Addison & Gates and Penningtons of Bath

[K.T.]

I was at my local Ross the other day and I saw soaps from Addison & Gates and Penningtons of Bath there.

Frankly, I was surprised at what appeared to be really good quality bath soaps. The PoB came in a big bar housed in a tin and was triple milled. The A&G came in a nicely designed 3 bar set and had some very nice scents. They were oval shaped and reminded me a bit of Claus Porto soaps.

Interestingly, both of these companies are English, but all of the soaps say made in Portugal on them.

I'm wondering if that means anything. On first site, I thought the A&G soaps looked a bit like Claus Porto and had a similarly strong but nice scent. After seeing the made in Portugal on them, it made me wonder if they may have been made at the same factory.

Anyone know anything about these soaps? Both brands had websites listed on their packaging, but both were defunct. Makes me think they went out of business.

After one wash with the A&G, I have to say it's a pretty nice soap.

 

[Sabre]

I have never heard of Addison & Gates, or Pennington's of Bath. However a domain search has Pennington's of Bath owned by The Somerset Toiletry Company, aka Asquith & Somerset. They appear to own or distribute Castelbel of Porto, which are a well known Portuguese soap maker.

http://www.somersetdistribution.co.uk

http://www.castelbel.com/englishintro.html

I have seen their products in the UK and assumed their liquid products, which are similar to Baylis & Harding, were made in China.

http://baylisandharding.com

 

[Sabre]

I have just looked up addisonandgates.com and that is also owned by The Somerset Toiletry Company.

 

[Sabre]

On an older website it is implied that Penningtons of Bath is private label or exclusively distrubuted:

http://www.somersetdistribution.co.uk/asquithandsomerset/what.html

 

[K.T.]

Thank you for the great information.

Based on the fact that the Somerset company owns Both Castelbel of Porto and Addington & Gates, and the A&G soaps are made in Portugul, and that the soaps look identical save for the stamping, I would guess the A&G soaps are made by Castelbel Porto.

I had a chance to wash with it again and it lathers like a dream using a pouf. Good stuff.

I haven't used the Penningtons yet, but I would guess they are also made by Castelbel of Porto as well.