The Heartbeat of Hook Norton Brewery: Celebrating 127 Years of Steam

At Hook Norton Brewery, history is not just preserved in books—it continues to hum, turn, and steam.

Yesterday, Managing Director James Clarke stood alongside engine custodian Chris Tobin in our historic engine room to celebrate an extraordinary milestone: the 127th birthday of our iconic 25-horsepower steam engine.

Architectural & Industrial Heritage

Designed by famed brewery architect William Bradford (who also designed Harvey’s Brewery in Lewes and Flowers in Cheltenham), our tower brewery was built as a state-of-the-art Victorian facility.

A state-of-the-art brewery design required a state-of-the-art power supply, which was duly commissioned from Buxton & Thornley and installed (complete with a special type of valve cut-off gear invented by Mr George Thornley himself) on 18th October 1899 at an original cost of £175 (around £30,000 in today’s money). The engine provided the central motive power that ran the brewery right up until the mid-1990s.

From driving the massive grist mill to powering pumps across the building, the steam engine was the beating heart of production.

Preserved & Maintained with Passion

Today, the engine remains in full working order thanks to dedicated custodians like Chris Tobin, who has been lovingly nursing and running the engine for over six years.

The engine is fired up on the first Sunday of every month for visitors—and even made a special run for Princess Anne during a recent royal visit!

Directly beneath the engine room lies our Barm Cellar Bar, where tour guests can raise a pint while taking in the underside structure of this Victorian masterpiece.

With proper care, engineering skill, and passion, we intend to keep this magnificent piece of Victorian heritage running forever, so pop in and see history in motion.