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The Kingsford family seem
to have come to Dover in the early 1800s. In 1802 Edward Kingsford is
mentioned in the Freemen’s Rolls as purchasing his freedom for £20. In
Pigot’s Directory for 1823 Edward Kingsford is listed as a brewer at Archcliffe
Fort Brewery, and in 1828-9 Alfred Kingsford is the brewer.
By the time of the 1832 Directory, Alfred has moved to
the Buckland Brewery. Over the years this brewery is referred to variously
as the Buckland Brewery, Kingsford’s Brewery and Windmill Brewery. The
windmill incorporated into the brewery may have been one built at Buckland
in 1798 for pumping water. The ready supply of water may well have been
a consideration when siting the brewery here.
The brewery seems to have been still operating in 1881
but by 1889 it appears to have ceased production. About 1890 the buildings
were taken over by G.S. Palmer a coach builder. This firm went on to build
motor car bodies in the early part of the 20th century. They also had
premises in Cherry Tree Avenue where
they were building bodies onto Rolls Royce chassis into the 1930s. The
firm finally closed in the late 1930s a victim of streamlined production
methods and increased mechanisation in the motor car industry.
The old brewery site was cleared in 1983 to make way
for sheltered flats for the elderly. The old brewery was remembered in
the name of the flats, Kingsford Court.
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An illustration from the South
Eastern Railway Guide of 1863, showing Kingsford's Brewery.
An extract from the 1865 Ordnance Survey map showing the Wellington
and Buckland Breweries.
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