The brewery was founded by Edward Rigden during the early 18th century. By the mid 19th century it was owned by William Edward Rigden and John Rigden, who extended and redeveloped the brewery during the 1870s and 1880s. The brewery traded as William Edward and John Rigden until 1902 when it changed to W E and J Rigden Ltd.A merger with George Beer and Company of Canterbury took place in 1922 forming George Beer and Rigden Limited. This led to the closure of the George Beer's Canterbury brewery as production was concentrated at Faversham. In 1948 the brewery was acquired by Fremlins Limited of Maidstone. Brewing ceased in 1954, but started again in 1961. Fremlins was taken over by Whitbread and Company in 1967. The brewery closed in 1990. In 1995-1996 the malthouse (Monument HOB UID 1066154) was converted into a supermarket, this involved the demolition of the stables (Monument HOB UID 1547125) and the bottling factory, warehouse and mineral bottling factory (Monument HOB UID 1066251). The Swale Borough Council Local Plan of 2008 envisaged a redevelopment of mixed residential and retail use for the remainder of the site. Work commenced in the summer of 2009 and by 2011 the Brewhouse complex (Monument HOB UID 1066139) and Tun House (Monument HOB UID 1066175) had been converted into apartments. The brewery ofices (Monument HOB UID 1547080) Brewery House (Monument HOB UID 1547107) are in general office use. Most of the extant brewery buildings are listed at grade II, except Court House, the Rigden family home, which is listed grade II*.(1-2) Additional Bibliography (3)

Historic England archive material: BF090910 Fremlins Brewery, Court Street, Faversham Miniature Format Film Number: 275/M, 275/N, 275/P, 275/Q, 275/R, 275/X

1993, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11404.

1993, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11404.

<1> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments in England, 1996, Fremlins Brewery, Court St, Faversham, RCHME Whitbread Brewery, Faversham (Threatened Buildings Survey Report 1996) (Monograph). SWX6968.

<2> Not applicable, SMR Kent uncatalogued index entry, DC Eve Reports on Northern Range of Buildings & Former Stables, Whitbread Brewery 1995 (MS, KCC) (Miscellaneous Material). SKE6440.

<3> Norman Barber (Brewery History Society 1994), A Century of British Brewers 1890-1990 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6449.