Arkell’s Brewery plaque

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Image of the day – 189

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every few days.

This is one of the old brewery plaques, once numerous across Britain. This example is in Castle Street, outside The Brewers Arms, not far from the junction with Querns Lane and Lewis Lane.

Arkell’s Brewery

The brewery originated in 1843, the year on the plaque. It was founded in Swindon by John Arkell, remains family-owned and operates as one of the oldest remaining brewery companies in Britain.

The plaque is probably of cast iron with enamel decoration and apart from some cracks seems to be in almost perfect condition. It’s likely the cracking will have been caused by differential thermal expansion and contraction with the iron changing its dimenions rather more than the ceramic glaze. The plaque has seen more than 180 day/night cycles in its time!

The image is of Noah’s ark with a large capital letter ‘L’, so a play on Arkell (‘arkL’). There’s a long history of businesses advertising their presence with logos and other illustrations, it happens in all nations and cultures, sometimes the themes, names and images employed can become quite famous and long-lived. When I was a young child, Brasso (a British brass polish) was sold in steel containers with blue and white rays coming out in all directions. It’s still available today in cans with the same design. And it probably looked just the same in Victorian times as well! When I was young it was fitted with a low-profile, steel screw-cap, today it has a much larger, plastic cap. Otherwise, it looks identical to me.

See also:

• Arkell’s Brewery – Website
• Arkell’s Brewery – Wikipedia
• Brasso – Wikipedia

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