Although evidence has been found to suggest an earlier settlement on Scalpcliffe Hill, Burton is thought to have been founded in the early part of the 7th century when the Angles drifted into the region along the valley of the River Trent. Conditions were ideal to build a base here so a fort was erected and a small village community lived around it. And so the name of Burton was born, 'burh-tun', meaning fort settlement. According to legend, Modwen, an Irish nun on a pilgrimage to Rome, established a religious community and founded a church on the river island of Andresey [also has the spelling of Andressey]. The church was dedicated to Saint Andrew. Wulfric Spot, a Mercian nobleman who acted less than noble when it came to the Danes, founded an abbey at Burton around 1002-4AD. Early Christians were never ones for temperance and the monks found the well water to be highly suitable for their ales. Following the dissolution of the Monasteries, production of beer became more micro-based and it was down to the local innkeepers to produce their own brands of ale that would probably make the modern real ale fan shudder. These were beers to 'mek a mon of yer.' The first known general brewer of the modern industry was Benjamin Printon who started a brewery close to Burton Bridge in 1708. By this time the river had been improved to make it navigable between the town and Gainsborough in Lincolnshire and the term beer exporter entered the English language. New entrepreneurs soon realised there was money to be made in beer and they began to trade ale and other goods with the Baltic ports, via the port of Hull, importing in return timber, iron and flax. Russia was the key trade partner. Indeed, Catherine the Great is said to have been 'immoderately fond' of Burton's ales. In 1777, the Trent and Mersey Canal opened, creating a trade route between both coasts. However, it was the arrival of the railways in 1839 that allowed the brewers of Burton to compete more effectively with other regional breweries around the country. In fact, the brewers from other regions opted to build new plants in Burton because it was the quality of the hard water here that made Burton's beers so popular. Others sunk wells here and simply transported the water back to their own brewing plants. The cost of doing this must have been hideous but says much about the suitability of the water that they were prepared to carry out such an operation. The industry expanded rapidly during the 19th century and the town became one huge brewing plant with train lines criss-crossing between the enormous maltings, breweries and distribution centres. Although there is some tangible evidence of the town's halcyon years, the railways have gone and so have many of the public houses. In researching his "History of Burton-on-Trent", Charles Underhill found evidence of forty-six licensed victuallers in 1604. This gradually increased and peaked in the 19th century when more than 250 pubs traded in the locality. The contemporary climate may reduce the number so that it reverts back to the early 17th century figures.
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