How London was hit by a beer flood 200 years ago and destroyed the capital of Great Britain

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In 1814, several districts of London were flooded with … tons of beer. It sounds very funny, like something anecdotal, but in fact it was not funny. At all. A four-meter beer tsunami swept through the city, turning it into ruins and taking the lives of eight people. How did it happen?

Such stories, after such a huge amount of time, invariably become overgrown with a whole heap of legends. Of course, a lot looks very controversial now. The most reliable facts contain news from the newspapers of the time.

It all started quite rosy: in 1764, at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, a brewery opened, which the owners called "Horseshoe". The fact is that there was an old tavern that bore this name. The company grew rather quickly. The volumes of the drink produced were quite large.

In 1792, the brewery was owned by John Stephenson. Brewing technologies at that time consisted of a boiling stage, after which the liquid was cooled in special containers, and then pumped into vats, where the fermentation process was already taking place. All this equipment was located on the top floor of the building. The owner once got so involved in the process of supervising the production that he fell into one of the vats and drowned.

After this tragic incident, the brewery was bought by businessman and parliamentarian Henry Moe. He was an accomplished brewer, owner of several lucrative London pubs. Mo changed the brewing technology at Podkova. To give a special taste to the drink, light beer was mixed with porter. Henry bought a special expensive tank for this purpose, which contained more than three thousand liters.

"Horseshoe", thanks to all the efforts and innovations of the entrepreneur, is increasing production. Mo's company is growing. Sad events were not long in coming. Once a protective hoop burst on one of the tanks. This colossus weighed as much as 700 kilograms. The giant barrel contained 560 thousand liters of porter. The incident was not given much importance, because similar breakdowns have happened before. But then something unpredictable happened: an explosion thundered and tons of beer, destroying the wall, splashed out onto the streets of the city.

Inside the building, workers swam in a sea of beer and tried to rescue those who could not swim. A beer tsunami swept through the streets, sweeping away everything in its path. Most of those who lived nearby were poor Irish immigrants. People used pieces of furniture by clinging to them to save themselves. The first victim of the beer flood was a fourteen-year-old girl. Her mother and sister miraculously survived. The beer made its way to the second floors of London houses. In one of them, a very small girl died. Londoners tell the story of a family gathering for a memorial service for their deceased son. Everyone who was at that time in the house at this mourning ceremony died.

The press at the time described the aftermath of the tragedy as if it were an earthquake. The wounded screamed under the rubble of buildings. It was very creepy. Against the background of all this nightmare, people looked even more wild, ignoring the grief of the victims, scooping and drinking the spilled beer. In the meantime, the rescuers had to not only dismantle the ruins, but also calm the screaming onlookers, because they could not hear the groans of people under the rubble.

At first, the number of victims was called simply huge - about three dozen. In fact, there were eight official victims. The wounded were taken to a local hospital. If the accident had happened not early in the morning, but only an hour later, then everything could have been much more catastrophic. The police classified the case as an accident and it was closed. None of the workers of "Horseshoe" nor of its owners were punished for criminal negligence.

The local clergy organized a fundraiser to help those who suffered from the flood. The losses from him were colossal. London brewers donated a lot of money. Of course, Horseshoe itself suffered the most financially. Henry Moe has applied to Parliament for a refund of the tax paid on beer, which poured into the streets of London. A year later, this law was adopted and this allowed Podkova not only to stay afloat, but also to maintain its leading position in the market. Until the early 20th century, the brewery remained a very profitable enterprise.

The city grew and over time, the building where the brewery was located began to interfere. The city authorities closed the Horseshoe and in 1929 the Dominion Theater was built in its place. There he still stands.

Human lives cannot be returned and the victims were also left without compensation. The disaster could have been avoided. A grim omen of an impending tragedy - the floating hat of John Stephenson, drowned in one of the vats of beer.

A country like England has a very rich history. Read our article about what secrets hides the underground labyrinth built under Liverpool by an eccentric philanthropist.