Pope’s Yard Brewery to return to Watford at new location

Pope’s Yard Brewery was founded in Watford in 2012 by Barbara Leenen, her partner Geoff Latham, and his brother-in-law Ben Childs.

It began as a registered brewery in their Watford home, but as it expanded it moved to an industrial unit in Riverside Road and then the old Wemco building in Whippendell Road.

Pope's Yard Brewery (Image: Pope's Yard Brewery)

When that site was demolished they had to move again and ended up in Frogmore Mill in Apsley, despite not wishing to leave Watford.

Barbara explained that the business is not ready to reveal the exact location yet but it is planning to open this summer.

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“We are very excited to now have found a space in Watford again that will give us more security, as we own it, and also room to expand,” she said.

“The unit is fully underground and provides a more stable temperature which is ideal for brewing and storing beer.”

Pope's Yard Brewery new location (Image: Pope's Yard Brewery)

Visitors would need to use tunnels to reach the location and its “eerie” feeling has apparently attracted the attention of location scouts.

So far some smaller filming projects have taken place and location scouts for larger projects and music videos have apparently expressed an interest.

“It’s a really interesting site,” Barbara said. “Nothing has happened there as far as we know since the 60s.”

She described the atmosphere as “speakeasy-style”, and said, although it isn’t suited to hosting a taproom, Pope’s Yard hopes to put on pop-up events and installations on-site.

Pope’s Yard takes its name from Watford’s most successful brewery in the 1600s, named after its founder John Pope.

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It says it aims to produce “beautiful, handcrafted ales" using some traditional ingredients and some more “avant-garde” ingredients and processes.

Pope's Yard Brewery (Image: Pope's Yard Brewery)

Bottles and casks can be found at local events, delis, shops and pubs, as well as further afield in places like Switzerland and Holland.

Barbara worked as a graphic designer before starting the business and still makes the brewery’s designs.