Dover
Lock and Key of the Kingdom

The earliest reference to this brewery site is in Pigot’s 1823 Directory, which lists Edward Kingsford as a brewer at Archcliffe Fort Brewery. In the 1828-9 Directory the brewer is listed as Alfred Kingsford, but by the 1832 Pigot’s Alfred had moved to the Buckland Brewery and there is no mention of the Archcliffe Fort Brewery in the list of brewers. As the Bulwark Hill Brewery was opposite Archcliffe Fort it is likely that it is one and the same with Archcliffe Fort Brewery, or at least occupied almost the same site.

The first definite mention of the Bulwark Hill Brewery is in the 1840 Pigot’s Directory, with John Alexander Walker and Son as brewers at Bulwark Hill, and by 1845 the brewer is William Walker. Sometime between 1844 and 1847 the brewery must have changed hands because from 1847 to 1882, Henry Cliffe is listed as the brewer. There then follows a quick change in ownership, J.A. Rolls is the brewer in 1889 and 1890 but by 1891 it is Woodhams and Levey.

The last brewers on the site were the East Kent Brewery, who are listed in the directories from 1895 - 1900. From the entries it would appear that they also had premises at Sandwich. By the 1905 Directory the East Kent Brewery Co. has moved to premises in Commercial Quay and Snargate Street, and the Bulwark Hill Brewery is no longer mentioned. Presumably these new addresses were offices and distribution depots for beer brewed elsewhere. The brewery building still appears on the 1907 Ordnance Survey map but by the 1913 Street Directory the site is occupied by the Pier Infants School.