Borough and its market

The area at the foot of London Bridge, known as ‘The Borough’, is as old as London itself and was the first borough, apart from the City of London, to send representatives to Parliament – the first in 1295. Even before the Romans built the first wooden bridge across to Londinium on the north bank of the river in the mid-990s, this area had been an all-important bridgehead.

The George Inn

As the centuries passed, Borough High Street became an increasingly busy thoroughfare to London Bridge - the only way to get across the Thames right up until 1750. The City of London, which owned the bridge, kept it closed at night, which meant that travellers arriving from the south needed somewhere to stay. Before long, the High Street was lined with inns, complete with long coaching yards at the back, of which only ‘The George’ survives.

Shops on Borough High St

In Victorian times retail outlets flourished all along the High Street, but behind them were some of the city’s worst slums. In a letter to

the Times in the 1860s, Borough is described as “pre-eminently abundant with garrotters and the lowest of the low class of beer-shops in London”. The area’s reputation was not enhanced by the presence of three prisons: the Clink, King’s Bench and Marshalsea, where Charles Dickens’ father was incarcerated for debt.

The Hop Exchange

 

 

 

 

Borough has also had a long association with the hop trade. Up until the 1930s, there were more than 30 hop merchants operating there, each with its own warehouse. Central to the industry was the Hop Exchange  in Southwark Street, dating from 1867. Its stunning interior, with a vast open atrium and three tiers of balconies overlooking it - allowing traders and merchants on the floor to shout orders across to each other - is now Grade II listed.

Nestling these days among the railway viaducts south of Southwark Cathedral, and now one of London’s most popular shopping attractions, Borough Market - like the area in which it stands – also has a history dating back well over a thousand years. Records from 1014 list the market as selling fish, grain and cattle (as well as fruit and vegetables), attracting traders from all over Europe. Maps of 1542 show that the market was by then well-established and now under the jurisdiction of the City of London.

Market in the High St c.1729

Market with dome c.1860

Two centuries later, in 1754, the burgeoning market was forced to relinquish its original site in Borough High Street as it was becoming a nuisance to the carriages (and cattle!) passing along the route. The ‘new’ market was established in Rochester Yard (on land belonging to the Bishop of Rochester). Its real heyday came in the Victorian era and the main market buildings in use today, with their elaborate wrought ironwork, date from the 1850s and 1860s. The need to widen the railway line in 1897 brought much disruption, as well as the sad demise of the market’s magnificent but short-lived glass and iron domed roof, which had brought a touch of Crystal Palace glamour to Borough!

Now covering a total area of 4.5 acres, Borough Market is still flourishing today. It is one of only two surviving wholesale produce markets in central London (Smithfield is the other), still on its original site. From Thursday to Saturday, the fruit and veg traders are joined by specialist food retailers. The market still has its own police force (the ‘Beadles’) who, until the 1930s, had powers of arrest and could put offenders in the cells under the market (two were recently re-discovered). Sounds a great way to keep order!

Market today

Beadles

 

Refs:

Southwark: A history of Bankside, Bermondsey and The Borough Robert J. Godley (1996)

Website: www.londonforfree.net

Website: http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/history

 

 

Carreras ‘Black Cat’ factory, Camden Town

Catching a glimpse of the Black cat building on a recent episode of The Apprentice reminded me that I have been meaning to write about it for a while. Frequently pointed out to me as a child (iconic part of Camden’s social history blah, blah…) I was, naturally, unimpressed. As an adult I can now appreciate its social and architectural importance and am delighted to see it looking as good in 2016 as it did in its proud heyday. 

With its eye-catching frontage extending for more than 500 feet along Hampstead Road , and some of the most stunning Art deco features seen anywhere in London, the former Carreras ‘Black Cat’ cigarette factory – though certainly not to everyone’s taste – is a very special building. Until 1926 the site on which it stands was occupied by communal gardens which formed part of much sought-after Mornington Crescent. Dating from the 1820s, the crescent was named after the Earl of Mornington, the Duke of Wellington’s brother, and provided homes for professional people conveniently close to town. The coming of Arcadia Works, as the cigarette manufacturers Carreras called their new premises in 1926-28, (replacing a previous smaller factory on City Road) radically changed the face of the area.

Cigarette smoking had grown in popularity following the Great War and Carreras were the first company to introduce cork filter tips and offer gift coupons in packets. The origins of Carreras are unclear, but Charles Dickens refers to the poor Spanish residents clustered around Somers Town in Bleak House and census data reveals generations of tobacco traders in the area bearing the name for almost a century before. The ‘Black Cat’ brand was central to the company’s image by the 20s, and with Egyptian being the tobacco of choice, the theme of the building was an obvious choice.

The design of the building was inspired by Howard Carter's 1922 expedition to uncover the tomb of Tutankhamun. It comprises a central block of 13 bays with two lower wings of eight bays either side. The bays within the central section are separated by columns with Egyptian-stylised capitals featuring maroon, green and sky-blue detailing. Above, the company name 'Carreras' is spelt out in raised Egyptian-style lettering and reliefs on either side show the face of Bastet, the feline goddess of protection, in circular recesses. Standing guard over the entrance are two 8.5 feet-high black cats. In the evenings coloured lights illuminated the frontage.

The factory’s opening in 1928 caused quite a stir - the pavement in front of the building was covered with sand (to imitate Egyptian beaches, I guess), actors in Egyptian regalia performed dramatics and a chariot race was even held along Hampstead Road! The new works was proclaimed to be the world’s most advanced, and was the first in Britain to make use of pre-stressed concrete and the radical technologies of air conditioning and dust extraction. At its peak, the factory employed over 3,500 people.

Carreras employees generally enjoyed a happy working environment. In interviews conducted as part of Camden History Society’s millennium project Catching the Past, ex-employees talk of the benefits they enjoyed, such as subsidised lunches, sports tournaments, a ‘Miss Carreras’ beauty competition and an active C.A.T.S – the Carreras Amateur Theatrical Society. Colour-coded uniform collars ensured that workers did not stray from their correct floor on the eight-storey complex and there was a ban on all cosmetics for fear they might taint the tobacco. Yet Carreras employees maintained lifelong loyalty to the firm. Maybe employers turned a blind eye to the widely-known fact that some of the girls often smuggled out fags in their knickers at the end of a shift….!

Change was on the cards, however. In 1958 production moved to Basildon in Essex. Around two thirds of the staff took up the offer of resettlement there, commuting back to Camden Town until the factory’s closure. In the 1960s the huge building was taken over by the GLC who, as well as renaming it Greater London House, also stripped out all its Egyptian features, by then out of fashion, in an attempt to give it a simpler, more Modernist appearance. One of the original black cat statues went to Basildon, the other to the company’s factory in Jamaica. In the 90s the building became a business centre and most of its original Art Deco features were restored, including replicas of the famous cats. With supreme irony, one of the businesses currently occupying the restored building is the British Heart Foundation.

 

 

References:

The King’s England: Arthur Mee’s London (1937)

Hidden Treasures of London Michael McNay (2015)

Website: http://www.kentishtowner.co.uk/2013/01/09/wednesday-picture-carreras-art-deco-cigarette-factory-mornington-crescent/