Morland Brewery

LocationWestgate Street
Bury St. Edmunds
Suffolk
United Kingdom
Opened1711
Closed2000
Owned byGreene King (2000)

Morland was a brewery in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England,[1] and the second oldest brewer in England,[2] until it was bought by Greene King in 2000. Morland's beers include Hen's Tooth, Old Speckled Hen, Tanner's Jack and Morland's Original.

John Morland founded the brewery in West Ilsley in 1711. In the 1860s, Morland bought Abbey Brewery and Eagle Brewery and in 1885 changed its name to United Breweries. The company bought several more breweries and around 1944 changed its name back to Morland. In 1979, Morland created Old Speckled Hen, one of their most popular beers, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory in Abingdon, England.[3][4]

After Greene King bought the Morland brewery in Abingdon, it closed it and transferred the Ruddles and Old Speckled Hen brands to its own brewery in Bury St Edmunds.[5] The building was converted into residential housing.[1]

  1. ^ a b "The Morland Brewery". Abingdon. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Morland comes to the rescue of Ruddles". Independent. 12 September 1997. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  3. ^ The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club. Morland Brewing – Old Crafty Hen Lake Forest, CA: MonthlyClubs.com <http://www.beermonthclub.com/morland-brewing-old-crafty-hen.htm> Retrieved, 7 August 2014, 10:40 PM PST
  4. ^ "The story behind the brew". mgcc.co.uk. 9 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Greene King to close brewery in pounds 219m takeover of Morland". The Independent. 23 June 1999. Retrieved 16 December 2019.