Rich In History

The Old Brewery Broken Hill

Broken Hill, at the turn of the 20th Century boasted five breweries, and a further two 'boutique' breweries. The most popular was the Waverly Brewery (1887- 1906), followed by the Broken Hill (SA Co.) Brewery (1888-1926), the West End Brewery (1888- 1918), the Burton Brewery (1891-1900) and the South Broken Hill Brewery (1891-1900). The two 'boutique' breweries were primarily soft drink factories; John Shelley and Co (Morgan Lane) did however produce a XXX Ale, and the Silver City Mineral Water Co (Argent Street) produced a 'golden ale, non intoxicating' under the name Clayton's Barrier Brewery.

The Waverly Brewery was located in Beryl Lane (now Silica Street), off Buck Street. The initial proprietors were George Simpson and Thomas Burke, the last leaving in 1889 to manage the Union Barrier Brewery at Silverton. The brewery in addition to supplying local pubs and hotels also supplied beer to most West Darling pubs up to the Queensland border.

It was bought out, and closed as a profitable business, in September 1906 by the South Australian Brewing Co, which had acquired the liquidated Broken Hill Brewery from licensee James Cowan in July 1889 for 6,000 pounds sterling. The South Australian Brewing Co was also to eliminate the West End Brewery as a competitor by buying and closing it in 1918, thus securing a Broken Hill monopoly in its final Broken Hill years. The Broken Hill Brewery is the only brewery still recognisable as such, located at the rear of the Jubilee Oval on one acre of land where good quality well water had been located. The tower is four stories high, an account of the brewing process used may be found in the Silver Age of December 13, 1889. The (SA Co.) was the last to close was in 1926, too long ago for most to remember.

A lot of remedial work was carried out in the late 1990's when it was utilised as a learning centre / gallery, The property is listed as a Heritage.