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Maxton in the 1890's, with the old manor house on the
left and the Diamond Brewery in the centre. E. Dawes and Sons' brewery
sign on the left spans the yard which still exists between the Diamond
Stores, in Folkestone Road, and the premises occupied until recent years
by Mr Hector Langford, the newsagent. The gently sloping roof of the
building on the right is that of a barn which has long been used as a
garage but once housed the brewery drays. Two of the drays are visible
on the right of the picture which was taken by Whorwell, of Bench
Street, and published in the Dover Standard's illustrated visitors' list
in the 1890s.
In the 1890s, the manor house, which stood just beyond the old
tram terminus, now a council garage adjoining the Orange Tree public
house, became the home of a Mr Dawes, who ran the Diamond Brewery for a
time and also had the Diamond Stores next door. An old barn believed to
have been used to house the brewery drays, still stands, set back from
the road at the side of the Diamond Brewery Stores and off-licence.
Another building at the rear, used until recent years by Whitbreads, was
the old granary of the brewery. The Diamond Brewery had a succession of
owners, including "T. Phillips and Co.", who took over from Mr Dawes, and
Allen and Co. The site of the manor house, which was demolished in the
first half of the 20th century, is now occupied by a petrol filling
station. |
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From Coopers and Custom Cutters by Janet Probyn
Worthington.
The Diamond Brewery
The Diamond brewery was the building closest to Maxton Manor on the
Folkestone Road and it is believed to have been built by Henry
Worthington after he
bought the property from John Minet Fector, Esq. in 1849.
At various times of his life, such as the christening of his seventh
child Maria Henrietta Adelaide on 2 December 1840, Henry gave his
occupation as that of wine merchant or brewer. The yearly registers of
Dover Freemen regularly record Henry as a wine merchant at Snargate
Street in 1832/3, at Strond Street in 1834/5 and as an innkeeper in
1836. A notice in the Dover Telegraph on 6 September 1834 reports that
J. Poulter had taken over Henry Worthington's (wine, spirit and porter
merchant) business at 157 Snargate Street, Dover. Mr. Poulter was
perhaps only managing the
business because the following information was placed in the Dover
Telegraph on 29 April 1843 by Henry: 'extensive offices and warehouses,
no.157 Snargate Street, where places can be secured for the several
trains and parcels, goods and luggage booked and forwarded to any part
of the kingdom with the utmost regularity and dispatch'.
Caves situated in the limestone cliffs of Finnis Hill, Dover, a very
good storage place for wine because of the even temperature and
humidity, were listed beside Henry's name in the rating book for St
Mary's Parish, Dover ('Pier Ward') 1838-9. Valued at £7 10s. with an
assessment of 2s. 6d., these caves are still used for storage. Another
entry attributed to Henry in the same rating book was for a lodge with a
valuation of £15, and an annual assessment of 5s.
The name Worthington appears as owner of 'wine vaults near Snargate
Street' on 19 February 1841 when George Gray was the occupier. A
Worthington may have owned these vaults prior to this date. However the
church record books for the 1830's do not name the owner of a property,
only the occupier. George Gray occupied the property here as far back as
1818 but it is described as a house on Western Heights. It is not
described as wine vaults until 3 November 1840. Perhaps this was the
date when the Worthington's purchased them. George Gray ceases to occupy
them by 10 November 1843 and 'Worthington' occupied the wine vaults from
16 February 1844 to 16 August 1844. B. and H. Worthington occupied the
vaults from 16 February 1846 until 20 November 1846 and David Barnard
occupied them from 16 July 1847 to 27 April 1850 although B. and H.
Worthington still owned them.
An article in the Dover Express and East Kent News on Friday, 26
December 1941 queried the 'much discussed origin' of the Snargate Street
caves. The journalist refers to a book called Ireland's History of Kent
(published 1829) which said: We are informed by Mr Batchellor that Mr Hight, in constructing the wine
vaults for Mr Worthington, in Snargate Street, when excavating the
ground for a poaded vault, at about ten feet from their entrance discovered in the fissures of the
rock the beach that had been washed in by the force of the waves; and,
at a few feet farther from the entrance, masses of beach were clearly
discernible; affording convincing proof that the sea formerly washed
against the base of the cliffs in question. The article went on to say that although the date Mr. Hight built the
vaults had not been found, a Mr. Hight, builder, lived at 7 St James'
Terrace, Dover in 1837. The caves belonged at some stage to the once
well-known firm of wine merchants Messrs. Court & Co, who were in
business in Snargate Street prior to 1837 and it is possible that the
vaults constructed for the Worthingtons may have been an addition to the
network of caves already in use by Mr. Court. A plan of this firm's use
of the caves was printed in an Official Illustrated Guide to the
South-Eastern Railway, issued in 1863.
In Kelly's 1855 Directory, Henry Worthington is described as a farmer
and brewer of Folkestone Road in the Parish of Hougham. Henry alone is
listed as owner of the Snargate Steet wine vaults from 17 October 1855
until 8 January 1863, with D. Barnard the occupier. The Crown appears as
owner in October 1863 and Barnard and Co. own and occupy them from
January 1864.
Two of Henry's sons were known to be brewers. The last record of a
brewer in the family relates to his youngest son Robert. The 1870 Kent
Post Office Directory includes under brewers: Robert Worthington,
Maxton, Hougham, Dover.
The brewery premises, along with all his estate in Maxton, were left in
Henry's will dated 16 December 1865, to his brothers-in-law, the Rev.
Peter Harnett Jennings of Longfield Rectory, Gravesend and Robert Finnis
Jennings of River, Esquire. These properties were left in trust, to pay
yearly rent equally to his daughters Sophia and Maria Henrietta while
they remained single. Upon their marriage or deaths the properties were
to be sold at auction. After Sophia's death in Rome in 1883 and
Maria's 1885 marriage in Rome the estate was auctioned on 30 July 1885
in accordance with the terms of the will. John James AlIen was the
successful bidder for '...All the Manor or Lordship of Maxton in the
Parish of Hougham otherwise Huffam... And also all the messuage of
dwellinghouse called Maxton with the Brewery brick chimney shafts and
other erections and buildings.' AlIen payed £1,500 for the house and
grounds and £350 for the brewery. His purchase also included: 'all that messuage or tenement beer house and premises known by the name or sign
of the "Hare and Hounds" and the appurtenances thereto belonging
situated at Maxton'. It appears from the property's sale indenture that
Robert Worthington was the lessee of the brewery and beer house which
were situated within a mile of each other.
The brewery was sold again in 1889 to Stanley Single; in 1891 to Edwin
Dawes and in 1898 to Thos. Phillips and Co. Ltd., brewers of West
MaIling, Kent and Dover against whom a winding up order was made in
December 1907. On 14 April 1908 the first meeting of creditors was
heard in London and the deficiency of funds was estimated at £55,000.
The company and its assets were sold off and Alfred Leney & Co. of
Phoenix Brewery, Castle Street, Dover, purchased the Diamond Brewery and
other properties. It was then run as an Off Licence with parts sold
gradually over the years."
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