Mark Binnie started his brewing career with the Edinburgh firm of Morison & Thomson, before moving to Bishop Middleham in County Durham, where he worked for C. F. & M. Forster. In 1881 he returned to Scotland and built the Nungate Brewery in Haddington, which began production in 1882.
He was eventually joined in the business by his sons William Thomson Binnie, who had been working at the Hereford Brewery of J. T. Jenkins & Co, and John, who left in 1907 to take up a position at Bell's Brewery in Edinburgh.
When Mark died in 1924 the company was transferred to William, after which it continued to trade as Mark Binnie & Co until 1937, when the business and goodwill were acquired by William Younger & Co Ltd.
The company's trademark was an animal rearing up at a tree.
Amongst the beers produced by the company were: 30/- Table Beer, 54/- India Pale Ale, 60/- Bitter Beer, 80/- Ale, 100/- Ale, 140/- Strong Ale, Double Brown Stout and Four Guinea Ale.
Location: Haddington
Active: 1882 - 1937
Status: Acquired
The Nungate Brewery was built on land adjacent to the former Nungate Distillery, by then a tannery, and was described as "a substantial three storey structure equipped with the most modern machinery".
After the brewery closed the premises were acquired by Burns Coalston & Co Ltd, who owned the neighbouring tannery. The buildings were badly damaged by fire in 1969, and the site was acquired by the local council and cleared for a housing development.
Archives
The University of Glasgow Archive Services holds papers in its Scottish Brewing Archive from 1881-1945 (Ref : BH)
Books and periodicals
McMaster, C. Scotland's forgotten breweries. Mark Binnie & Co.: the Nungate Brewery, Haddington, East Lothian. Scottish Brewing Archive Newsletter, 1988, 12, pp.8-9
