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Archcliffe
Bulwark Hill
Archcliffe Road
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The above picture states that the photograph was taken
in 1812, but that is an error; the first permanent photograph wasn't
invented till 1826. The correct date is 1912.
The same better photograph is shown below, but I'm leaving the above
here also as it shows a little bit more of the brewery in the picture.
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Pigot's directory 1823 lists Edward Kingsford as owning this brewery at
that time and the 1824 Pigot's Directory mentions Edward Kingsford again at
"Arch Cliff Fort" as the address. But Pigot's 1828-9 mentions Alfred Kingsford running a brewery at
Archliffe Fort.
Pigot's Directory of 1840 lists a John Alexander Walker and Son at
Bulwark Hill. I wonder whether they were relations of James and Thomas
Walker at Dolphin Lane?
Bagshaw's directory of 1847 mentions a Henry F Cliffe at Bulwark Hill. I
am unsure whether the brewery was named after this gentleman or from the
place name of Archcliffe.
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From an email received 22 December 2012.
Paul Isles
points out that perhaps the Bagshaw's directory may be wrong here in
naming the man as Henry F Cliffe, and perhaps the name should be Henry
Winch of the Cliffe Brewery, and included with the email the following
passage regarding the death of Goodricke Armstrong Fisher.
From the London Gazette November 18, 1881
GOODRICKE ARMSTRONG FISHER, Deceased.
Pursuant to the Act of Parliament 22 and 23 Viet., c. 3d,intituled
"An Act to further amend the Law of Property, and to relieve Trustees."
*NOTICE is hereby given, that all creditors and other persons having any
claims or demands against or upon the estate of Goodricke Armstrong
Fisher, late of Hillersdon House, Godwyne Road, Dover, in the county of
Kent, a Lieutenant-General of the Bengal Staff Corps, deceased (who died
on the 23rd day of August, 1881, and whose will was proved by
Henry
Winch, of the parish of Shepherdswell, in the said county of Kent, and
of Bulwark Hill Brewery, Dover aforesaid, Brewer, the executor therein
named, in the District Registry at Canterbury of the Probate Division of
Her Majesty's High Court of Justice on the 8th day of November, 1881),
are hereby required to send the particulars of such claims or demands to
the said executor, at the office of his Solicitor, Mr. Thomas Lewis,
situate at No. 7, Castle-street, Dover aforesaid, on or before the 15th
day of January,1882, after which date the said executor will proceed to
distribute the assets of the said deceased among the parties entitled
thereto, having regard only to the claims or demands of which the said
executor shall then have had notice; and the said executor will not
afterwards be liable for the assets, or any part thereof, so distributed
to any person or persons of whose claim or demand he shall not then have
had notice. And all persons indebted to the estate of the said Goodricke
Armstrong Fisher, deceased, are hereby required to pay the amount of
their respective debts to the said executor forth-with.
Dated this 15th day of November, 1881.
THOMAS LEWIS, 7, Castle-street,
Dover, Solicitor for the said Executor.
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Alfred Kingsford of the
Kingsford Windmill Brewery was definitely brewing beer in 1863 in
Buckland, and there is mention of the late William Kingsford at the
beginning of 1834 having his estate disposed of at auction, so the
Kingsford's were around at that time. Even previous to that date, April
1798, there is mention of a new windmill being built at the above site in
Buckland that was also used in the processing of the malt used in making a
variety of beers at the brewery. However, whether Edward Kingsford was
related to Alfred is unknown at this time, but I would make a guess that
they were.
In 1887, John Rolls who also brewed at Sandwich took over the company,
but got into financial difficulty by 1890. I assume he was later taken over
by the East Kent Brewery Co. by 1899.
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Copied from the memoirs of Goodricke C. Fisher, who was
born in 1868, in India; grew UP in Kent, England; emigrated to U.S.A. in
1888; spent most of the rest
of his life farming in Missouri. His step-father was Henry Winch.
How the beer was produced in my Grandfather Winch's Brewery.
"After I left Cranbrook (school) I helped in the office of my
step-father.....
On the west side of Dover was a fort... not far from the well
known Shakespeare
Cliff. The brewery was just below the cliff on the west part of
town. The plant was open on the front to a street called Bulwark Hill, but
the storage for the beer was in a long tunnel cut back into the
hill. The floor was flagstone, and on either side was lined with barrels of beer, ready for delivery as needed. The tunnel
was lighted by gas and was wonderfully dry and cool. I recall
that the smokestack of the plant was a very tall affair, and
every year they had to pay a tax to the war department because it was in range
of cannon fire from the fort. Three wagons were busy all day long making
deliveries around town and the neighbouring country, in barrels
from 4½, 9, 18 to 36 gallons. Lots of times they had to
brew day and night to keep up with the rush. Beer and ale were the
principle drinks that everyone kept in their cellars, from
the cheap beer to the high priced ales.
Every time we brewed, an Internal Revenue Officer came and took a
test, and the tax was levied according to strength. The revenue bill was
pretty stiff each month. There was a storeroom for malt which was
shipped in nearly every week by the carload, and hauled from the train
and delivered by the railroad company. Another storeroom was full of
long bales of
hops, mostly native grown, but a lot shipped from Bavaria, to blend into
the fine ales. It was as particular a business to get the right blend
and quality as the tobacco people have to do in this country. (U.S.A.) My stepfather
was an expert at it, as he had
followed it since youth. Then there was the big copper kettle in which the malt
and hops were boiled. It was an enormous thing, and after each
brewing a man climbed down into it and with long handled brooms and
mops cleaned it until it was so bright that you I could almost see
yourself in it.
The boiler and cooking vats were on an upper floor,
and when the brew had been boiled down to the right strength by test, a
big faucet at the bottom was turned on and the contents run into big
wooden coolers and passed on from one to another until cold. It was then run
into big square wooden vats and yeast was added to it
to cause fermentation.
Every day, as the yeast raised to the top, a man
with a long-handled wooden scoop would skim it off and put it into a wooden container, and it was soon
all sold out to bakeries
and individuals around town. When no more yeast rose to the top,
the brew was run off into barrels, holding 70 gallons or more, and
put away in the tunnel for ageing, and sale. The refuse malt after the
beer had been drawn off, called "groats", was shovelled out of the boiler to the stone floor below, and there
were always some dairymen
waiting with their wagons, ready to haul it off at a nominal
price, to feed to their cows.
There was the stable for the
horses, and storeroom for hay and grain. There were about 16 men employed. Another item of expense was
coal, of which large quantities
were used.
Another thing I used to like to watch was the men washing empty
barrels returned. They worked on a stone floor, put hot
water in the bung hole, and with the barrel laying down, rocked it from one side to the other. This they
did through two waters. When washed, the bung hole was placed over a pipe
and steam turned on so strong that the barrel looked as though it was
going to blow up!"
Above photo by Paul Isles showing the tunnels mentioned above.
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From Bagshaw Directory 1847
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