General Brixton history - photos, stories etc
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Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
I've seen the picture before, and it's clearly either two photographs or has been scanned in two bits, as you can see the join. I've just had a play with it, and there's a chunk missing where the 'join' is, and I can't get the two halves to line up precisely, so think it was two photographs because of very slight difference of angle. It's too big a gap for me to try and repair it.
In terms of when it was taken, it can't be before early 1931, as there's a double deck tram on Kingsway Subway tram service 33 (the subway re-opened after rebuilding in January 1931)
There's a poster advertising cycle racing on Saturday 5 September - this could match 1931 or 1936.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
at a tangent, did the site that's now the north east corner of the square (vacant site between the petrol station and norfolk house) ever get developed?
if so must have been fairly late before the 1939 war then flattened during it - although not marked in the LCC bomb damage map
just shown as blank rather than 'ruin' on the 1950 OS map - Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland
if so must have been fairly late before the 1939 war then flattened during it - although not marked in the LCC bomb damage map
just shown as blank rather than 'ruin' on the 1950 OS map - Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland
RoyReed
Must fly!
This might explain the join: https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/view-from-town-hall-brixton/
It was made as a panorama from the roof of the town hall. For some reason that section has been saved separately.
It was made as a panorama from the roof of the town hall. For some reason that section has been saved separately.
brixtonscot
Well-Known Member
Does anybody remember Brixton Socialist Club which was held in Canterbury Arms in late 70's ?
I don't think it lasted very long, I remember looking for permanent premises , but can't remember what happened after that
transpont.blogspot.com
I don't think it lasted very long, I remember looking for permanent premises , but can't remember what happened after that
Brixton Socialist Club at Canterbury Arms (1978)
The Canterbury Arms in Brixton is facing demolition, to be replaced with flats. Its great back room has seen some amazing nights, in parti...
transpont.blogspot.com
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editor
hiraethified
And still the Canterbury Arms site remains unused. That pub played a bit part in Brixton culture/history.Does anybody remember Brixton Socialist Club which was held in Canterbury Arms in late 70's ?
I don't think it lasted very long, I remember looking for permanent premises , but can't remember what happened after that
Brixton Socialist Club at Canterbury Arms (1978)
The Canterbury Arms in Brixton is facing demolition, to be replaced with flats. Its great back room has seen some amazing nights, in parti...
happyshopper
Well-Known Member
Went a couple of times but memories are vague. Wasn’t there a problem because it was also the boozer of choice for drinkers from Brixton nick?
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
can't state with any certainty (is there a removable plate on it so you can get at the electrics? if so, has it got anything stamped on it?) but it looks very London Transport-ish, looks a close relation to these at arnos grove underground station, 1934
which came up fairly near the top of a search on underground station car parks. i suspect there are not many left at underground stations. i understand LT made their own concrete stuff (like bus stops) in house - there was a big building works at parsons green.
51 - 53 Effra Road was LT's bus ticket machine workshop / ticket roll production works until the late 80s (closed due to combination of creeping privatisation and move to electronic ticket machines) - shown as 'printing works' on 1950s OS map
It was previously the LCC Tramways printing works (doing tickets as well as maps and posters) then was rebuilt fairly substantially post 1945 as it had been damaged by bombing, also taking over the function of the (again former LCC) ticket punch repair shop up Stockwell Road, as the printing function diminished as the bell punch (requiring ranges of printed tickets) was replaced by mechanical ticket machines that did their own printing on to plain ticket rolls during the 50s.
I can't find any photos of the works in post-war form. The 1950 OS map suggests there may have been a pedestrian gateway about where the lamp post is.
An interesting question might be who owns it now, whether it's council, or the owners of the site, or whether it's survived because everyone thinks it belongs to someone else. (does it actually light up at night time?)
may be worth getting Friends of the LT Museum on to the case before it does get removed.
editor
hiraethified
I don't think it works - next time I'm passing I'll see if I can find any info stamped on the post.can't state with any certainty (is there a removable plate on it so you can get at the electrics? if so, has it got anything stamped on it?) but it looks very London Transport-ish, looks a close relation to these at arnos grove underground station, 1934
which came up fairly near the top of a search on underground station car parks. i suspect there are not many left at underground stations. i understand LT made their own concrete stuff (like bus stops) in house - there was a big building works at parsons green.
51 - 53 Effra Road was LT's bus ticket machine workshop / ticket roll production works until the late 80s (closed due to combination of creeping privatisation and move to electronic ticket machines) - shown as 'printing works' on 1950s OS map
It was previously the LCC Tramways printing works (doing tickets as well as maps and posters) then was rebuilt fairly substantially post 1945 as it had been damaged by bombing, also taking over the function of the (again former LCC) ticket punch repair shop up Stockwell Road, as the printing function diminished as the bell punch (requiring ranges of printed tickets) was replaced by mechanical ticket machines that did their own printing on to plain ticket rolls during the 50s.
I can't find any photos of the works in post-war form. The 1950 OS map suggests there may have been a pedestrian gateway about where the lamp post is.
An interesting question might be who owns it now, whether it's council, or the owners of the site, or whether it's survived because everyone thinks it belongs to someone else. (does it actually light up at night time?)
may be worth getting Friends of the LT Museum on to the case before it does get removed.
Rushy
basically a scrotum
Application is in for conversion of this church to 17 flats.
Top of Acre Lane, opposite the Town Hall. Can be seen on the 1895 map.
If it was still standing in 1944, it would presumably have been lost in the V1 attack that took out that row of shops. 25 people were killed there, many of whom were evacuees staying in a rest centre - which may well have been Brixton Hall.
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"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Surely it's the location of the Eighth Church of Christ Scientist at 20 Acre Lane? (now taken over by the Universal Pentecostal Church).
Lambeth kindly provide drainage plans here: https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/eighth-church-of-christ-scientist-acre-lane-brixton/
These plans suggest the church was built around 1925.
It clearly survived the war - no damage obvious when I attended out of curiosity around 1990.
It looked as though nothing had changed since 1925 - and the congregation of 8 were waiting to be brought back for full capacity, which might have been 1000 maybe. The auditorium is a bit cinema-like with a downward slope to the front.
No balcony FWICR.
Doesn't answer the original question though. I suggest the original Brixton Hall was demolished to make way for the Christian Scientists. The decor of the new Acre Lane church building was a bit Art Deco I reckon, but nothing up to the standard of Cadogan Hall in Sloane Square (formerly the First Church of Christ Scientist). Cadogan Hall must be grade 1 * I should think. Acre Lane never quite got to the level of Sloane Square.
RoyReed
Must fly!
There's a photo in the Lambeth archive that just has it in.
View looking north-west from the roof of Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton. In the foreground is Brixton Hall and on the horizon is the partially completed Battersea Power Station.Ref: SP16/33/7
And dance card
A dance card belonging to Miss Maude Neville for the Ixion Football Club's Cinderella Dance at Brixton Hall in Acre Lane. Dated 8th March 1900. Ref: 2002/20
View looking north-west from the roof of Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton. In the foreground is Brixton Hall and on the horizon is the partially completed Battersea Power Station.Ref: SP16/33/7
And dance card
A dance card belonging to Miss Maude Neville for the Ixion Football Club's Cinderella Dance at Brixton Hall in Acre Lane. Dated 8th March 1900. Ref: 2002/20
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
in 1890, may have been this place where brixton town hall is now
although that photo is dated 1905 which looks about right with the early electric tram
although that photo is dated 1905 which looks about right with the early electric tram
editor
hiraethified
Yes that is the site of the Town Hall. It was huge and used for massive religious rallies.
RoyReed
Must fly!
More stuff at the British Library if you search 'Brixton Hall' in the Evanion catalogue.
This seems to seal it. What an impressive building it was - and still standing in 1936 too!
For anyone still playing along...
10-18 Acre Lane is now Acre House, but up until the V1 attack of 28 June 1944, that stretch included a post office, Brixton Hall and a cafe known as Jaxsnax. For a dozen or so years in the Edwardian era, Brixton Hall saw life as a 945-seat cinema - a branch of the Theatre de Luxe group.
There's a great picture on Lambeth Landmark from c1920 where the cinema sign is clearly legible.
The doodlebug did most of its damage to Nos 12-18, with the cafe bearing the brunt of the impact. Photographs taken on the day show the church next door damaged but largely intact, and the post office at No.10 with its windows blown in. This is borne out by the LCC Bomb Damage Maps, which show Brixton Hall as damaged beyond repair, but the adjacent sites as repairable at cost.
RAF aerial survey photos from 1945 clearly show prefabs at the street edge, with roofless structures behind them, but the main body of the Hall still standing at the rear of the plot. By the time the OS maps were updated, the prefabs remained but the site at the rear had been cleared. Acre House was eventually built as the Borough Engineer's Office in the early 1970s, with council flats above.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
yes, inclined to think that the theatre / variety programmes were far more likely to be this place rather than the religious 'brixton hall' on what's now the town hall site.
cinema treasures has very little about it and not mentioned on arthur lloyd page on brixton's theatres / music halls
From the SLP, Saturday 13th November 1880.
Sounds like quite some venue:
Opening of Brixton Hall.
The opening night of the above hall was celebrated on Wednesday evening by a splendid concert, arranged Mr. James Budd. The new hall and anterooms, opened for the first time to the public, by far the most elegant and commodious of any existing kindred building. Mr. Chard, the proprietor, has spared no expense in building and decorating, and nothing required by artiste and audience has escaped the architect’s attention. A beautiful corridor leads from Acre-lane to the hall, the committee rooms opeuing out on either side. The hall is immediately at the end, and is entered from the centre of the south end, presenting, on entering, a most imposing appearance. The roof, which is very lofty, is lighted by a sun-burner, supplemented by side lights, and gives out an unusual amount of light. The internal decorations are lavish in the extreme, the ceiling being tastefully and elaborately decorated in “open work,” and is arched. The stage occupies the north end of the building, and is portable. The decorative hangings, however, on concert nights must for the future be removed, as the sound was found be materially impaired from their use. The hall is, however, without exception, the finest in South London, and will admirably meet the requirements of its intended use. The opening concert, which drew a crowded audience, was admirably arranged and well carried out, the following being the artistes retained—viz., Madame Worrell, Madame Adeline Paget, Miss Matilda Roby, Miss Pauline Featherby, Mr. Vernon Rigby, Mr. Arthur J. Thompson, and Mr. James Budd. The band of the Royal Artillery, under the direction of Mr. James Lawson, played during the evening. Miss Rose Black was at the pianoforte, and Mr. Humphrey Stark was the accompanist. Madame Worrell sang splendidly, and was enthusiastically received, as was also Madame Paget, who sang the air O Luce di quest Aniina in very good style. Miss Matilda Roby sang well, and Miss Pauline Featherby was recalled for her selection. Mr. Rigby sang “The Message” in his usual style, reserving himself for the final A, which he got with effect, and Mr. Thompson again sang “The Meeting of the Waters.” Mr. sang, he always sings, in most taking style, and refused a very pressing encore. Miss Rose Black is a fairly good pianiste, and may one day make mark. The Royal Artillery band played some selections magnificently, and were very warmly received. Mr. Humphrey Stark, Mus. Bac., accompanied with consummate skill, and the result of their combined efforts was unquestionably a most successful entertainment.
editor
hiraethified
Just a thought seeing as you're digging up so much useful info - fancy putting together a piece for Buzz?
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
found another chunk of 'ancestry' on local council's website and think i've got it
from 1920 kelly's brixton and clapham directory -
in post 1945 maps, 54 Elliott Road (by then on the corner of cancell road) matches this place on 1895 OS map
about here
