Westoe Brewery & Conservation Area
The Brewery
For just over 100 years there was a brewery operating in South Shields called The Westoe Brewery. It was located in Dunelm Street which is just off Westoe Road and about five minutes walk from South Shields Town Hall. It is just outside the South Tyneside designated Westoe Village Conservation Area. Westoe Brewery dates from 1862 according to their headed paper (below) .
Robert Henderson first appeared in connection with the Westoe Brewery in 1887. In 1907 he sold the business to Joseph Johnson of The City Brewery in Durham .The two was amalgamated and the Durham brewery closed in 1924. After this, the name was changed to Westoe Breweries Ltd. They had several pubs in South Shields including the County Hotel, Vigilant and The Crown Inn (now the Harbour Lights). In 1960 Bradford based Hammonds Brewery acquired the brewery and its 83 tied houses. Then brewing ceased. In 1962 Hammonds merged with Cherrington’s of East London. They in turn merged with Bass and Mitchells & Butlers to become Bass Charrington in 1967. The latter used the Westoe site as a bottling plant until the early 1970’s when it closed. Planning permission was given to transform the area around the brewery into housing No trace of the brewery remains. The beers produced in South Shields included Dark Brown Ale and Extra Strong Ale. The latter could be seen on the side of the distinctive blue buses and trolleybuses of the town’s Corporation Transport.
Conservation Area
Westoe Village Conservation Area is mainly residential, but there are two pubs ! They are The County on Sunderland Road and The Westoe at the western end of Horsley Hill Road. Both pubs are in The South Tyneside Local List. The Local list is as the name suggests an online list of buildings, structures and spaces that not meet the criteria for national listing by Historic England but are considered important locally.
The County dates from 1893 when it was called the Westoe Tavern. As the name suggests, it was a hotel but nowadays this distinctive corner site building is now a Sizzling Pubs place , part of the Mitchells & Butlers national chain. The pub no longer sells real ale.
The Westoe Pub dates from 1872. According to the Local List, they advertised the fact that It commands fine views of the harbour, piers and docks. Difficult to imagine now, but there were fewer houses built when it opened. This is also a non real ale pub. Being painted white, this three storey building is quite recognisable on this busy junction.
The South Tyneside Council website gives a full appraisals of all of its Conservation Areas. The link for the Westoe Village Conservation Area is HERE where additional information about The County and the Westoe Pub can be found
Thanks to Terry Ford
Compiled by Ken Paul Dec 2023