No doubt many readers will be rather familiar with the silky notes of a Theakston’s pint – and ‘Peculier’ its background history is indeed. The origins of the brewery go as far back as the Middle Ages, when Masham was endowed to the Diocese of York. The archbishop established it as a ‘peculiar’, that is, an administrative area outside the normal structure of government, with its own ecclesiastical court and the ability to govern its own affairs.
Henry VIII then came along, broke with Rome and dissolved the monasteries, and the running of Masham was transferred to the masters and fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge who used College House, on College Lane, as their administrative HQ. Hence the name Old Peculier was born.
Then, it was in 1827 that what became the Theakston’s brewery was established in The Black Bull, located on Silver Street. It was here that Robert Theakston, with his business partner John Wood, set up their operation in the cellar of the inn and started brewing. Their establishment was later extended in 1840 through the construction of a permanent brewhouse behind the Black Bull, possibly the first purpose-built brew pub around.
It was not until thirty-five years later, however, when Robert’s son Thomas then soon after Thomas’s brother Robert (Junior), joined the business, that the family decided to move premises and constructed the new brewery on the site which still exists today. In 1919, the company then purchased the only other brewery in Masham, Thomas Lightfoot’s, apparently owing to its very savvy business acumen of being the better cricket team.
Though the brewery exchanged hands and ownership throughout the later 20th century, it ultimately flourished and therefore transferred again to a larger site known as Paradise Fields from where it continues to produce its mouth-watering hop concoction to this day.
Address: Theakston Brewery, Red Ln, Masham, Ripon HG4 4HH
Books by Dr Emma Wells
