ABOUT JENNINGS
Jennings Brewery was originally founded in 1828, in Lorton by John Jennings Senior. His son was also involved in operating the brewery and it was were later passed on to the 3 grandsons after Jennings Sr. died.
Their success meant expansion so, when Jennings outgrew the Lorton brewery, they purchased the existing site in Cockermouth in 1874. The Lorton brewery continued until 1881when brewing shifted entirely to the Cockermouth site.
THE ENTRANCE TO THE CASTLE BREWERY
The brewery remains there today, at the foot of Cockermouth Castle, surrounded by the River Derwent and the River Cocker. This water source is integral to our brewing, as our water is drawn direct from the castle well. This pure, Lakeland water, is considered our secret ingredient and gives Jennings beer its distinctive Cumberland flavour.
In 1887, the brewery went from being a family-owned business into a public limited company, which the enthusiastic locals bought shares of, meaning that when the last member of the Jennings family died, Jennings kept its local identity for the next 100 years.
THE TEAM AT THE BREWERY SITE: REBECCA J, CHRIS AND REBECCA C
Jennings won multiple beer awards across the years, from organisations including World Beer Awards, CAMRA and The International Beer Challenge. Beers such as, Cumberland, Sneck Lifter and Cocker Hoop were amongst those that were popular winners. In 1999 Cocker Hoop received title of ‘Britain's Best Bitter’ at the Great British Beer festival.
Jennings brewed successfully as an independent company until 2005 when the brewery and pubs were acquired by Wolverhampton and Dudley breweries Ltd, who became Marston's in 2007.
In 2009, the Cockermouth floods had a huge impact on the business and the site, forcing Marston’s to implement flood safety features and barricades throughout the site. A few short years after the floods, brewing transferred out of the town and a mass rebrand occurred.
TRADITIONAL JENNINGS BEER
The year of 2020 brought more change for Jennings as it became part of the Carlsberg group, following the merger of Carlsberg and Marston’s. The Covid pandemic then hit, brewing stopped and the brewery closed its doors in November 2022 ending 194 years of brewing.
Which brings us to 2025 - local entrepreneurs, Kurt and Rebecca have bought Jennings Brewery and have every intention of bringing brewing back to the site. There's lots of work to do to restore the full former glory, but a small passionate team around is focussed on bringing that heritage back to life and restoring the quality of the beer.
As for complete site plans and details of the direction we're taking the brewery, we’re not ready to share those just yet, but we want the Cockermouth community to be involved in shaping the future, so if you want to hear more, please sign up below.