{{Short description|Historical brewery in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom}}{{lead too short|date=August 2015}} {{Infobox company | name = Hunt Edmunds & Co Ltd | logo = frameless | type = | predecessor = | successor = Bass, Mitchells & Butlers | founded = 1840 | founder = John Hunt | defunct = | hq_location_city = Banbury | hq_location_country = England | num_locations = | area_served = | key_people = | industry = Alcoholic beverage | products = Beer | production = | revenue = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsidiaries = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Hunt Edmunds''' was a brewery in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England.
==History== The brewery was founded by John Hunt in 1840,<ref name=midlandspubs>{{cite web |url= http://www.midlandspubs.co.uk/breweries/oxfordshire/hunt-edmunds.htm |work=Brewery Histories |title=Hunt Edmunds and Co. Ltd. |publisher=www.midlandspubs.co.uk |access-date=23 May 2011 }}</ref> but it was Thomas Hunt who went into partnership with William Edmunds (1826–1908) in 1850.{{sfn|Little|2003|pp=61, 63}} Edmunds' son, Charles Fletcher Edmunds (1855–1907) became a partner in 1886, and succeeded his father in 1896. His son Maurice Edmunds (d. 1950) was a later chairman. Eventually the brewery had over 100 pubs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mypritchardfamily.co.uk/Edmunds/Banbury%20Edmunds;%20Mayors,%20Methodists%20and%20brewers.htm |title=Banbury Edmunds; Mayors, Methodists and brewers |first=Catherine |last=Pritchard |date=23 April 2007 |work=Pritchard and Edmunds Family History |location=Cardiff |at=paras 15–17 |access-date=23 May 2011 |archive-date=2 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202235854/http://www.mypritchardfamily.co.uk/Edmunds/Banbury%20Edmunds%3B%20Mayors%2C%20Methodists%20and%20brewers.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other breweries in the town were taken over along with their pubs, including the former Austin's Brewery in North Bar, latterly owned by Messrs Dunnell; William Barrett's Britannia Brewery in Newland Road; and the Banbury Brewery Co. in Bridge Street.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trinder |first=Barrie S. |year=2005 |orig-year=1982 |title=Victorian Banbury |location=Chichester |publisher=Phillimore & Co |isbn=1-86077-369-9 |pages=87, 148 }}</ref>
[[File:Steam engine, Bygones Museum, Claydon - geograph-1687594-by-Chris-Allen.jpg|thumb|upright|Steam table engine built by Lampitt of Banbury c1850 and used at the Hunt Edmunds brewery]] By 1886 the company had two breweries and 64 tied houses in Banbury. The main brewery was on the southern side of Bridge Street, Banbury, and extended all the way back to George Street.{{sfn|Little|2003|pp=63, 84}} Brews included "Banbury Best Bitter", "Banbury Brown Ale" and "Banbury Cross Ale".<ref name=midlandspubs/> Other breweries were taken over, including the Banbury Brewery Company (acquired in 1879), Barrett's of Banbury (acquired 1884), Hudson's of Witney, Hunt's of Burford and the last competitor in Banbury, Dunnell & Co. (acquired 1918).<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the County of Oxford, Volume X: Banbury Hundred |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=68 |year=1972 |editor-first=Alan |editor-last=Crossley }}</ref> In 1924, the brewer Hitchman & Co of Chipping Norton was taken over, and operated through a holding company, Hunt Edmunds Hitchman Co Ltd; the brewery at Chipping Norton was closed in 1931 and brewing transferred to Banbury.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/mamachic1/brewery.html |title=A History of Hitchman & Co. Limited 1796–1968 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025160626/http://geocities.com/mamachic1/brewery.html |archive-date=25 October 2009 |access-date=23 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1951, Hunt Edmunds claimed that they supplied beer to pubs in seven different counties.{{sfn|Little|2003|p=104}}
Bass, Mitchells & Butlers absorbed Hunt Edmunds in the 1960s.{{sfn|Little|2003|pp=104–5}} Demolition followed, with the chimney coming down in 1974.{{sfn|Little|2003|p=105}} Few buildings remain; the "Crown" public house towards the east of Bridge Street, which was the "tap" outlet for the brewery, with "black and white" architecture, is the subject of a redevelopment proposal.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.banburycivicsociety.org/index.php?pID=29 |title=Planning consultation – Crown House |date=April 2009 |publisher=Banbury Civic Society |access-date=23 May 2011}}</ref>
The public houses usually bore a plaque that was normally on the outside wall beside the main door.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.breweryhistory.com/Defunct/Pics/OxonWoottonKingsHead.htm |title=Oxfordshire – Wootton (nr Woodstock), Chapel Hill: Kings Head |work=Defunct Brewery Liveries |publisher=Brewery History Society |date=February 2007 |access-date=23 May 2011}}</ref> There were two types: slate with the design etched into the stone, or ceramic with the design in blue on a white background.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.breweryhistory.com/Defunct/Pics/OxonBanburyBlarneyStone.htm |title=Oxfordshire – Banbury, Upper Windsor Street: Blarney Stone |date=August 2006 |work=Defunct Brewery Liveries |publisher=The Brewery History Society |access-date=23 May 2011}}</ref> After Mitchells & Butlers took over the brewery in the 1960s, these plaques were either painted over or removed, but several have since been cleaned. They may be seen on pubs both in Banbury{{sfn|Little|2003|p=105}} and north Oxfordshire, and as distant as Bridgend, Wales.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.breweryhistory.com/Defunct/Pics/BridgendDunraven.htm |title=Wales: Bridgend – Bridgend, Wyndham Street: Dunraven Arms Hotel |date=October 2006 |work=Defunct Brewery Liveries |publisher=The Brewery History Society |access-date=23 May 2011}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
[[File:Churchill Chequers HuntEdmunds.jpg|thumb|Ceramic plaque on the front of the Chequers Inn, Churchill, Oxfordshire]]
==Further reading== *{{cite book |author=Anonymous |year=1946 |title=Hunt, Edmunds & Co. Limited 1896–1946 with an account of the earlier forms of the business |place=Banbury |publisher=Hunt Edmunds & Co |ol=19389315M }} *{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Mike |year=2004 |title=Oxon Brews: The Story of Commercial Brewing in Oxfordshire |place=Longfield |publisher=Brewery History Society |isbn=1-873966-12-1 }} *{{cite book |last=Little |first=Brian |title=Banbury: A History |year=2003 |publisher=Phillimore & Co |location=Chichester |isbn=1-86077-242-0 |pages=61, 63 }} <!-- try also Oxford Companion to British History -->
==External links== {{commons category|Hunt Edmunds Brewery}}
{{coord|52|3|40|N|1|20|0|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}
Category:Companies based in Banbury Category:Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom