Castle Eden Brewery

Castle Eden Brewery (J Nimmo & Son Ltd) was a brewery that operated in the village of Castle Eden in County Durham. It was best known for Castle Eden Ale, which continues to be produced at Camerons Brewery in nearby Hartlepool.

The business dates back to 1826, when John Nimmo (c.1801 - 1867) began to brew at the Castle Eden Inn in Castle Eden, which had its own brewhouse. After the death of John Nimmo, the brewery was managed by his son, William John Nimmo (1828 - 1901).

Between 1871 and 1888, the value of the fixtures at the brewery rose from £138 to £1765. Nimmo was innovative, building the second pneumatic maltings in England in 1878-9, and his was among the first breweries to adopt powered drays in 1892. In 1892, J. Nimmo & Son Ltd was registered as a limited liability company with 41 public houses.

Alterations completed in 1910 made Castle Eden one of the most up-to-date breweries in the country and output doubled between 1906 and 1914. In 1912 the company acquired the brewing business of Thomas Chilton in Seaham, including 12 public houses. Between 1912 and 1920, production reached a record output of more than 42,000 barrels.

By 1942, nearly a third of the output was in bottles and an automatic bottling plant came into operation in 1950. In 1951, Nimmo's red star logo was first installed as a neon sign at one of their houses. The company went public in 1952. In 1957 the company claimed to have opened the most modern malting plant in the North of England. In 1958, the company expanded into Tyneside with the acquisition of Davison & Wood, including 20 public houses.

In September 1963, the national brewer Whitbread acquired the company for £2.1 million, along with 125 public houses. Nimmo had not had sufficient capitalisation to expand and modernise its tied estate as an independent concern. At the time, Nimmo had been chaired by E. D. Trechman, the only female brewery chief in Britain. In 1966, Whitbread rationalised the product portfolio, discontinuing all cask production in order to concentrate on keg beers such as Trophy Special. The company was renamed as Whitbread East Pennines. In 1977 a £650,000 investment was announced, to enable all of the Whitbread group's beers to be racked and processed at the brewery.

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