14th April 2014
Hook Norton Brewery wins Heritage Lottery Fund support
Today, the Oxfordshire based Hook Norton Brewery has received £90,000 from the Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, Hooked on Tradition: Accessing Hook Norton’s Brewery Heritage.
The project focuses on the Brewery site and unites the staff and volunteers in a range of improvements
to the site aimed at making the unique heritage of this Victorian tower brewery more accessible.
Work will begin shortly to conserve & repair one of the Grade II listed chimneys attached to the main
brewery building. At the same time a programme of activities and events will be launched to provide
new opportunities for volunteering and improve information for people visiting the Brewery and its
website. The project will run until November 2014.
The work to repair and conserve the chimney is the catalyst for improvements to visitor information
about Hooky, as it is affectionately known. New opportunities for volunteering will be created on a
project to film the chimney conservation and new volunteer roles will be created within the Brewery’s
museum. A group of level 2 brickwork students from a local college will also be given the opportunity to
work on the chimney repairs. The project includes an open day for the museum and improvements to
signage around the site.
Based in the village of Hook Norton, the Brewery is a family business. Brewing still takes place on the
site where it was founded in 1849. Today the Brewery owns over 40 pubs in the region and welcomes
over 10,000 visitors a year to its original site, Visitor Centre, and Museum. The main Brewery building
contains many original features such as the steam engine, now over 100 years old and still functioning.
Local deliveries are made by Shire horses, which live in the stables behind the Brewery.
This award from HLF is a great recognition of the heritage of Hook Norton Brewery and the work
carried out by the team there to preserve it. James Clarke, Managing Director of Brewing, said: “We are
lucky to work in such a wonderful traditional Victorian Brewery, and we do our best to maintain the
fabric of the building and encourage visitors. The grant will allow us to further develop this part of the
Brewery and its history, and help secure the future. We are delighted to have been awarded this
grant.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Hook Norton Brewery
Hook Norton is one of only 32 family owned breweries. The Brewery produces a range of award
winning beers and offers tours of the site, which houses a Visitor Centre and the Brewery and local
village museums. Beers are produced using traditional processes and sold internationally as well as
locally. A small team of volunteers manages the two museums above the Visitor Centre.
www.hooky.co.uk.
About the Heritage Lottery Fund
Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) aims to make a
lasting difference for heritage, people and communities across the UK and help build a resilient
heritage economy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment
and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported almost
36,000 projects with more than £6bn across the UK. www.hlf.org.uk
For further information, images and interviews please contact:
Sharon Kane, Executive Assistant at Hook Norton Brewery, sharon.kane@hooky.co.uk / 01608
738041.