Description and History of Site:-
The brewery was constructed around a central courtyard entered from a grand arched entrance surmounted by a pediment. The various functions including garages, stables and offices were grouped around the yard with the main brewery buildings located at the rear. It is these rearmost buildings which survive. Constructed during 1874 for John Eastwood to the designs of John Drake of Queensbury and intended as a replacement for Eastwood's existing brewery of four quarter capacity in nearby Baxter Lane. Prior to the construction of the new brewery, clay lying upon the site was exploited for the burning bricks. During 1886 an additional malt store was added to the Crown Brewery and maltings acquired further down Bradford Road. In 1892 Henry Bentley of Woodlesford near Leeds established a limited company for the purpose of amalgamating five local breweries including John Eastwood's Crown Brewery at a total purchase price of £700,000, initially named after Henry Bentley but soon afterwards becoming Bentley's Yorkshire Breweries Ltd. Brewing continued at the Crown Brewery until 1913, the premises being sold in 1919 and converted to a tannery for Joseph Fawthrop, and later used by Northowram Tanneries until at least the late 1950s. The front portion of the building was demolished in 1972 for the erection of a retail carpet warehouse.

Further Reading and References:-
P.W.Robinson, Breweries of Northowram', A History of Northowram Township from 1800, Northowram, 2014, pp. 303-305.

Help us improve this entry

The compilers welcome corrections or additional information on all sites.
Any information provided will be verified before appearing on the web site.

Email comments

Key Words :- brickyard brewery tannery retail

Viewing the Site :- No public access. The surviving buildings can be seen from Bradford Road along a track beside the retail development.

Address :- Bradford Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 7HW
Grid Ref :- SE 11400 27105
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.740206 , Long -1.828644
Local Authority :- Calderdale Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Site refurbished to industrial / commercial use
Site Dates :- 1874 - 1972 part
Record Date :- 8 August 2016

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Peter Robinson