Woodhams Brewery. Established 1750.
Founded by Henry Shepherd and first known as the Troy Town Brewery, this landmark made beers for the Medway area for 168 years. The site was rebranded in 1880 when local brewers Woodhams & Co. took ownership of the property. It ceased operations in 1918 but continued to function in various commercial capacities in the decades that followed until it was slated for demolition in the 1990s. Thankfully, it was salvaged.
It’s fascinating and inspiring that our lovely home has such a rich history of creating fine beers and pale ales for Rochester and the surrounding area. Oh, if the brewery walls could talk: so many memories, so many pints!
Decades of stories.
The brewery’s location was chosen thanks to an onsite spring, slightly uphill from the Tower that now provides water for the glorious gardens. The naturally filtered potable water also serves the brewery’s outdoor faucets.
The Tower was the main brewhouse but on a more modest scale than other nearby breweries in Maidstone and Faversham. There certainly must have been a lovely period when Rochester was regularly suffused with the pleasant aroma of malted barley on brewing days.
In the 1960s the defunct brewery served as a depot for Cantrell & Cochrane Ltd., an Irish beverage company that distributed soft drinks, cider, and liquor. Later in the 1980s the site was taken over by Sentry Cash and Carry Ltd., yet after ten years of operation that company was dissolved.
The brewery was then purchased by a real estate developer in the 1990s who was keen to demolish the landmark and turn it into apartment flats. Given the property’s convenient location central to Rochester’s high street and train station, the appeal of putting a modern-day apartment building in its place was certainly alluring. Thankfully the owners of nearby Restoration House recognised the potential and significance of this historic brewhouse and managed to prevent the pending demolition and secure the building and its encircling courtyard. This unified the property and gardens as part of their ever-growing estate.
Over the following two decades the brewery and surrounding land were slowly transformed into something very special. In 2018, a renovation emerged that dawned four distinctly different homes, each with their own character and story. The Tower of Creativity is one of the four residences contained within the expansive building.
Below is a selection of Woodhams Brewery photographs throughout the 20th century; you can see its bland years as a warehouse facility and how it began to fall into disuse. Tap or click on the photos to enlarge.
History reborn.
The refurbished property combines elements of an Edwardian mansion flat with an industrial loft. Expertly restored by skilled and caring craftsmen, the results have produced an inspiring space with high-quality finishes that combine practicality with volume and light.
Every aspect of the conversion utilises the highest quality materials and sensitivity to the importance of the site. Using a layered approach to refurbishment, the craftsmen achieved a delicate balance of old, new, found, and sourced to create a rich interplay of material, texture, and tones. The paint — handmade in the onsite workshop using turpentine, linseed oil, and natural earth pigments — feeds the woodwork and creates subtle and shifting colours that change mood as the light varies throughout the day.
All of the interior shares considered details that includes solid brass door fixtures, reconditioned cast-iron radiators, reclaimed solid wood flooring treated with wax and natural oils, wool insulation, and high quality joinery. The Tower’s bespoke pine staircase was hand-built at nearby Chatham Dockyard; it serves the obvious purpose to connect the three levels and is a joy to touch as you venture up and down holding its sinuous mahogany handrail. The huge steel beams that run throughout the building tell you this is where the delicious chalky water from the nearby spring was used for the first mashing of the Woodhams pale and golden ales. Expansive Douglas fir beams span the top floor celebrating the interplay of nature with industrial iron.
The refurbishment was no easy task, taking almost ten years to complete for the brewery to be reborn. With the primary works completed in 2018, it would take another two years for the gardens and courtyard to be finished. And that’s when we discovered the Tower’s magic.
Next up: Details.
The Tower era begins.
Dedicated, careful effort and detailed architectural attention breathed new life into this historic landmark.