having been listed in November 1972.