After almost exactly one hundred years (1876-78), the Bass brewery buildings were rebuilt. The Town House, seen on the left which was build it 1777 remained. This etching was produced in 1882 when it was almost new.

The scene remains pretty much the same in this 1904 photograph, except that the very modern trams can now be seen alongside horse driven transport.

The Bass buildings are still very much in evidence today and still dominate High Street. This scene would still be highly recognisable by any Victorian Burtonian.

It now seems almost eerie seeming the front door open. It is a door which only senior staff, including of course, Mr Bass himself, would be allowed to enter by.

Once inside, you are faced with the original stairway and the feeling that you have stepped into a time-zone. It is very surreal sight made all the more so that like most Burtonians, I have passed this building hundreds of times without ever a thought for what might be inside other than mundane offices.

As the stairs are ascended, the wonderful balcony has a single door which, romantically, it is nice to think of as Mr Bass’ personal office but is in fact, the board room, still used today.

A quick glance up at the ceiling reminds that this is no modern day office block.

Even the boardroom door provides a sense of times passed.

And so to work, down one of the main corridors on the upper floor which would have housed the most senior staff.

With the usual Victorian eye for detail, there are numerous examples of fine stonework with brewing related stonework. In these examples, hops…

… and Barley

Memorial tablets show the names of Bass employees lost during the 1914-18 World War, which were of course, added after Michael Arthur Bass who died in 1909.

If the inside seems like a haven to day, the reality of the end of the nineteenth century has to be taken into consideration to realise how much more so it would have been at the time. This lovely photo, taken from the top of St Modwen’s Church tower, with Burton Grammar School in the foreground, gives a feel for the whole Bass site which was a forest of chimneys producing an almost permanent smog. Burtonians will have little difficulty in working out where both Bass House and the adjacent Bass Town House sit in the middle of everything.

The High Street entrance is still evident, although the central pillar was removed to make the entrance wider for lorries, and shows the side entrance to Mr Bass’ town house on the left, complete with his horse mounting block which has to this day been preserved as a feature, and bass House on the right.

The modern view has changed somewhat with all of the buildings to the rear now gone.

One final photo of interest shows Bass House proudly decorated for Queen Victoria’s Diamond (60 years) Jubilee in 1897.