Brewery, mid C19. Coursed, squared rubble with tiles roofs. Ashlar dressings. A fairly large industrial building in the Italiante style. Mostly of 2 storeys and attics with irregular fenestration. Central 4-stage tower, pilastered in the upper story. First floor plat band. Semi-circular headed windows with glazing bars, some having relieving arches and keystones. Projecting wooden hoist. Roof has projecting ventilation lourves.

Wyke Brewery was founded 1760/1770 by the Matthews family who were brewers and maltsters. Beginning in an outhouse of a public house called the ‘Drum & Monkey‘ (1750) on the site of the present tower building, the pub being relocated to the opposite side of the road (south) after a fire, together with a new brewing premises. The name was then changed to the ‘Buffalo‘, associated with the Wyke Brewery’s trade mark of a buffalo charging. Brewing continued here for a time but was later moved back to the north side. Here a maltings and a vaulted cellar were erected on a site to the rear of the present tower premises. The Tower and adjoining buildings built later in approx. 1860.

It was also in the mid-19thC. That a notable member of the Matthews family, George Blandford Matthews, did much to develop the Wyke Brewery. He bought the Mill about 1850 and married Charlotte Parham who had inherited it. At Wyke, he built on the south side of the road, opposite the tower building, a good-sized stables building for the horses used with the brewery drays. It still stands there, one end on the Wyke Road. Double Doors at one side fill a large arched doorway which has carved above: "G.B.M. 1884". The doors face an unmade side road which some people call "Drum & Monkey Lane". On some maps this road is called Brewery Lane. The building, with the name "The Old Coach House" on the doors is now a private residence.

The Buffalo pub which stood nearby on the Wyke Road opposite the brewery was demolished later – houses now occupy the site. The present Buffalo pub, nearly 100 yards away in Lydford’s Lane, was built about 1900.

The brewery building was often mistaken for a church because of its tower (a second tower being added after the second World War). It brewed a very fine beer. The Matthews family owned all the ‘pubs’ in Gillingham in the 1930’s. Deliveries were made by heavy horse and wagon which were later replaced by motor transport. The ale was produced with local malt. They had their own malt floor and another branch of the family owned Purns Mill who produced malt. They had their own water supply and had a local brewer. In fact, nearly all the people in Wyke worked at the brewery and often generation followed generation. It was a very good firm to work for being good to its employees.

Eventually the Wyke Brewery was sold to Blandford brewers, Hall & Woodhouse, in 1963 but shortly afterwards Hall & Woodhouse closed the Wyke Brewery, transferring the staff of 20 to Blandford.

In 1964 the brewery premises were rented for about 10 years to Skona Ltd., run by Harvey Herbert. Skona was the world’s first non-alcoholic lager brewed by a special process patented by R. Herbert, and Panda was the country’s first ready to drink Shandy and the first to use non-returnable bottles. Other Panda soft drinks were also manufactured. A building was erected adjoining the Tower premises for use by the lorries. This now houses an antiques business. The Skona and Panda business moved to Blandford and Mr. Herbert sold out to Hall & Woodhouse.

In 1977 Hall & Woodhouse sold the brewery premises to Europa Paints, who used them as a paint factory for about 3 yrs. Before the sale, Hall & Woodhouse removed to its Blandford Museum an historically-remarkable steam engine which had been installed in the Wyke brewery in early 1900. In an edition of "Dorset Countryside", published in the early 1970’s an article referring to the Wyke Brewery states: "For the industrial archaeologist the treasury of the brewery is a superb single-cylinder horizontal steam engine built by Ruston Proctor & Col Ltd., of Lincoln, (who also made traction engines) in 1908. According to this article, the brewery had its own wells which still supplied water for steam, heating and cooling but not for brewing. The coal used came from the Somerset coalfields.