LBTC bicycle tour Stop: why not enjoying a short walk around  Brixton now?

A very interesting cultural destination, thanks to its diverse religious, ethnic, social… heritage, within a built environment layered with history.

By a Roman road, it took a long time before the area to be built on. By the Georgian period there were large houses (think RALEIGH HALL, now BLACK CULTURAL ARCHIVES)   with extensive gardens, surrounded by farmland and orchards.

The Brixton we know today is largely a result of a rapid Victorian development, after the arrival of the railway in 1862. New streets with terraced houses were built to accommodate the growing population, and retail entrepreneurs converted the  houses along the main road into shops. Later,they would built the first and finest department stores, including their service buildings. By the late 1880s a purposely built shopping street was created, and the first to be lit by electric lights…

Brixton had become a thriving middle class suburb, and a major shopping centre. Theatre, cinemas, indoor markets followed…well into the 20s/30s, cementing its reputation as a shopping capital of South London. 
The EMPIRE THEATRE was booming… the music hall circuit was at its peak, and the performers were the most lauded and the highest paid members of society (“I earn more than the PM but I do so much less harm”… one of the lucky ones said).

By the 1930s, the middle classes were fleeing, and their houses broken up into cheap flats and lodgings. Ideal living quarters for some not-so-successful artists… The boxes of the EMPIRE were removed and made way for cheap seats..

With the arrival of the first West Indians on board of the EMPIRE WINDRUSH and other ships, as many of the new arrivals were accommodated in the CLAPHAM SOUTH former AIR RAID SHELTER and the main LABOUR EXCHANGE was sited in COLDHARBOUR LANE (see later),  BRIXTON became the hub of London’s CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY

In the 1950s comedians, singers, ventriloquists, acrobats…all type of performers were living in Brixton. TOM MAJOR-BALL, a former acrobat,  lived with his family at no.144 COLDHARBOUR LANE…

Abraham Thomas Ball had started his music hall and circus career  at the end of the 19th c. He became a successful double act with KITTY GRANT, singer and dancer, to whom he would marry. They were called DRUM & MAJOR, successfully performing acrobatics, comedy sketches, songs… After a year of meeting they went on tour to S.AME., being caught up in a civil war, in URUG.  Ball enlisted in a local militia…

In 1928, Kitty had a tragic on-stage accident, and on her death bed, she asked young dancer GWEN COATES, who had only recently joined their act to look after Abr.Th.Ball. She did, they married, and in 1943 she gave birth to John MAJOR.

This is the John Major, who would become Leader of the Conservative Party and British PM (1991-97). He lived with his family  in COLDHARBOUR LANE, in 2 rooms, sharing the cooker and the toilet. The landlord was “UNCLE” TOM (Ball had,in 1901, an affair an affair wit the wife of a young music,  MARY MOSS) who was, as well, involved in stage (an his sister, as well: JILL SUMMERS, who achieved fame in CORONATION STREET). 

DON ARDEN, father of SHARON OSBOURNE. Black and White Minstrel Show, later agent/manager. His landlady was pianist WINIFRED ATWELL (honky-tonky ragtime music (salon in RAILTON ROAD, burnt down to the ground, during the 1981 UPRISING)

Walking route

As new housing started to appear, then population boomed, and the nearest church was the original, ancient ST.MARY’S, LAMBETH PARISH, new churches had to be built (Waterloo, Kennington,  Norwood)
Following 1818  CHURCH BUI. ACT. (Commissioners, or Waterloo, or Million Act Churches). Arch. CH.FERDON PURDEN. On land taken from RUSH COMMON. F.stone, Arch.Canterbury CH.MANNERS SUTTON. Consec. 1824.

Pale yellowish brick, stone dressings, Roman cement (clay and calcium, patented by JAMES PARKER, 1780s).

West portico, Doric style, fluted Doric col. Door panels architraves. Boot scrapers.

Entrances to crypt, pedimented doorways.

East end, stone faced.

Tower with square bell stage, w/ Doric screens. Octogonal TOWER OF WINDS. Placing the tower on this side was controversial: the reason for it was reducing the risk of sinking as this used marshland, and osier beds used to occupy the area (EFFRA RIVER).

In the 70s underused and dilapidated. The vicar had a vision: sharing the facilities and contributing the resources: a young architect transformed the classical interior into a multipurpose space. The worship area was thus reduced. And Anglicanism shared it with happy clappy  NEW TESTAMENT ASSEMBLY

Original wide gallery, pews, memorial tablets.

THE BRIX AT ST.MATTHEWS’S was the charitable organisation which managed the building  90s and first 2000s.  Head-leaseholders charge rent to long term leaseholders or fees to casual users.

New internal changes took place.

Controversial.

6 levels connected by central circular staircase. Variety of activities: offices, community hall, theatre, dance, rehearsal space…

Restaurant in the crypt

Nigthclub in the 4th floor.

Barbecues in the PEACE GARDEN

Drug dealing, taxi touting, crime i increase.

Proposals for a new redevelopment, in order to make a more cultural use.

1825. Granite and Portland stone. Classical and Egyptian motifs. Fancy, ostentatious, lavish. Created by son HENRY (who predeceased his father and is buried here), as well. R.B “of the STOCK EXCHANGE “ was initially buried in ST.BOTOLPH, but reinterred here. H.B. was a property speculator and investor.
The family estate, in TWICKENHAM PARK, passed to WILLIAM, the other son, “provided he didn’t grow moustaches”. W’s daugter,Phoebe, left the estate to the estate gardener/steward on condition he changed his name to BUDD.

Built to replace the former ST.MARY’S parish vestry, KENNINGTON ROAD, when Lambeth became a METROPOLITAN BOROUGH, in 1900, and civic leaders saw the need to have a larger building to accommodate the growing services provided by the local authority.

After a design competition where 143 entries where received, the EDWARDIAN BAROQUE project of architects. SEPTIMUS WARWICK and H.AUSTIN HALL was  selected. £40.000. Opened in 1908 by the PW later KGV. In 1935-38, an extension was built westwards, adding extra roof and creating an assembly hall. Arch.: WHINNEY, SON, and AUSTIN HALL, with E.R.SILVER. Refurb. 2018

Port.stone, Norw.granite, red brick. Doric pilasters flanking the doorway. Coat of arms. 
5 tall wind with integrated oculi interspersed with IONIC columns.

41 meters (134 ft) TOWER. Clock faces surrounded by figures JUSTICE, SCIENCE, ART and LITERATURE. Local Big Ben chimes every 15 min. 
Inside: stained glass, sculptures, metal work

10,3 sq.m (26.8 sq.km). 326.000 people (2019]. 57% white, 26% black, 4% mixed

Here, this seat of local government, through the 70s and 80s boasted a b “ loony left”.image second to none

Major stood again as Councillor in the 1968 Lambeth London Borough Council election, this time for Ferndale ward. Though a Labour stronghold, the Conservatives received a huge boost following Enoch Powell's anti-immigration 'Rivers of Blood speech' in April 1968 and Major won, despite strongly disapproving of Powell's views.^[52][53] Major took a major interest in housing matters, with Lambeth notorious for overcrowding and poor-quality rented accommodation. In February 1970 Major became Chairman of the Housing Committee, being responsible for overseeing the building of several large council estates.^{[54][55][nb 5]}He also promoted more openness at the council, initiating a series of public meetings with local residents.^[57][58] Major also undertook fact-finding trips to the Netherlands, Finland and the Soviet Union.^[59][60] Despite the Lambeth housing team being well-regarded nationally, Major lost his seat in the 1971 Lambeth London Borough Council election.^[61]

Renamed 1998. Before, BRIXTON OVAL and TATE GARDENS.

Originally, the Motor Vessel MONTE ROSA, passenger liner, launched in 1930 for the HAMBURG SUD shipping line, between Germany and Britain. It became a transport ship of the KRIEGSMARINE. At the end of the war taken by the British it continued as a troop transport ship until it caugh fire and sank in the Mediterranean, in1954.

In 1948 the EW brought one of the first large groups of post-WW2 WEST INDIAN immigrants to the UK: 1027 passengers and 2 stowaways, in a journey from Jamaica. 802 of them where from somewhere in the Caribbean. There were Mexican, Polish, and people from other countries, including Britons.  693 intended to settle.
Amongst them were the first of the WINDRUSH GENERATION, which includes others who arrived on later ships.

In 1948  the EW was on route from Austr. To Br. via Kingston, in order to pick servicemen up on leave. The 1948  BRITISH NACIONALITY ACT gave status of citizenship of UK & Colonies to all British subjects connected with either the UK or one of its colonies. Some migrants decided to embark ahead of the game. Prior to 1962 CUKC could settle indefinitely in the UK without restrictions.

An opportunistic ad was placed in Jamaican papers offering cheap travel for anyone wanting to come and work. Many former servicemen saw it as an opportunity to return, be it to rejoin the army or to known the mother country. How many?: 492 is a common given figure 

SAM BEAVER KING, who came to rejoin the RAF, helped to found the NH CARNIVAL. He became Mayor of Southwark.

LORD KITCHENER, LORD BEGINNER, LORD WOODBINE and MONA BAPTISTE were calypso music artists.

JOHN HENRY CLAVELL SMYTHE, a RAF officer, served as a welfare officer in the ship, and go on to become Attorney General of S. LEO.

NANCY CUNARD, the heiress, was on her way back from Trinidad. She took a fancy and looked after stowaway EVELYN WAUCHOPE, 39, dressmaker, who was discovered on board but £54 were raised in a whip round organised onboard.

The arrival in England was a notable news event. The EVENING STANDARD dispatched an aircraft to the English Channel to photography the ship from the air, a pic was printed in the front page.

Docked at TILBURY on the 21 June, the passengers disembarked the next day, all covered by the newspapers and PATHE newsreels.

A a result, the word  WINDRUSH came to be used a shorthand for WI immigration and, by extension, for the beginning of modern Brit. MULTICULTURAL society.

The arrival of those civilians, though, was not welcome. Minister of Labour, G.ISAAC, stated that immigration would not be encouraged. Secretary of Estate for the Colonies  ARTHUR CREECH JONES, published a memo noting that neither the Brit.nor the Jam. govs. could legally prevent it, but both sides would take steps towards discouraging it. Despite this, the first legislation contrary to immigration was not passed until 1962.

Recession, turbulence, industrial unrest, unemployment (it affected up to 4 times Black Caribbeans as much as their white counterparts)

Discrimination, societal racism, oppressive policing ==>riots (Brixton, Tottenham).

Racial discrimination and racial disadvantage were identified by the CARMAN REPORT (under W.WHITELAW, Home Secretary).

A Joint Campaign Against Racism reported 20.000+ attacks.

1993.The STEPHEN LAWRENCE murder led to investigation into police conduct: the MCPHERSON ENQUIRY recognised INSTITUTIONAL RACISM in the MET.

2015.National Caribbean Heritage Museum (Nottingham), established.

2018. Windrush Day, established. The 22nd of June.

People who migrated to the UK between 1948 and 1973 and lived and worked there legally were wrongfully detained, denied rights, and threatened with deportation (or actually deported) by the Home Office. Those affected were almost all black…members of the WINDRUSH GENERATION.

2 houses, built around 1824. The buildings housed the CINEMA MUSEUM in the mid 80s. Then, fashion firms and design workshops. At the end of the 90s, derelict (and included in the EH R of Hist.Bui.at Risk)

"They died so others may live"

HENRY TATE was b., 1819, In CHORLEY (Lancs.) He did a 7 y.apprenticeship grocer in Liverpool. At 35 he already had 6 stores.

In 1858 partnered with refiner WRIGHT, then took control, establishing HT and sons. He patented a machine to make sugar cubes (instead of selling it by loaves).
He opened SILVERTOWN FACTORY (See www.visit-Londons-east-end.co.uk, part V).

He set up house in STREATHAM, building a collection of contemporary Brit. paintings, which were hung in his library and billiard room. In 1889 his collection was donated (together with £80.000, towards the construction of a building) on condition that it should be displayed as the NATIONAL GALLERY OF GREAT BRITAIN. It opened in 1897, as TATE GALLERY (now diversified as TATE BRITAIN (British art)and TATE MODERN (International art).

The TATE and the LYLE families were not slave owners, but it is true that the sugar industry was constructed on the foundations of slavery. Their fathers (a grocer and a cooper) were connected to sugar and rum trade… After the end of slave trade, sugar continued to com from S.Ame. and Carib. countries, slave economies. Post-slavery, wage labourers and indentured labour were used, up to the middle of the 20th.c, contributing to the underdevelopment and impoverishment of the region.

For sure, many TATE artworks are associated with slave owners.

HENRY TATE helped create up to 3 libraries in South London and other charities. Tate made many donations, often anonymously and always discreetly, and supported "alternative" and non-establishment causes. For example, he donated £10,000 for the library of what is now Oxford University's Harris Manchester College, though it was originally founded in Warrington in 1786 as a dissenting academy to provide religious nonconformists with higher education. He also gave the college £5,000 to promote the "theory and art of preaching". In addition, he gave £20,000 to the Liverpool Homeopathic Hospital in 1885. He particularly supported health and education with his money, giving £42,500 to Liverpool University, £3,500 to Bedford College for Women, and £5,000 to Streatham Library. In addition to Streatham, provisions were made for libraries in other areas of London such as Balham, Brixton, and South Lambeth.^[2] He gave £8,000 to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary and £5,000 to the Queen's Nursing Institute.

1911. The oldest purpose-built cinema in South London, second in London.See EP initials on the corner wall.

Including the old entrance of the BRIXTON THEATRE and a modern extension

1894. By Sir HENRY IRVING.

Designed by arch. FRANK MATCHAM, for 1.504 spectators. The BRIXTON THEATRE and OPERA HOUSE became the MELVILLE in 1940… and it was destroyed during an air raid shortly afterwards.

ELECTRIC AVENUE was built in the 1880s, electric light and glazed iron canopies were incorporated.

The arcades date from the 1920s/30s. RELIANCE, 1924, was originally a pedestrian route. Some Georgian houses were initially incorporated.

ELECTRIC LANE: See THE Egyptian tomb façade

MARKET ROW (ANDREWS AND PEASCOD) was b. in the backyards of existing premises.

BRIXTON VILLAGE was GRANVILLE ARCADE (the developer was PH.GRANVILLE-GROSSMAN, with ALF. and VINC.BURR. It was op. By actor CARL BRISSON. Made out of multiple narrow streets (AVENUES).

Forming a network of stalls, with a special, distinctive character. They mark out Brixton from other Ldn. suburbs

And then…the cultural mix, the variety of goods… at one stage they were the soul of BLACK LONDON.

2000s: the shops in the arcades have increasingly been converted into cafés and restaurants, with a wide range of diff.cuisines, and open until late. Less African and Caribbean products on sale, more from South American and European origin, reflecting the changing of the predominance of the communities.

The street markets are managed by the Council, the Arcades are private. However, they have received substantial public funding for refurbishment under the Brixton Challenge grant scheme.

Unveiled in 2010, the Foxes and Cherries sculptures were created by Buckinghamshire-born artist Lucy Casson and can be found above Brixton market on the south-west corner of Electric Avenue and Electric Lane

Although, it was never written about Brixton (and preceeded the riots by two years) Eddy’s 1979 single ‘Living on the Front Line’ (video below) was adopted by residents of Brixton and sung as a protest song in the riots of 1981. He saw a potential for violence. People feeling they were being  left behind. The song was a wake up call.

In 2016 EG opened the new EA refurbished..

Rival to the SAINSBURYS (John and Mary). Personal, acrimonious feelings developed between the 2 sides, due to the betrayal of a verbal agreement…

Established FIRST here, then HQ in WATERLOO ROAD. Shops across Southern England, 220+ stores by the 60’s.

SOUTHEASTERN trains to VICTORIA STA.

B.1937 by the developer GRANVILLE-GROSSMAN. On the site of the LAMBETH CARLTON CLUB, originally CARLTON HOUSE. Large Georgian houses were the first premises of the shopping precinct.

Michael Johns: A famous toilets attendant!

Based in the beating heart of Brixton, Pop is a unique event space and home to the most exciting independent start-ups and businesses in London in food, beverage, music, film, education and mental health. 

Founded as a “Meanwhile” project in partnership with Lambeth Council on the site of a disused ice-rink in 2015, Pop’s inspirational space - created from 55 containers - is internationally recognised for social impact and its architectural significance.

Designed for Lambeth Council in 1970 by a team led by George Finch

Eastwards, under the arches: towards PECKHAM. See chapter

Westwards

(…)In 1953 the Narayans emigrated to Britain. Rudy was 15 at the time and continued with his education part-time, while holding down casual jobs. However, aged 20 he decided to join the British army, and served for 7 years before leaving to train as a barrister. He studied at the Lincolns Inn where he became founder and first president of the bar students' union in 1965.

He became a persuasive and eloquent advocate who specialised in trials arising from conflicts between police and ethnic minority communities. His trials included the Black Star Club, the Bristol Twelve, the murder of Donat Gomez, the Cricklewood Twelve, the Leeds Bonfire Eight, the Metro Four, the Newham Seven, the Scarman Inquiry and the Thornton Heath Sixteen. He defended some of the British Black Panthers and defendants accused in the riots of Handsworth, Brixton, and Bristol in the 1980s.

(…)However, his uncompromising stance led to a series of run-ins with the legal establishment, and he was eventually disbarred in 1994 for professional misconduct. Four years later on 28 June 1998 he died of liver cirrhosis at King's College Hospital in Lambeth London aged 60.

Arts Centre

Remember the EMPIRE WINDRUSH, and the new CARIBBEAN arrivals?. Those that had not already arranged accommodation were temporarily housed in the Clapham South deep shelter (see chapter), which had been built under the London Underground station as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War. 

The nearest employment exchange to Clapham happened to the Coldharbour Lane Labour Exchange, HERE, less than a mile away. Many of the arrivals sought work here, working for state-run services like the newly-formed National Health Service and London Transport. They then moved into rented houses and rooms in the Brixton and Clapham areas where large Caribbean communities developed.

The work takes the form of two large egg-shaped sculptures that are identical in shape, but different in appearance, having been cast using the same mould but in different metals.

Often mistaken for Brixton Prison to the chagrin of residents, Southwyck House, SW9 is known locally as the Barrier Block and presents a daunting edifice on Coldharbour Lane.

Back alongside the BRIXTON ROAD and off-streets

In its heyday, in the late 19th c. BXT was becoming  the premier shopping centre in the whole of South London. If the Caribbean community transformed the markets and arcades (from dram to colourful and raucous), before their arrival this had been the OXFORD ST. of South Ldn. A very posh place, indeed, with up to 4 genteel department stores!.

0riginally, 1880, MORLEY & LANCEY, and still going strong as MORLEY’s, since. 1927.

An unremarkable brick building, certainly not the most striking. The previous modern shop sign did not even contain a capital letter.

Mid range, regular brands. A CAFFÉ NERO on the first floors, and toilets. Insights of history on the staircase.

1852. Aristide Boucicault, set up a fixed price store. He progressed…

1872. Rue de Babylone. As things were going so well…

1876. Eiffel land Boileau’s new building opens. Splendorous, stunning light wells…the mother of all dept.stores.

A year later,  BON MARCHÉ was opened HERE, followed by  SIDNEY (now a university building) and SEATTLE (merged with MACY’S), and other cities.

In BRIXTON, Mr.Smith, after been in Paris on a holiday, and seen LBM…copied shamelessly the idea!. 1877. Elegant ladies stepped off trams to inspect the blouses and millinery departments of “South London Premier Store”.

1926. Bought by Selfridges. 1940.John Lewis. 1975.Closed. From them on shops, pub, small business units. A sorry-looking place.

The building next door, a part of being a furniture repository, housed a hostel, accommodation for shop workers, who used the tunnels under the street, in between the 2 buildings

A development by architects Squire & Partners, which revives a local Brixton landmark to create a series of collaborative workspaces supported by an evolving hub of creative, retail and community uses. Originally built in 1906 as an annexe to the Bon Marche department store, the design of the reimagined space has been informed by the existing fabric and layers of history. All of them have been revealed:  Old paints, old brixpcks, old Art Nouveau tiles… Verdigris colour… Even graffitis have been retained, from when the building’s previous life as a SQUAT. 

Glossy contemporary inserts (black steel, anodised gold, limited edition furniture designs-MINOTTI, SAMUEL HEATH, CARL HANSON).

Brass and copper tubes hide power and data cables, a steampunk touch. They call it decayed decadence, not utility chic.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/brixton-a4-290423.pdf

From the info boards attached   outside the N wall of. the church: “St Mark’s Church took two years to build and was opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury on June 30th 1824.  One of the Waterloo churches, the cost of £15,274, was paid by a government grant in gratitude for the defeat of Napoleon.  Between 1879 and 1889 the vicar was the historian H. H. Montgomery, father of Field Marshal Montgomery of Alamein.  At that time there were 16,000 people in the parish.  It was staffed by the vicar, three curates and 250 church workers.  1,500 children were taught in the Sunday Schools by 125 teachers.  The church was restored in 1931 at which time the glass dome was installed.  Bombed in September 1940, it was scheduled for demolition.  However, Wallace Bird, a man of vision and faith, became vicar in 1947.  The building was partially re-opened in 1949 and fully opened on 12th March 1960.  Today this church is used for worship and mission by hundreds of Christians each year.

See the official LBTC e-bike route CHAPTER dedicated to KENNINGTON

https://gogetfunding.com/brixton-soup-kitchen-helping-to-rebuild-our-community/?fbclid=IwAR067NT-XaoidmrVeG00W-XhfJHxYJJT34-tC0UWQcTLArJf24RMNuruRks

https://www.brixtonbuzz.com