 Mann, Crossman & Paulin - Whitechapel Road, London, UK
N 51° 31.191 W 000° 03.444
30U E 704144 N 5711742
This brewery is now closed but the name of Mann, Crossman & Paulin is still to be seen over the gated entrance. The brewery, known as the Albion Brewery closed in 1979.
Waymark Code: WMDMNK
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/01/2012
Views: 3
"The four stories high grade II listed building was
constructed in the 1880s. Below the clock is the firm's logo of "Saint George
Slaying the Dragon".
In 1808 the Albion Brewery was built near the old Mile End Turnpike by the
landlord of the Blind Beggar, Richard Ivory. A small brewery already existed at
the back of the Blind Beggar. Richard Ivory was able to raise sufficient capital
to buy the brewery and build a new one calling it the "Albion Brewery". Access
to the brewery was by a large gate at the side of the Blind Beggar.
For the first ten years the Albion Brewery was leased by John Hoffman, who ran
into financial difficulties. The Brewery was put up for auction and the lease
was bought by Blake and Mann, a Lambeth brewer, in 1818. Philip Blake retired in
1826 leaving John Mann to run the business alone. The Company’s name changed to
John Mann, Brewer and in 1843 to Mann and Sons.
It was soon clear to James Mann that if he wanted to expand his business he
needed new partners and fresh capital. First Robert Crossman and then Thomas
Paulin became partners in 1846. The new name became Mann, Crossman & Paulin and
Company. The Company went from strength to strength throughout the 19th century
and the first half of the 20th century.
In the 1860s, the London drinker started to moved away from porter and acquired
a taste for "light sparkling ales", brewed at Burton-on-Trent. The Company
decided to follow fashion and built a new brewery, another "Albion Brewery", at
Burton-on-Trent. However, when they discovered that East End water could be used
to brew these "light sparkling ales", they sold the brewery and moved production
to London in 1897. By 1880, Mann, Crossman & Paulin and Company was the ninth
largest brewer in the country. Another fashion, in the latter half of the
nineteenth, was the growing demand for bottle beers. To meet this demand the
Company purchased the old Whitechapel Workhouse in Ravens Row, on the southside
of Whitechapel Road, near the Brewery, and built a bottling plant. By the turn
of the century, beer production had reached nearly 500,000 barrels. In 1901
Mann, Crossman & Paulin become a public company.
The Company had its moment of history during the "Siege of Sidney Street" in
1911, when the breweries become front page news throughout the country. After
the killing of three policemen in the City of London, one of the perpetrators
had been traced to a flat at 100 Sidney Street, opposite the Company’s bottle
plant in Ravens Row. A policeman, shot in the early stage of the siege, was
carried into the bottling plant. Here his wounds were dressed before being taken
to the London Hospital. Sharpshooters of the Scots Guards, placed in the high
water tower of the bottling plant, were able to get a clear shot into the house.
The house eventually caught alight and the criminals perished.
During the Second World War the Albion Brewery found itself in the front line.
The Brewery had its own Home Guard contingent and fire fighting unit. Like much
of the East End, the Brewery suffered bomb damage. The stables had a direct hit
killing and injuring many of their famous shire horses. A Roll of Honour to the
Company’s employees who gave their lives in both World Wars had been erected at
the entrance to the Albion Brewery.
Throughout its time in the East End the Company was an active supporter of the
Royal London Hospital. The Mann family had also been involved in local politics,
providing the first Mayor of Stepney, Edward Mann, in 1900. By the 1950s five
generations of the Mann and Crossman families had been associated with the
Albion Brewery and "Mann’s Brown Ale" was a huge success. But in 1959 the
slippery slope to oblivion began when the Company merged with Watney, Combe,
Reid and Co. to form Watney, Mann. Then in 1972 this Company was bought by Grand
Metropolitan who closed the Albion Brewery in 1979. In the 1990s the entrance
was converted into flats and the site of the Brewery became a Sainsbury’s
supermarket."
Source East
London Postcard website.
Location: 172 Whitechapel Road London, United Kingdom
 Parking Coordinates: N 51° 31.191 W 000° 03.444
 Ratings: 
 Website: Not listed

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