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History of The Compasses and Ridley's Brewery
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Until the Monday 4th July 2005 the Inn was owned by Ridley's brewery and, being the nearest pub to the brewery, was referred to as The Brewery Tap.

The story of how Ridley's brewery came to be established begins with William Ridley, who in 1811 married Maria Dixon, the daughter of a mill owner at Hartford End. Shortly after their marriage the ownership of the mill passed to both William and Maria.

Many of the old pubs were originally bakeries supplied by the Ridley's Mill and in some of the pubs parts of the original ovens are still in place.

In 1814, Maria gave birth to Thomas Dixon Ridley and it is after him that T D Ridley & Sons Limited is named.

Thomas Dixon took on his father's business, expanding the milling side and in 1841 he married Lydia Wells, who came from a brewing family in Chelmsford. Within a year, Thomas Dixon had built his own brewery downstream from the mill on the bank of the River Chelmer, just two miles North of the Compasses Inn and the transition from miller to brewer had begun.

The business expanded rapidly and by 1882, the year of Thomas Dixon's death, he had already established a chain of inns ranging from the Sun at Saffron Walden (their most Northern outlet) to the Wheatsheaf at Rettendon (their most Southern).

Ridley's were famous at that time for continuing to supply beer in wooden casks, a practice which they maintained well into the 1980's. They brewed two cask beers, Ridley's bitter and Ridley's mild. However the mild was rumoured to be identical to the bitter except for the addition of caramel to make it dark. Both were 3.5% ABV.

In their later years Ridleys began to experiment brewing a range of different real ales, for example Witchfinder Porter: a dark beer with a strong hoppy finish. They also re-badged their bitter as Ridleys IPA.

In August 2002 Ridley's acquired Tolly Cobbold brands, estate and distribution contracts. They immediately closed the Ipswich brewery and brewed the beers at their Hartford End site.

Sadly however, in the Summer of 2005, the Ridley family sold the entire estate of Victorian brewery and 73 pubs to Greene King who promptly ceased production at the historic brewery. Locals tried to petition Greene King to save their beloved brewery but it was to no avail. By this time Greene King had built up a long standing reputation for buying and closing other breweries starting with Rayments of Hertfordshire in 1987.

As for The Compasses, after a while under a tenant, and then a manager, Greene King lost interest and put the historic Inn up for sale. They tried to get permission to sell it as a private house but finally sold it together with it's license to the current owner - Jocelyn Ridley - who is indeed a direct relative of the original Ridley brewing family. The popular local Inn was saved. Does Jocelyn  intend to start brewing and put Ridley's back on the map? Why not come to the Inn and ask him yourself?

Littley Green refers to Little Lee Green, where Lee is probably a misspelling of Leighs or Leez. The building was constructed in the 1880's and the name can be traced back to 1882. The first recorded publican was George Dalby in 1882.

The Inn is constructed primarily of red clay bricks, probably locally made.  In 1895 the licensee was Albert J. Britton.

The Compasses Mystery

The Compasses at Littley Green lies on a straight line 10 miles long of three pubs called the (Square and) Compasses. Coincidence? How is a church, LOST FOR 650 YEARS pinpointed by a fourth pub called the Compasses and using a 'square and a compass' 10 miles across. Click here to read more about the Compasses Mystery.

The Compasses Cats

The most famous pub cat was Boots who remained with the pub when the last tenants, Will and Jan Preston, took over. Sadly Boots passed away and the their cat is Mocha. Briefly it was Mocha and Jasmin but Jasmin decided to move on and now lives happily with Mark just down the road.