In 1821 the Alton Brewery (which had been established in 1763) passed from the Baverstock family to the Crowley's. They greatly enlarged the buildings and the customer base with 'Alton Ale Shops' opening as far away as London. There one could buy for 4d a glass of beer and a beef or ham sandwich, starting the trend of eating as well as drinking in pubs. Over the years a large number of smaller breweries were bought out and depots set up at Alresford, Basingstoke, Odiham, Hambledon and Southampton. Crowley's sold out to Watneys in 1947
                                 CROWLEYS CODDS BOTTLES
The picture shows the 6oz and 10oz versions of their mineral bottles. Both shown are Dobson 4 way patents, ie there are four equidistant indentations for trapping the marble in the neck. Crowley's also used the standard two indentation versions.
Sadly they did not use their Crows head logo to adorn their Codds bottles.
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Alton Breweries
ALTON'S BREWERIES
Crowley & Co. 1821 - 1947
                                  CROWLEY'S BEER BOTTLES
These internal screw beers only appear to have been made in the 1 pint size. They have the famous Crows Head logo on and come in three different colours brown, green and olive.
        CROWLEY'S GINGER BEERS
They used the standard shape two tone stoneware bottle for their ginger beer. The manufacturer was Doulton, who always made good quality bottles. There are three other variations besides the one shown. One has the wording ODIHAM BRANCH in place of the ALTON HANTS part, with either the word ALTON or a squiggly line under the crows head. The other same print but internal screw.
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