The Bowyers story
The former Bowyers factory traces its roots to Abraham Bowyer. Born in 1793, Abraham established himself as a butcher in nearby Staverton before moving to Trowbridge where he opened a grocer and baker’s shop on Fore Street. He became one of the town’s foremost provision merchants while also curing bacon on a commercial scale.
Abraham’s son Elijah followed him into the bacon curing and sausage trade and, by 1855, they were successful grocers and provisions dealers with outlets in both Fore Street and Roundstone Street. The Bowyers played a role in building Wiltshire’s reputation for high quality bacon and pork products. Their bacon was well matured and very different in taste to anything we have today.
After Abraham passed away in 1873, Elijah continued to trade under the name of Bowyer and Son, acquiring the site at Innox Mills between the river and railway by 1880.
In the late 1880s, he entered into partnership with local bacon curing specialists, JR Philpott and John Sawyer, forming Bowyers into a company. This led to a period of growth, including a takeover of Paynes Trowbridge Bacon Company, but the businesses became less profitable following Elijah’s death 12 years later.
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The war years
By 1924 the company had been taken over by Raymond Harris, who’s family had owned a company of bacon curers at Calne. Following a challenging time in the years leading up to the Second World War, things took a turn when the Ministry of Food took control of the company’s buildings, machinery and much of its operations in 1940.
Bowyers played an important role in the provision of food to the armed services during wartime. Many employees had left to join the services and the company operated under the threat of air raids in the wake of heavy attacks on nearby Bath and Bristol. Despite such challenges, the company remained profitable, but the Government was concerned about keeping profits due to the war conditions. Shareholders never complained about this, keen to do their bit to contribute to the war effort.
A new era
All Government controls on the Bowyers business were removed in 1951 and, just a couple of years later, the company made a trading profit of £71,407, compared to £9,255 in 1939.
Early in 1959, the manufacture of Bowyers sausages was transferred to a single-storey building of nearly 3,810 metres, centralising production. The company’s Brittania Sausage became its biggest product, containing around 90% fresh pork.
Bowyers achieved phenomenal success in the 1960s and 1970s, when sales reached an all-time high of £3m and the company was exporting to 42 countries including the West Indies, South Africa, Bahrain, France and Sweden.
However, this success made Bowyers vulnerable to takeovers and, following an amalgamation and subsequent acquisition, the management board had altered beyond recognition by the early 1980s. The company was making a loss when its shareholding was transferred to Northern Foods Plc in July 1985. This included the purchase of its Trowbridge factory.
Early in 1988, Trowbridge’s pork and meat division closed. Changing tastes and imports of foreign bacon made it difficult to use the ‘complete pig’, as Bowyers had previously done, and its boning hall and slaughterhouse were converted into a fried products unit. Scotch eggs and fried sausages were among the products sold under the Bowyers label and to Marks & Spencer.
The sausage department was refurbished in the late 80s and soon gained a £4.5m extension which made Bowyers the largest producer of fresh sausages.
In January 2008, Bowyers was sold to Pork Farms, a part of Vision Capital, which closed its Trowbridge operation and production ceased on 28 March that year. The former factory was left abandoned over the years that followed, falling into disrepair. After its acquisition by Innox Mills Ltd in [2016], a new chapter began for the 6 Stallard Street, with plans in motion to transform it into the creative hub it is today. Bowyers Studios opened its doors in May 2024