The Castlocks

1525 - 1653

In 1573, John Castlock II was brewing at 18 Court Street, the site of the present-day Shepherd Neame brewery. John II’s grandfather, William Castlock, was a merchant, a brewer, and brother to the last abbot of the Royal Abbey at Faversham. John II’s father, John Castlock I, is the first person to have been named “beer brewer” in Faversham.

John Castlock II built his Court Street business over 40 years to become the leading brewery in Faversham though expansion was limited by an entirely local market, widespread home-brewing, and a steady flow of short-lived competitors.

As town mayor in the year of the Armada, 1588, he was central to equipping a small ship, The Hazard, as part of the area's defence. He was eventually succeeded by his eldest son, John Castlock III, who, like his father, spent 40 years running the brewery.

Unfortunately for John Castlock III, he and other Faversham jurats found themselves on the wrong side of the Second English Civil War and, in 1648, had their Freedom to trade removed by the Parliamentarians. With the death of John Castlock III and, only a year later, that of his son John IV, the Castlock family disappeared after 150 years at the heart of Faversham society.

The brewery premises survived in the hands of their executor cousin, Thomas Hilton, who leased the business first to loyal servants, then the Baldock family, and eventually to the East Kent family of Marsh.