history

Our tour begins with the "Seven Essential To Success" in the Brewing, Bottling and Distribution of high-class Ales and stouts. These - Davenports believed - are the following:

1. Pure water
2. Best Quality Materials
3. Good Yeast
4. Efficient arrangement and equipment of Brewery and bottler
5. Cleanliness
6. Efficiency of office and transport organisation
7. Service

... and continues:
The attainment of perfection in these seven essentials has been our constant aim for fifty years, and during that time we have spared neither energy nor expense in our efforts to attain the results which we now propose to describe under the seven appropriate headings.

History
The oldest part of the building was constructed in 1815 and in 1920 the bottling of stout began at the Bath Row site. The building complex was greatly extended in the 1930s as demand for the products grew.

Davenports insisted that the most important of all factors in good brewing was a constant supply of pure water; without this all other considerations became secondary.

A borehole some 700 feet (213.36 meters) deep, and taking five years to sink, was taken down through several water strata until pure water was struck. Iron tubes weighing over ten tons were then lowered into the pure water and liquid concrete pumped into the hole to make a perfect seal.
This effort was rewarded by the granting of this Testimony of Purity:
It was dated 12 October 1928, and reads:
Dear Sir
Samples of water collected from your two deep artesian wells, designated "Brewery Well" and "C. B. Well" respectively, Have been submitted to a complete bacteriological examination.
I have to report that these waters are of an exceptionally high order of purity by the standards adopted for drinking waters.
Yours faithfully
C. J. Lewis BSc. M.A.

Together with the water, only Malt, Hops, and Sugar were used to make the beer.

MALT
Davenport's barely-malt was specially made under licence [seemingly by several companies] and stored on their premises until required. It was stored with great care, immune from any trace of damp. Once delivered to the brewery it would be kept with the same care in a specially built insulated chamber at a constant temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius).

HOPS
As with the malt, the hops were supplied by contractors. They were kept in cold storage to retain their freshness. Each year suitable plants were chosen for their qualities and were set aside until required by the brewery.
The picture shows one week's supply.

Without good yeast it is quite impossible to produce quality beers. A healthy yeast is the all-important factor in brewing and even the finest malt and hops will be wasted if the quality is inferior.
Yeast is a living organism which requires great attention in order for it to remain in first class condition. This is not without problems as not only the yeast, but the water, the handling equipment and the brewing plant itself must be spotlessly clean at all times.
Over many years Davenports devoted much thought, time and effort into keeping the yeast strong and unaltered.

It was a proud boast at Davenports that they had "... the best arranged and equipped Brewery and Bottlery in the world." Davenports pioneered the method of producing clear sparkling bottled beer without any additives or artificial carbonisation - the beer contained only it's own naturally-formed gas produced during the conditioning process.
Although the same tried-and-tested system had been carried out successfully for many years, it was company policy to continually update equipment, plant and building whenever a better alternative became available.

As you look through the photographs in this site, it will be seen that the cleanliness of the plant is of a standard not matched in many places even today. All items of equipment were housed in hygienically tiled rooms

When the souvenir book was published in 1935, the Transport Fleet consisted of "... 140 motor lorries of varying sizes".
Each year that fleet carried approximately 90,000 tons of goods from the premises and returned 60,000 tons of empty bottles and cases.
The distance traveled by the lorries in that year was a little over 1,500,000,000 miles, equivalent to sixty journeys around the earth at the Equator.
The brewery had, at that time, 175,000 regular customers.

For fifty years Davenports aimed to give the best service to their customers. Many of these were not public houses and clubs but small home-delivery clients with whom there were profit sharing and discount schemes. Indeed, one of their advertising slogans was "Beer At Home Means Davenports".