White Rock Brewery
This distinctive (due in part to its tall first floor windows), yet, squat building which stood on White Rock was constructed in 1831/2 by Mr. Henry Tindall. Whilst in his hands, he frequently made excavations and cuttings out of the cliffs behind, employing Cornish miners for the task, whether to extend his premises or construct the chimney which features in images of the site is unknown.
It is possible the caves behind the building pre-date the brewery as per Brian L. White:
...it had a capstan room at the end and a bracket for a huge reflector for a lantern that could be seen out to sea but only at one point. The reflector a multifaceted mirror was still upstairs when I worked there. When the capstan room was opened around the turn of the 19th century there were found inside the capstan and the remains of 3 donkeys shot through the head. The larger cave was part natural, the smaller side connected to a partly concealed door through a narrow bricked passage. The whole thing could be sealed with a massive iron door on rollers. When I worked there in the 1950's it was behind Glenisters Wine Merchants...[1].
By 1834, a public house had been constructed adjacent to the brewery, although it is not known if it was connected/under the same ownership[2].
Change of Ownership[edit]
The property, together with its adjacent buildings, was undermined by the sea in the Storm of 1834[2], but was secured by the usage of faggots, rocks and stones.
The brewery was offered as a lease in 1834, although it is not recorded who (if anyone) took on the lease[3].
In 1838, following a sale at auction by Mr. Tindall's assignees with other properties owned by Tindall[4], it passed into the hands of Charles Deudney and John Fagg, although this partnership was short-lived, being dissolved in August of that year[5]. Harry Hurst who lived in one of the adjacent properties would then appear to have continued the business with Charles. By 1846, the brewery was under the control of Peter Pagden, with five men being employed at the premises[6].
By the early 1850s, the brewery was evidently unprofitable, for the entire contents and stock were offered at auction in October of 1853[7].
The brewery was demolished in 1885[8], White & Norton taking over the site in 1896 with a new purpose-built premises, although the caves behind remained to be utilised again by Glenisters, then in WW2 as Air Raid Shelters, with a further usage in the 1960s as a restaurant/club.
Images[edit]
- Images
White-Rock-and-Carlisle-Parade.-1880.
View-inland-from-walkway-alongside-the-Pavilion-on-Hastings-Pier-1881
References & Notes
- ↑ Brian Lovett White Hastings Underground Facebook
- ↑ a b British Newspaper Archive Reading Mercury 27 October 1834 Pg. 0004
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Sussex Advertiser 8 December 1834 Pg. 0001
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive The Globe 24 April 1837 Pg. 0001
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive The Globe 25 August 1838 Pg. 0004
- ↑ 1851 Census
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser 8 October 1853 Pg. 0001
- ↑ Brett Manuscript Histories Vol. 3 Chap. 37
