James Gray: View from the south, looking along London Road to the Circus. At this period, shortly before its demolition, R Fry & Co., the Mineral Water Manufacturers, occupied the building. Beaconsfield Villas was then completely hidden from view by the protruding building. The end houses in London Road were all private houses with gardens and trees in front of them. jgc_10a_097
2020: With the demolition of the brewery, the west side of Beaconsfield Road and the railway viaduct which passes over it can now be seen.
James Gray: Henry Longhurst founded his Amber Ale Brewery early in the 1850s at 74 London Road, on approximately the site of the present Stanford Arms. Later, as the area started to develop, a fresh site was chosen and the buildings here shown were erected in 1876. They then protruded more into Preston Circus than do the present buildings. jgc_10a_100
James Gray: With the coming of the trams in 1901, a partial demolition of the Brewery Buildings was decided upon, in order to permit trams turning from Viaduct Road into Beaconsfield Road. Later part of the old premises were adapted for use as the Fire Station while the northern portion was cleared in 1910 for the erection of the Duke of York’s Cinema. jgc_10a_101
James Gray: Looking at this photograph of the Brewery buildings in 1901, it is hard to realise that the photographer was standing in Beaconsfield Road, but this must have been so because the building on the right with the tall chimneys is the Stanford Arms. Note the directions to “The London Road Station”. The malt house on the left is now the site of the Duke of York’s Cinema. jgc_10a_102
James Gray: Here the view is from London Road, almost at the corner of New England Road, looking across to the south west corner of the brewery and the houses in Viaduct Road. jgc_10a_103
James Gray: The main entrance of the Brewery in Viaduct Road, at the time of the partial demolition of the building. At one time, the date of erection, 1876, could be seen engraved in the keystone, over the centre of the Arch. jgc_10a_098