Turner's Ayr & Newton Breweries Ltd was established in March 1898 (Scottish Company No. 3790) with a proposed capitalisation of £110,000.
The company was founded to acquire the Ayr Brewery on Mill Street, Ayr (which belonged to James Watson & Co), the Newton Brewery in Main Street, Newton, and the Citadel Stores in Ayr (both owned by Andrew Muir Turner).
The new company also took ownership of a number of public houses in the area, and the estate was gradually expanded to provide a ready market for its beer.
Amongst the beers produced by the firm was Brilliant Pale Ale.
The company was renamed Turner's (Ayr) Ltd in 1934, by which time brewing operations had ceased at both breweries. A business link was formed with J. & R. Tennent Ltd, of Glasgow, who eventually bought the company in 1960.
Location: Ayr
Active: 1898 - 1934
Status: Taken Over
The Ayr Brewery was built by the partnership of Watson & Brown in 1833 on land formerly owned by the Dominicans on Mill Vennel, later known as Mill Street.
Brewing ceased at the Ayr Brewery around 1912 and the buildings were used by a subsidiary of Turner's: the Western Contracting Company. The site was eventually cleared for housing in the 1970s.
The Newton Brewery was bought by Andrew Muir Turner in 1881 from the estate of David Bell Young. Brewing ceased in 1929, although it continued to be used for the manufacture of mineral waters. The site was eventually cleared and is now occupied by a supermarket.
The Citadel Stores was a bonded warehouse for the company's wine and spirits business on South Harbour Street.
Archives
The University of Glasgow Archive Services holds papers in its Scottish Brewing Archive from 1898-1968 (Ref : TR)
Books and periodicals
Burns, E. Scottish brewery trade marks, 1900-1976. Glasgow: Tartan Hippo, 1987.
Close, R. The forgotten breweries of Scotland: Turner's Ayr and Newton Breweries Ltd. Scottish Brewing Archive Newsletter, 1987, 10, pp.10-12.
Donnachie, I. A history of the brewing industry in Scotland. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, 1979.
Hume, J. R. The industrial archaeology of Scotland, 1: The Lowlands and Borders. London: B. T. Batsford, 1976.
