Staffordshire Museum Service and Joule’s Brewery have announced that they have come to an agreement for some of the county’s precious Joule’s Brewery achieve material to be made available to Joule’s for public display at the new Crown Wharf development, which is now nearing completion in Stone.
Joule’s long-awaited return to its home town has been a 5-year project involving the town council and Crown Wharf Theatre Trust, a registered charity set up to manage a new purpose-built theatre on the site.
In addition, there will be a heritage centre created to welcome visitors to the town and curate small exhibitions, mainly concerning the towns rich history.
Staffordshire County Museum has an extensive collection of Joules items collected since the Stone brewery was closed down by rival Bass in 1974. A number of items will be loaned to Crown Wharf, the most important being a series of brewing medals. The county also has a collection of Joule’s family portraits which may be provided for exhibitions at a later date. Joule’s Brewery has 4 of the original portraits, so it is hoped that they may all be reunited in the future.
Chris Copp, Senior Museums Officer, Archives & Heritage of Staffordshire County Council.
We are very pleased to be able to help with this project. I have seen the new tap house which is impressive, there is clearly a great deal of passion for the project and tremendous local interest to see Joule’s, which is a big part of the story of the Town, back in Stone. The Crown Wharf development will bring the story to life and should be a substantial boost to the townscape.
Steve Nuttall of Joule’s Brewery
We are thrilled to have these pieces for display, back in the shadow of the old brewery. We have been given and loaned a whole series of Joule’s treasures, many from private owners and now from the County Council, we have been greatly moved by the engagement of everyone in Stone and we will treasure them, as I know will the all the people, who have supported the development so much in the last few years.