About us

Beers of

monumental taste

All the brewing magic takes place in The Old Mill at Netheravon.

The Old Mill is in the most idyllic setting imaginable on the bends of the River Avon. The Old Mill started life in 1914 as an electricity generator for the Netheravon Airfield using waterpower from the River Avon.

The power from the river never managed to generate electricity to the extent needed, hence diesel generators were installed to run the turbines. This soon proved not to be cost effective and the power station was closed down.

The years in between power station and brewery, the building was put into many different uses. For a while, it served as village hall hosting dances and boxing matches. Also a fibre glass factory was in operation for some years. For long periods the towering ‘old mill’ was boarded up and only the ghost was rummaging the stairs and corridors.

In 1983 Tony and Robinetta Bunce bought the old power station from the MOD and converted in into a brewery. They started brewing in 1984. Had it not been for the Bunces, we probably would not have been brewing at The Old Mill today.

In 1993 Master Brewer Stig Anker Andersen, wife Anna Marie Andersen and their 7 months old daughter Amalie uprooted from Denmark to take over Stonehenge Ales. Stig and Anna-Marie have been on the long and challenging road of brewing successful award-winning handcrafted English beers, which we continue to brew today.

In March 2022, we, Nicola & James took over Stonehenge Ales and are very excited to be starting this new chapter in our lives. Owning a Brewery is something we have been dreaming of for years, we have moved here from Epping Forest in Essex and have been home brewing, attending beer festivals and getting involved in the industry as much as we could in our spare time for the past 6 years. We are looking forward to growing this incredible micro-brewery which is one of Wiltshire’s oldest and continuing to work with all the amazing local pubs, shops & hospitality venues.  

 

 Our brew plant is arranged so that brewing ingredients and wort mostly move downwards, using gravity as in early tower breweries. One pump only is used in the entire brewing process for transferring the hot wort through a plate cooler prior to fermentation.

Each beer is brewed to its own recipe using the traditional infusion mash method and with only the finest quality malt and whole hops and Stonehenge Spring Water as ingredients. After fermentation the beer is run off into carefully sterilised stainless steel casks where the final conditioning takes place.

Our beers are allowed to condition naturally in the cask and call for a certain care in handling and dispense; a first class pint owes much to skill in the cellar and pride in the pub.

More than just beers and ales

In 2015 bottling of Stonehenge Spring Water was added to our activities – and today we supply Stonehenge Visitor Centre with thousands of bottles of the most refreshing and pristine spring water from the Salisbury Plain aquifer on top of which the ancient and enigmatic stone circle rests.

In 2022 our handcrafted Stonehenge Gin was added to the family, it is infused with lemon verbena creating a light and citrusy gin. Serve with premium tonic and a slice of grapefruit. You can find our gin in the Stonehenge Visitor Centre, local pubs, on our home delivery service and here at the brewery for collection. 

 

See how our beers are brewed