MEW Langton Brewery IOW
Name/Title
MEW Langton Brewery IOWEntry/Object ID
2025.1.375Description
MEW Langton Brewery Barrel Brass Collar - Newport Isle of WightContext
W B Mew, Langton & Co. Ltd, Crocker Street, Newport, Isle of Wight. Founded by 1814. Benjamin Mew listed in 1830. Registered December 1887. In 1850 the company was granted a royal warrant to supply Queen Victoria when she was in residence at Osborne House on the island. Soon afterwards the Newport plant was renamed the Royal Brewery. The firm continued to supply the Royal Household until George V's death in 1936. Acquired by Strong & Co Ltd.(became Whitbread) in 1965 with 144 houses and brewing ceased in 1969. Mew’s — the great brewery fire of 1979, MEW’S beers were once the Isle of Wights favourite tipple. They were brewed in the grand sounding ‘Royal Brewery’, which stood at the junction of Crocker Street and Holyrood Street. Mew’s made a lot of money — in 1965, they made a profit of £160,000, they were sold that year for £1.5 million and eventually ended up in the hands of Whitbreads, who then closed the brewery because they were really only interested in the 144 pubs that came with the deal. The last pint was brewed at Newport in 1969 and the building was then sold to the council. Unfortunately they did nothing with it, leaving it empty for years, and it gradually became a playground for local children. Perhaps inevitably, one Sunday afternoon in October, 1979, the old brewery caught fire – it was a spectacular one, too, see photo. Sources: county press.co.uk and Breweryhistory.comCategory
Breweries and Brewing