1. The History
The origins of Stones beer goes right back to 1847 when Joseph Watts of Dewsbury and William Stones (1827 -1894) of Sheffield began brewing together at the Cannon Brewery in Sheffield's Shalesmoor district. The name is most likely come from the nearby foundry that cast gun barrels. The Cannon Brewery site itself was the original premises of Shepherd, Green & Hatfield who started to brew here back in 1838 back when the area was still a respectable residential district. However, in 1868 Stones took over the lease from SG&H and renamed it the Cannon Brewery after its original premises in Shalesmoor. In 1894 William Stones died and left the brewery to his cashier James Haynes and Richard Wigfull, a corn miller. The following year Stones was incorporated and the brewery was equipped with an expensive plant, stores and cellars, covered and open yards, offices, stabling and workshops. The marketing and sales offices on the brewery site were completed in 1958. Another addition was a new half-a-million pound 5-storey brew-house building which was operational by 1962, representing one of the most up-to-date in the UK. An on-site pub followed two years later in 1964. Built in the basement of the brewery, it was initially called The Underground, but was later renamed The Pig and Whistle. At the brewery’s peak it was producing 50,000 hecto-litres of cask-conditioned Stones per annum.
Things were about to change though. Bass purchased Stones for £9 million (about £140 m in today’s money) in 1967 in what was termed a ‘friendly takeover’. Initially they retained the production of the popular Stones Bitter. However in 1970 Bass suggested that the Cannon Brewery might be shut down. The continuing popularity of Stones Bitter though ensured the Cannon brewery survived for the time being. The office building was sold off in 1985 and latterly occupied by an accountancy firm. In 1992 a visitor's centre building was opened and three years later the brewery became an unlikely film set for the film “When Saturday Comes” (starting Sean Bean as a hard-drinking brewery worker with aspirations of playing for his beloved Sheffield United).
Sadly, though, the inevitable happened and Bass closed the brewery in April 1999, citing the decline in sales of cask conditioned ales. The closure resulted in the loss of 57 jobs while allowing Bass realise efficiency savings of around £1 million. Since then site has become increasingly trashed as a decade and a half of abandonment has taken its toll. In August 2015 the City Council approved an application by site owners Hague Plant to demolish and redevelop the site. However, the approved window came and went and the site remains.
2. The Explore
One of the classic Sheffield explores. It’s been around for ages. Although it’s been disused since 1999, it wasn’t until June 2010 it first got reported on here. Take a bow @kitt, ( report HERE ). Bizzarely, despite being local to the old girl, only explored it once back in September 2015 (archive report HERE). A few years back, security was upped somewhat with a lot of new palisade fencing going up, turning it into something of a fortress. But as we all know, access comes and goes so when it recently availed itself again, thought we’d do a revisit. In truth it hasn’t changed much since my last visit. It’s pretty graff and smashed up but has enough redeeming features, some decent graff and some fab views. Two hours on a very sunny June morning flew by.
3. The Pictures
A few externals:
And those famous gates:
Across the court yard we skip:
Can’t get enough of the old water tower:
The classic water tower reflection shot from the court yard:
First up, it’s the 5-storey brew house.
We’re being watched:
This is my fave floor:
For obvious reasons:
A quick reminder of the brewery’s name:
Floor up and more holes for the vats:
Looking back down to the floor below:
Lift out of order. OK we’ll take the stairs:
Blue is the colour (of the fire escape):
Electrics for the lift:
And the motor:
View from the roof:
The origins of Stones beer goes right back to 1847 when Joseph Watts of Dewsbury and William Stones (1827 -1894) of Sheffield began brewing together at the Cannon Brewery in Sheffield's Shalesmoor district. The name is most likely come from the nearby foundry that cast gun barrels. The Cannon Brewery site itself was the original premises of Shepherd, Green & Hatfield who started to brew here back in 1838 back when the area was still a respectable residential district. However, in 1868 Stones took over the lease from SG&H and renamed it the Cannon Brewery after its original premises in Shalesmoor. In 1894 William Stones died and left the brewery to his cashier James Haynes and Richard Wigfull, a corn miller. The following year Stones was incorporated and the brewery was equipped with an expensive plant, stores and cellars, covered and open yards, offices, stabling and workshops. The marketing and sales offices on the brewery site were completed in 1958. Another addition was a new half-a-million pound 5-storey brew-house building which was operational by 1962, representing one of the most up-to-date in the UK. An on-site pub followed two years later in 1964. Built in the basement of the brewery, it was initially called The Underground, but was later renamed The Pig and Whistle. At the brewery’s peak it was producing 50,000 hecto-litres of cask-conditioned Stones per annum.
Things were about to change though. Bass purchased Stones for £9 million (about £140 m in today’s money) in 1967 in what was termed a ‘friendly takeover’. Initially they retained the production of the popular Stones Bitter. However in 1970 Bass suggested that the Cannon Brewery might be shut down. The continuing popularity of Stones Bitter though ensured the Cannon brewery survived for the time being. The office building was sold off in 1985 and latterly occupied by an accountancy firm. In 1992 a visitor's centre building was opened and three years later the brewery became an unlikely film set for the film “When Saturday Comes” (starting Sean Bean as a hard-drinking brewery worker with aspirations of playing for his beloved Sheffield United).
Sadly, though, the inevitable happened and Bass closed the brewery in April 1999, citing the decline in sales of cask conditioned ales. The closure resulted in the loss of 57 jobs while allowing Bass realise efficiency savings of around £1 million. Since then site has become increasingly trashed as a decade and a half of abandonment has taken its toll. In August 2015 the City Council approved an application by site owners Hague Plant to demolish and redevelop the site. However, the approved window came and went and the site remains.
2. The Explore
One of the classic Sheffield explores. It’s been around for ages. Although it’s been disused since 1999, it wasn’t until June 2010 it first got reported on here. Take a bow @kitt, ( report HERE ). Bizzarely, despite being local to the old girl, only explored it once back in September 2015 (archive report HERE). A few years back, security was upped somewhat with a lot of new palisade fencing going up, turning it into something of a fortress. But as we all know, access comes and goes so when it recently availed itself again, thought we’d do a revisit. In truth it hasn’t changed much since my last visit. It’s pretty graff and smashed up but has enough redeeming features, some decent graff and some fab views. Two hours on a very sunny June morning flew by.
3. The Pictures
A few externals:
And those famous gates:
Across the court yard we skip:
Can’t get enough of the old water tower:
The classic water tower reflection shot from the court yard:
First up, it’s the 5-storey brew house.
We’re being watched:
This is my fave floor:
For obvious reasons:
A quick reminder of the brewery’s name:
Floor up and more holes for the vats:
Looking back down to the floor below:
Lift out of order. OK we’ll take the stairs:
Blue is the colour (of the fire escape):
Electrics for the lift:
And the motor:
View from the roof:
