New pub marked a fresh milestone in town’s history
THE opening of the Copper Hearth in Stanton Road marked a significant milestone in the history of Burton’s pubs in July 1960.
While brewers Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton had opened many new pubs since the end of the Second World War, most had been on new housing estates and had been built to meet the expected new demand.
The Copper Hearth, however, was the first pub to be opened in Burton since the war and it wasn’t built among a swathe of new housing.
The pub had been well designed so that it blended in with the private residences in the vicinity and the new pub was said to offer the most up to date amenities for the public.
The pub was designed and built with two main rooms - the lounge and a public bar alongside an ornate window which read “wine Shop” which was for off-premises retail sales.
Built with various alcoves for “semi-private” seating, the brewers said the design had been chosen specifically to entertain small parties.
When it first opened, the bar area was finished with polished copper with China-handled beer pumps while the walls were decorated with polished West African mahogany.
The beer was kept at the perfect temperature thanks to the latest thermostatically controlled cellar cooling equipment.
The private accommodation for the licensee was a self-contained flat on the first floor which included a kitchen, dining/living area and three bedrooms.
The reason for the pub’s name was because of it being the first pub to be built in Burton since the war. The pub was important and so the name needed to suit.
Bass said The Copper Hearth was chosen because it is a part of the brewery where one of the most important processes in the art of brewing takes place. Here the unfermented beer is boiled in large copper vessels to give sterility and the characteristic flavour of which the company’s products were renowned.
The main building contractors were Hodges and Son of Burton. The architect was Mr F W Johnson of Bass.
The pub was later transformed into a supermarket. The Tesco Express store opened on May 25, 2012.