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BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER
IN GREAT PUBS SINCE 1779

ABOUT BRAKSPEAR

At Brakspear, great pubs are at the heart of everything we do. Our family has been running pubs for over 200 years and, while much has changed in that time, the pub remains central to British life- bringing people together over great food, great drink, and good company.

We’re proud to have a collection of beautiful pubs, but it’s the people who run them that truly make the difference. That’s why we do things differently. We are still family-owned and run, which means we make all our decisions for the long-term benefit of our company, our Brakspear Business Owners and our pub customers.

We believe you’ll feel that difference, whichever side of the bar you’re on—whether you’re stopping by for a quick pint or partnering with us to run one of our 125 pubs across rural, community, and town-centre locations. We look forward to welcoming you soon.

 

OUR BEERS

Oxford Gold Gravity Oh Bee Joyful Hooray Henley

MEET THE TEAM

OUR HISTORY

1154
Nicholas Breakspear, a distant relative of the Brakspear family, was the only Englishman to ever be elected as pope and was also known as Pope Adrian IV. Elected pope on the 3rd December 1154, his papal seal contained the image of a bee, and so that's where our bee logo comes from.
1769
In 1769, nineteen year old Robert Brakspear, became the pub landlord of the Cross Keys, Witney and it's from here Brakspear Bitter was born and started being brewed. Many people were enjoying Brakspear Bitter, so he needed to move to a bigger brewery. Robert joined his uncle Richard Hayward in 1779 and moved to the Bell Street brewery, after Richard had become a partner in 1768.
1812
In 1812 Robert passed away and the brewery moved round the corner from Bell Street to New Street in Henley and had 34 pub leases and Robert's second son, William Henry, joined the business. William became a partner in 1825, and was sole proprietor by 1848 and began trading as W.H. Brakspear. William worked tirelessly to expand the company acquiring more beerhouses and malthouses, before passing away in 1882. William Henry had success within the town; he was mayor of Henley four times, a justice of the peace and an alderman, a very well respected man within the community.
1875
In 1875 John Thomas Davies moved to London, from Llanarthly, Wales, and borrowed money to build The Mansfield pub, which is now known as the Gospel Oak. In 1913 John died, after building another 11 pubs. These 12 pubs passed to his son Alfred, who formed the limited company J.T. Davies & Sons ltd. Alfred increased the number of pubs to 64 managed pubs in London and the South East, with most of them leased from breweries. Alfred was elected MP for Lincoln in 1918 - 1924 and was knighted too. In 1913 Sir Alfred died at a young age following a stroke and his younger son Tony took over. Tony predicted correctly that breweries would start managing their own pubs, and so he established a chain of off-licenses and wine merchants called Davisons.
1896
William Henry's sons Archibald and George had become partners before their father's death. This marked the move from the family as the managers to them just being the owners but they did introduce a new coopers shop in 1886 and new brewhouse in 1892. In 1896 Brakspear's bought out their main local rival, the Grey's Brewery. As keen sports fans, they also joint founded Henley Cricket Club in 1869 which still remains today. Archibald passed away in 1909. The Henley Standard, a local newspaper that he helped found and are still around today, said of him that he retained the respect, admiration and esteem of the whole community among whom he lived.
1913
After his father's death Archibald Roswell became chairman until his death in 1933. Ronald, son of George, and his brother F.G. Brakspear were also on the board. It's fair to say these members of the family weren't as business-minded as their fathers and things began to drift. More time was spent at Henley United Rowing Club and at Henley Golf Course than worrying about business. John Chalcraft joined the company in 1914, becoming head brewer, then managing director in 1928 for a staggering 41 years until 1969 and later the first company chairman who was not a member of the family. He remained as chairman until 1974.
1963
John's son Michael was a keen brewer and joined the board in 1963 where he remained until 1996. In this time, many pubs were bought that still make up the Brakspear pub estate today. By 1979 Brakspear had 130 pubs, as well as some free houses but then began a period of rationalisation. 20 years later the pub estate was just over 100. A new distribution yard was opened in 1986, but otherwise there was little change with the brewery until production ceased in 2002.
1971
In 1971 the original J.T. Davies offices in Russell Square, London was relocated to Aberdeen road, Croydon, along with a new bottling warehouse. In the 1980s a new distribution centre was built. By the early 1990s there were 85 stores and a good handful of free-of-tie pubs. It had been a time of contraction for the JT Davies pubs as they had lost all the tenanted houses from Bass and Courage as a result of the 1989 Beer Orders. They were left with those pubs that had been bought individually or built. Tony Davies died, having passed the business to his son Michael seven years earlier, who joined the business in 1973. The company acquired 18 freehold pubs from Bass, the start of the tenanted pub business.
1994
In 1994, J.T. Davies acquired Mayor Sworder wine merchants then two years later the off-licenses were sold to Unwins. These shops had run alongside the J.T. Davies pubs for just under 50 years. The company now owned 50 tenanted pubs. In 2000, J.T. Davies bought its first stake in W.H. Brakspear, adding to it in 2002 to secure a 30% share. In 2002, Brakspear moved away from direct brewing and Marstons took the reins at their Wychwood Brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire, right around the corner from where Brakspear bitter began at the Cross Keys.
2007
In 2007, J.T. Davies acquired W.H. Brakspear in its entirety and turned it back into a private company, with 150 tenanted and leased pubs. Michael's son Tom joined the business as Commercial Director and the fifth generation of the Davies family to enter the business. J.T. Davies sold Mayor Sworder to Davy & Co of London. A year later Tom became Chief Executive of Brakspear with Michael becoming Chairman for W.H. Brakspear. The pub company side of Brakspear's head office moved to Bell Street, still in Henley on Thames, and the same street where the Brakspear brewery originally was. J.T. Davies then began to re-brand their 50 pubs as Brakspear, presenting one united company again.
2013
In 2013, Brakspear opened its first managed pub, the Bull on Bell Street in the office. Managed houses differ to the standard tenanted and leased pubs as all employees in managed houses also work for Brakspear. In 2014, Brakspear won best tenanted and leased pub company from the Publican, the highest accolade you can get in the pub world!
2019
We welcomed a fresh new look for the Brakspear brand in 2019 along with a new name for Brakspear Bitter. Introducing Brakspear Gravity!
2021
At the end of 2021, Brakspear now has 12 managed houses under the Honeycomb Houses brand and 115 tenanted and leased pubs. It's a business of two sides creating a balanced approach that benefits both sides.
2024
In 2024, we were crowned the Best Pub Operator in the UK according to The Licensee Index! Ranked out of 30 categories, our amazing Brakspear Business Owners rated us higher than any other pub operator in the survey, which is something we are extremely proud of. We continually strive to improve the levels of support we offer our leased and tenanted pubs.

LATEST
NEWS

Three Brakspear pubs recognised as County Winners at the National Pub & Bar Awards 2026.

Three Brakspear pubs have been recognised among the best in the country after being named County Winners at the prestigious National Pub & Bar Awards 2026. The awards celebrate excellence across the UK’s hospitality sector, recognising venues that consistently deliver exceptional service, quality and customer experience. Our county-winning pubs are The Leicester Arms in Penshurst, The George Inn in Maulden and The Joker in Brighton.

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