The Beer Act of 1830 had a tremendous effect on the licensed trade, effectively freeing trade in the sale of beer. The Act created a fourth type of public house, the Victorian beer house. Inns, taverns and alehouses came under the surveillance of magistrates, but any householder who paid rates might apply for a two guinea excise licence to sell beer and brew it on his premises.

The reasoning behind the Act is still debated by historians however the promotion of beer to the detriment of gin and the aiding of agriculture through a greater demand for malted barley appear to have been important issues of the day.

Within a mere eight years 46,000 beer houses were opened almost doubling the number of licensed premises. It was not until 1869 that this growth was checked by magisterial control. In this year the ease at which a licence could be obtained was removed and the licensing laws we operate under today were formulated.

In 1845 the King family built a Victorian beer house in Cannon Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Along with the inn (The St Edmunds Head), a large brewery was also constructed alongside, linked to the premises by a brick archway.

This was a purpose built inn, solid and spaciously constructed in red brick with a facing of Suffolk whites. When the new licence was granted, the town’s magistrates were delighted to find that the premises were "very capable".

The first landlord was Charles Downes who had previously been the Landlord at the Seven Stars in Long Brackland. The magistrates commented that his "respectability was a guarantee for good conduct."

The St. Edmunds Head opened officially on Wednesday the 19th of January 1848. The notification was delightfully advertised in the Bury Post where Charles

^{"begged to inform his country friends that he shall be happy to see them to dinner on Wednesday next, the 19th instant, to commemorate the opening of the above inn."}

^{Charles Downes did not stay at the St Edmunds Head for long but two names were associated with the inn from the late 1850’s to well into the 20th century.}

^{Daniel Allen from Alpheton took over the inn in the late 1850’s and was listed as a brewer in the 1864 directory, but for the years 1868-1885 he was only listed as a publican indicating that brewing had ceased.}

^{The Cannon brewery came into existence when the St Edmunds Head was sold to Harry Colson in 1887. Harry succeeded Charles Colson who was victualler at the Three Horseshoes, Northgate Street and soon after the sale, brewing recommenced at the new styled brewery.}

^{This was a time when the retailing of beer was being transformed and the period between 1880 and 1900 saw a scramble for licensed property and the formation of the tied estate system that prevails to this day.}

^{The brewery and inn flourished during this period until the early 1900’s when the brewing and licensed trade were dealt a cruel blow by increased duties (which were doubled) along with escalating raw material prices. The year 1909 spelt doom for the brewing industry as reported in the Brewer’s Journal in January 1910.}

^{‘The year just closed will undoubtedly go down to history as the blackest, without exception, in the annals of the brewing and licensed trade.’}

^{Harry Colson died c.1916 to be succeeded by his son Willy Harry who continued to brew for a short time after his father’s death. Although the Cannon brewery stopped brewing, the St Edmunds Head continued in the Colson name for many years. The cessation of brewing at Cannon Street may be attributed to the economic climate at the time or maybe because the brewing skills were not passed on.}

^{We might never know.}

^{Both wars had an impact on brewing and public house operation in England. Due to the tremendous loss of life, many of the craft skills were not passed on through the generations and after the Second World War, real ale declined in quality. This lead to the Keg beer proliferation in the 1970’s and the subsequent birth of CAMRA, the most successful consumer group ever.}

^{Here is a picture of Edward John Percival Edwards C. 1955  who ran the Cannon from 1934 to 1958. The strange pipes in front of the pumps still puzzle us today so if anyone knows what they were for or how they worked we would be very interested.}

^{The Cannon Brewery when it ceased production was the last of the Victorian beer houses brewing its own beer. This left only one brewery in Bury St Edmunds.}

^{The St Edmunds Head was bought from Flowers by Greene King in 1958 and was closed on the 31st August 1994. On the 3rd of December 1999 the history of the site went full circle with the reopening of the Old Cannon Brewery.}