We are pleased to announce that we have completed our move… just twenty yards, across the street to Clay House!
Clay House, a grade 2 listed building built in 1792 by Burton maltster and banker, Joseph Clay, is one of the finest examples of its type. It provides a glimpse into Burton’s, and Horninglow Street’s, fascinating history.
In 1757 Burton had at least six ‘common brewers’, a term used for men who brewed for the retail trade and not simply for consumption on their premises, and beer was then said to be the chief manufacture of the town. By the early 1780s there were 13 breweries, including those of William Bass, William Worthington and Joseph Clay.
Described in the 1791 British Directory as one of the famous nine common brewers of Burton-on-Trent, Clay had founded the brewery Joseph Clay & Son in 1751, in the premises of the former Lamb Inn on the south side of Horninglow Street. In 1753 Charles Leeson established another brewery, also on the south side of Horninglow Street. When Clay Senior died in 1800 his son, also called Joseph, took over and later acquired the Leeson brewery.
By 1818 Joseph and his son Henry had established one of the first banks in Burton, ultimately to become Lloyds Bank, in their house at the corner of Horninglow Street and High Street. Clay sold his brewery concern just before the Napoleonic Blockade of Russia and the Baltic, which had led to a dramatic decline in beer exports (Burton brewers had exported large quantities of beer to the Baltic, importing timber and iron in exchange to make the barrels).
Today, Clay House is a large, impressive office and is the perfect blend of classical period features and state-of-the-art modern facilities. It is easily accessible to major routes in and out of Burton and also enjoys its own car park to the rear of the building. Jean Paterson said, ”Being so prominent in Burton’s history Clay House is the ideal place for one of the town’s pre-eminent law practices – we are very much looking forward to this new chapter in the building’s and Astle Paterson’s evolution.”
