Ram (Youngs) Brewery Complex

Brewery complex on Wandsworth High Street, SW18. Dating from the late 18th century and early to mid-19th century, with significant rebuilding in 1882–83 by architect Henry Stock, and late 20th-century additions and alterations. The complex comprises multiple ranges of buildings including the 1882–83 fermentation range fronting Wandsworth High Street (positioned between the former brewer's house and the Brewery Tap), an L-plan five-storey brewhouse and tower, and lower ranges facing Ram Street and the brewery yard, which include the cooperage, carpenter's shop, and a late 18th-century timber-framed store.

1882–83 Fermentation Range

The range facing Wandsworth High Street stands three storeys tall with three wide window bays. Weatherboarding is inserted between the first and second floors. Above the second-floor windows are brick segmental-headed arches springing from stone-capped piers. A wooden pediment sits above the main stone cornice, featuring a weather-boarded tympanum. Three raised dormers face north toward the roof ridge.

Internally, the range contains king post roof trusses with raking struts and metal shoes. Below these run rows of cast-iron cruciform columns. Slate fermentation squares survive, now faced in stainless steel. Copper cylindrical fermenting vessels, faced with wood, also remain.

Brewhouse

The L-plan 19th-century brewhouse is constructed of yellow brick. It features a tall round-headed window facing Wandsworth High Street and lower windows set under segmental arches at upper-floor level above a Portland stone band. A cooling tower projects to the top floor.

The interior preserves exceptional industrial machinery. A pair of cast-iron A-frame beam engines, manufactured by Wentworth & Sons, survives: one was installed in 1835 (originally 12 horsepower, upgraded to 16 horsepower in 1863), and the other in 1867 (20 horsepower). Some transmission shafting remains, having been converted to electric power in the 20th century. The tun room contains a pair of coppers manufactured by Pontifex and Wood of Shoe Lane, London, dated 1869 and 1885. The mash tuns were replaced in the 20th century. To the west, facing the brewery yard, stands a late 19th-century office range of lesser architectural significance, which has been altered. It features a canted oriel window and a memorial plaque commemorating three brewery employees who fell during the 1914–18 war. Large late 20th-century additions to the brewery, attached to the 19th-century brewhouse, are not considered of special interest.

Ranges to the North

Facing Ram Street is a two-storey range with four rounded-arch windows at first-floor level, one of which is now blocked, and altered ground-floor openings. Further north stands a taller range with smaller windows and a brewery chimney; its upper level was replaced in 1903. This range faces the brewery yard and rises three storeys, with blind two-storey rounded arches between blind windows featuring segmental arches at the first and second floors. A late 20th-century inserted door and steps to the brewery yard mark the first floor.

The cooperage on the ground floor contains several rows of circular cast-iron columns with fish-bellied beams supporting a heavily joisted floor above. The carpenter's shop ground floor features pairs of cruciform columns supporting heavy beams. A late 18th-century store to the north contains a full-height interior with king post trusses with raking struts. The exterior walls are of brick infilled timber framing with heavy posts, long studding, and long braces. A square-based chimney with a tall blind arch to each face and a corbelled brick cornice rises above, culminating in a circular chimney shaft.

Historical Context

Henry Stock's first architectural commission was the 1882–83 rebuilding of Young & Co.'s Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. He subsequently became the company architect for Charrington & Co. Brewing on this site dates to the 16th century, but the Wandsworth Brewery in its current form was established from 1831 when Charles Allen Young and Anthony Fothergill Bainbridge purchased the site from the Tritton family. The oldest surviving building is the early 18th-century brewer's house on Wandsworth High Street; the complex also contains late 18th-century storage buildings. By the mid-19th century, the brewery had expanded extensively, linking Wandsworth High Street to a long frontage along Red Lion Street, with the Cut (a canal extending from the Thames) running into the brewery yard to facilitate delivery of malt and coal. By the late 19th century, the complex had expanded westward to the River Wandle, which was exploited as an additional water source. The Ram Inn on Wandsworth High Street was rebuilt in 1883 and remodelled in the 1930s, later being renamed the Brewery Tap in 1974. A major fire in 1882 damaged parts of the brewhouse and malthouse but interrupted production only briefly; the new Ram Brewery building was constructed soon after. The Cut was infilled in the 1930s and large bottling stores were built in the 1950s, but the brewery retained much of its 19th-century character until the late 19th century saw construction of offices, a partial new brewhouse, and tall conical vessels.

Significance

The complex is listed at Grade II* primarily for the remarkable survival of 19th-century machinery, including two intact beam engines of 1835 and 1869 manufactured by Wentworth & Sons. It is also valued as the principal working range of an unusually complete urban brewery, which retains associated structures representing distinct periods: the 18th-century brewer's house, late 19th-century stables, and early 20th-century public house, each documenting the architectural and industrial development of this long-established successful brewery. The complex forms a group with these three separately listed companion buildings: the Grade II former brewer's house at 70 Wandsworth High Street, the Grade II stables, and the Grade II Brewery Tap.