Petersfield was once a centre of brewing, with three breweries surviving into the 20th century – The Square Brewery, Luker’s Brewery and Borough Brewery, later known as Amey’s Brewery.

The last Petersfield brewing name to disappear was Amey’s. It was founded by Thomas Amey, a dairy farmer and manufacturer of condensed milk, in 1875.

One location of his farming business was Borough Farm, which gave its name to the brewery he built in 1883 at the southern end of Frenchmans Road by the Portsmouth to London railway line.

This convenient location provided Amey with his own private siding, allowing barley supplies, among other commodities, to be brought in by rail. During the 1890s Thomas Amey and his brewery manager travelled around town collecting orders on their penny farthing bicycles.

The brewery changed its trading name several times. In 1895 it was Thomas Amey, in 1898 it was E Amey – when his daughter Elizabeth took over – and by 1903 it was Thomas Amey again. It was not registered as a limited company, Amey’s Brewery Ltd, until 1941.

In the 1900s the Amey estate grew to 20 houses, with pubs in Petersfield, Rake, Froxfield and West Meon – including The Bell Inn in St Peter’s Road, The Royal Oak in Sheep Street and The Trooper in Froxfield – plus pubs in Portsmouth and Guildford.

Amey’s even had the Hole In The Wall by Waterloo station – handily placed to receive barrels direct from Amey’s railway siding at Petersfield. There were 11 off-licences from Havant to Winchester, several cottages and houses, and a malthouse in Meonstoke.

Amey’s cask beers included XX mild, XXX strong mild, light bitter, pale ale, stout, oatmeal stout and double stout. Its bottled range had dinner ale, dark old English stout, oatmeal stout, Swallow stout, Petersfield Peter and Petersfield Peter’s Sister.

Amey’s found trading conditions difficult after the Second World War and in May 1951 contact was made with London brewer Whitbread. By the end of June the sale of the brewery had been agreed.

Amey’s Brewery would continue to supply the Amey houses “for an initial period”, but by October 1951 draught beer was being supplied by Brakspear and Sons of Henley-on-Thames. This arrangement continued until February 1952 when Brickwoods of Portsmouth took over.

From July 1951 Whitbread’s bottled beers were being supplied to all Amey houses. In September Stowells took over the delivery of wines and spirits both to the pubs and to the off-licences in Petersfield, Alresford and Portsmouth. Amey directors John Chalcraft, Charles Flood and Archie Kelsey resigned in 1952.

By then equipment had been removed from the brewery, making it less suitable for the storage of draught beer. In March 1952 the Whitbread Bottling Stores Department bought the brewery for £6,000 to store crates, an arrangement which lasted several years.

Today the brewery site is part of the Amey’s Industrial Estate. Some buildings remain, including a two-storey one now belonging to Littlejohn Bathrooms.

Many Amey pubs still trade but the only sign of their former owner is at the Prince of Wales in Hammer, where a coloured Amey’s window remains.

Otherwise the memory of the brewery lives on in those who recall the taste of a pint of Amey’s.