Bottoms Up

Yorkshire’s brewing heritage is celebrated in an exhibition at Temple Newsam House

- Paul Mackenzie

Are you feeling thirsty? Get yourself a beer. Is there a cause for celebration, or do you need to drown your sorrows? Get yourself a beer. Are you suffering with jaundice? Get yourself a beer. It’s the drink for all occasions and an exhibition opening this month in Leeds provides the perfect chance to raise a glass to what is arguably our national drink (yes, yes we know about tea).

The exhibition, at Temple Newsam, looks at the significance of beer during the 18th century and reveals aspects of life on estate through the eyes of the staff and aristocrats who lived, worked, brewed and drank there.

At a time when drinking water was often contaminated, beer offered a safe and nutritious alternative which could be enjoyed across all social scales and it was even used to treat a range of ailments. At Temple Newsam in 1749, Ann Scarburgh’s apothecary prescribed her ‘ingredients for Six Gallons of Beer yr Ladyships’. How she felt after that is not recorded.