CAMRA's 39th National Breweriana Auction - we're back again!

Saturday 25th October 2025

Thanks to everyone who came along to our 38th event. We are back again in October 2025, at the Burton Town Hall, for our 39th event. For timings, see below.

But you can peruse the 2024 Catalogue; scroll down to access and to download the associated photos.

Have you ever fancied owning a slice of brewing history?

Then this Auction is just the thing for you. Run by the Campaign for Real Ale, the National Breweriana Auction returns to Burton on Trent’s Town Hall on Saturday 25th October. It will have circa 150 interesting auction lots; everything from mirrors to trays; advertising signs, water jugs, flagons, bottles, books and pump clips as well as a few more unusual items. Plus there will be a number of stands selling brewery memorabilia adding to the atmosphere in this wonderful Victorian venue.

There are all sorts of items from all over the country to decorate your home. What about a Guinness clock or a delightful plate from Lincolnshire’s Batemans Brewery. The plate was issued to their employees after the brewery was saved from closure in 1987 when the sister and brother of George Bateman wanted to sell. One of the key components to saving the Brewery was their XXXB winning CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain, resulting in full order books.

As always, there are a number of advertising display cards including two from London’s Barclay Perkins (set up in 1616 and merged with Courage in 1955) and one from the less known Simpson's of Baldock, Hertfordshire. The brewery was founded in the 1730s and renamed Simpsons in 1853 when it was bought by Joseph & Thomas George Simpson. To avoid death duties, the business was sold to Greene King with 130 pubs in 1954 for £525,000 and closed in 1965.

Another item from Barclay Perkins is a corked bottle of Imperial Russian Stout, probably 70 years old and there is also a 1984 bottle from Marston’s commemorating Marston’s 150th birthday. Other items from past London brewing giants are two Toby jugs from Charringtons, who were famous for its Toby Jug logo. They were founded in 1770, merging with Bass, Mitchell & Butler, to form Bass Charringtons in 1967, which made them the largest brewery in the UK at that time. The London brewery was closed and brewing moved to the Midlands in 1975.

Two items, you can either use’ or more likely display, are trays from Wadworth of Devizes (founded in 1875 and still in family hands) and the less known Tennants. This is not the better known Scottish Tennents Brewery but a brewery established by two brothers in 1840 in Sheffield. They were acquired by Whitbread in 1961 with 700 tied houses becoming Whitbread East Pennines but closed in 1993.

There are usually a number of items from small breweries that set up but didn’t last long. Take the Circencester Cellar Brewery’s, which was established in 1983 in the old cellars of Circencester Brewery that stopped brewing in 1937. The Brewery became the Cirencester Brewing Co. in 1986 but ceased in 1987. The Auction will have three pumpclips from this little known brewery.

These are just a few of the items on sale, each with a history to tell. You don’t have to be an expert to attend the National Breweriana Auction. The Auction is great fun to take part in (or even just to watch) and it’s an opportunity to get some great bargains plus many of the items on sale can appreciate in value. And, of course, like any CAMRA event, there is some good beer on sale all day (from a local brewery).

You don’t have to be an expert to attend the National Breweriana Auction. The auction is great fun to take part in (or even just to watch) and it’s an opportunity to get some great bargains plus many of the items on sale can appreciate in value. And, of course, like any CAMRA event, there is some good beer on sale all day (from a local brewery).

The event starts at 10.30am with the opportunity to view the lots and browse the breweriana stands that will also be there. Bidding starts at noon and is normally finished by 3pm, giving a chance to have a final perusal of the stands before visiting some of Burton's iconic pubs and heading home.

Entrance is by catalogue (£3.00), available on the day, or in advance by post: £6.15 (first class) from Bill Austin: 07831 688276 or moc.tenretnitb@1591nitsuab. If you can’t get there, postal bids are accepted, just contact Bill. Similarly contact Bill if you have Breweriana items you would like to enter into the Auction. Wheelchair accessible.

Please read the following section for details and guidance if you are thinking of attending or submitting lots.

DETAILS FOR THE DAY AND INFORMATION

Burton Town Hall, King Edward Pl, Burton-on-Trent DE14 2EB

10.30am Auction items available for viewing.
10.30am-4pm Collectors' fair, a number of stalls selling a range of breweriana.
Noon-3pm Auction of over 150 lots of brewery related items including commemorative bottled beers, pump clips, books, display signs, trays, beer mats etc.
There is a small bar selling beer, soft drinks, crisps etc throughout the day. Feel free to bring in your own food.

After the event, there are lots of great pubs in Burton on Trent to visit including Devonshire Arms, Coopers Tavern and Roebuck. Further afield is the Burton Bridge Inn (Brewery Tap) and Beeropolis. The closest pub to the venue (and not miss your train) is the Weighbridge. See advert at the bottom of the page for more details.

Please note that items may be paid for at the two breaks and at the end. No payments can be taken while the Auction is taking place.

Admission to the Auction/Collectors' Fair is by catalogue £3.00 on the day or in advance by post: £4.55 (first class), from Bill Austin.

We have a limited number of slots available for lots to be auctioned on a commission basis. Contact Bill Austin as above. Items must be delivered to the CAMRA Warehouse or CAMRA HQ, both in St Albans, before Thursday 17th October or to the Burton Town Hall before 11.30am on Saturday 19th October.

The commission payable to CAMRA for each item will be either 15% of the sale price or £3, whichever is the higher.
Reserve prices may be set but these should be realistic and any items not sold must either be taken away at the end of the auction or otherwise collected from the CAMRA Games & Collectables Store in St Albans.

Postal bids, sent to Bill Austin at 18 Malden Road, Watford, WD17 4EW, or to moc.tenretnitb@1591nitsuab, are welcome, but must be received by Friday 18th October giving clear details of the item, lot number, amount of bid, and name, address and telephone number of the bidder. There is no buyer's commission, and no VAT addition.

THE CATALOGUE

The 2024 catalogue is here: Auction Catalogue 2024 and the photos here: Auction Catalogue Photos. If anyone wants to see a more detailed photo of any item, please contact Bill.

We try our best to make the catalogue and the descriptions as accurate as possible. However, it is impossible to give full details of some items and these should be verified on the day of the sale. In order to give an idea of the condition of the lots, we will indicate those items which are in excellent condition with 'XX', and those in good condition with 'X'. Unmarked items are in poor condition and those marked with an O are unseen. Some of the lots are being auctioned on behalf of third parties and some of the descriptions are attributable to the sellers. As this designation is a very subjective matter, particularly given the age of some of the items, we strongly recommend that the items are viewed on the day of the sale.

As we expect a number of articles to be offered for sale after the catalogue has been printed, a number of spaces have been left. A list of 'late arrivals' will be available on the day of the sale.

We reserve the right to include further lots, withdraw lots, or to make available duplicate items without prior notice.

PURCHASE OF LOTS

To reduce the need for items to be paid for individually, we propose to keep a record of each purchase so that all lots bought can be collected and paid for either during the breaks or at the end of the auction. In order for this to work smoothly we would ask that each attendee registers and obtains a bidder number. All lots must be paid for and removed from the auction room by 4pm on the day of the auction.

Cheques will only be accepted by prior arrangement. We are also able to accept payment by Visa/MasterCard credit cards and by debit cards.

There are 'reserves' on various lots in the auction: if the bidding fails to reach the reserve amount the item will be withdrawn. Items withdrawn will be available for purchase during the intervals and at the end of the auction.

GUIDE PRICES

We are again providing a guide price for those lots where such a figure is above £10. These appear in red at the end of the item's description. The lower figure of the range shown is not less than the reserve price of the lot, and may be higher.

OPERATION OF POSTAL BIDS

One person (plus a reserve person) will act on behalf of a postal bidder as though such a bidder was in the room. That person will sit in front of the auctioneer in a reserved seat each time a lot is auctioned for which there has been a postal bid. The nominated person will bid in incremental steps as proposed by the auctioneer for the lot until either the bid is successful or the stated postal bid amount is reached. If a bidder in the hall makes a final bid of the same amount as the stated postal bid, the lot will be sold to the bidder in the hall.

DONORS OF LOTS

CAMRA Games & Collectables would like to thank all those individuals and CAMRA Branches who have contributed lots to the auction.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Reference documents that were consulted included:
- Various CAMRA Good Beer Guides
- Century of British Brewers by Norman Barber (Brewery History Society)
- The Brewing Industry edited by Lesley Richmond and Alison Turton
- British Beermat Collectors' Society (BBCS) list of beer mats

Thanks to everyone who has assisted in the organisation and helped publicise CAMRA's National Breweriana Auction.