SALE OF TENTERDEN BREWERY. February 1922.

By instructions of Messrs. O. Edwards & Sons, brewers and wine and spirit merchants, the freehold properties comprising the Tenterden Brewery, together with nine freehold fully-licensed houses and one freehold beerhouse, were offered for sale by Messrs. Wickenden & Sons (Tunbridge Wells) in conjunction with Messrs. Knight, Frank & Rutley, at the Elwick Auction Rooms, Ashford, on Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Chas. S. Wickenden conducted the sale and referred to the difficulty in securing licensed houses and the fact that free properties are becoming scarce. He also referred to the recent Lamberhurst sale, and said that by the re-sale a very substantial profit had been effected. One heard of a slight falling off here and there in trade, but those best qualified to judge asserted that it was quite temporary and that those in business had nothing to fear. With the removal of the vexatious restrictions and modifications of the licensing laws and duties there was every reason for continued confidence. The present firm had owned the property for the past fifty years and were selling owing to a dissolution of partnership. The initial bid was £15,000, and the properties were knocked down at £28,700 to Mr. E. A. Baker, The Chantreys, Horsham, Sussex, and Mr. Percy Terrill, The Lodge, Vale-road, St. Leonard's.

The brewery, which was established in 1745, was purchased by the late Mr. Obadiah Edwards in 1872 and conducted by him until his death in 1905, since which period the business has been carried on by his three sons. The houses, which are situated within a radius of about 12 miles of the brewery, are as under, and the total sales for beers, wines, spirits and minerals for the year ended March, 1921, are stated to be £23,604:— The "Vine," Tenterden; "Black Horse," Tenterden;" "Bull Inn," Rolverden; "Castletons Oak," Biddenden; "Crown Inn," Cranbrook; "William the Conqueror," Rye Harbour; "King’s Head," Shadoxhurst; "Rose and Crown," Old Romney; "British Volunteers," Ashford, and the "New Inn," Tenterden (beerhouse.)