Bermondsey Street Back Stories

Number 15: Stories in Stone By Jennie Howells November 2020

Family Group by Edgar Allan Howes c1936

Carvings show a proud history History is often set in stone. It is not always obvious, but it is worth seeking out. There are stone carvings to find in our local area. They recall a lost local industry, reveal a departed school and celebrate a pioneering medical centre as well as two projects devoted to the welfare of the local community.

The decorative pediments at the old St Olave’s School building The former St Olave’s Grammar School (now Lalit hotel) is at 181 Tooley Street. It was designed by Edward Mountford and completed in 1893. It has notable decorative pediments in Portland stone which show the high educational aspirations of the school.

In the central bay, two boys support the school’s coat of arms dated 1571-1894. One reads a book with a pair of dividers close by. The other is dressed for a game of cricket with bat and ball. Other sports items fill the remaining space.

In the left hand pediment, two figures sit on blocks named Science and Philosophy. In the left hand of Science is a serpent with an oil lamp at her right. At her feet are a cogwheel and a retort. The lamp and the serpent symbolise learning and wisdom. An owl sits at the feet of Philosophy. Between the figures is a bust of Isaac Newton.

The right hand pediment shows Poetry and History. The female figure, Poetry originally held a lyre, now lost. The male figure, History writes on a parchment with scrolls at his feet. There is a bust – possibly of Homer - and two masks of Comedy and Tragedy.

St Olave’s School, royal charter 1571 St Olave’s grammar school was founded with a legacy from Henry Leeke, a brewer, and received its royal charter in 1571 from Queen Elizabeth I. By 1829 it was accommodated in a vestry hall, but that had to be demolished to make way for the 1831 . A new site was found on Street and an elegant school building was completed in 1835. It was in the red brick Tudor style with stone dressings, numerous chimneys and an octagonal tower in the quadrangle. There were school rooms, a house for the headmaster, a court room for the school governors and a library.

The elegant Tudor-style school building of 1835(left) and the 1894 building on Back Street (right)

In 1836, the railway viaduct was built, intersecting the school yard and the boys had to come and go via a railway arch. Although the railway was almost at roof height, noise, soot and dust were a constant problem for the school. Further expansion of the railway viaduct meant that the school had to be relocated once again in 1855, this time to a new building on Green Bank, Back Street (Queen Elizabeth Street).

By the 1880s, that building was no longer fit for purpose, and the present building with its attractive stone-carved pediments replaced it on the same site in 1894. In 1968, the school moved out and the building was used as a college. It now houses the Lalit Hotel, retaining many of the original features.

London Leather Hide and Wool Exchange “A circle of a mile in diameter, having its centre at the spot where the Abbey once stood will include within its limits most of the tanners, the curriers, the fellmongers, the woolstaplers, the leather factors, the leather dressers, the leather dyers, the parchment makers and the glue makers for which this district is remarkable. There is scarcely a road a street or a lane into which we can turn without seeing evidence of these occupations.”

This is a description of Bermondsey in the 19th century at a time when the leather industry was at its most successful. The Leather Market had been opened in 1833 and the handsome London Leather Hide & Wool Exchange on the corner of Leathermarket Street and Weston Street followed in 1878/9.

It has an elaborate entrance porch supported by Atlas figures and a series of carved reliefs in roundels on the façade. Executed by an unknown artist, the reliefs recall aspects of a trade that continued to flourish until its eventual departure towards the end of the 20th century.

The front entrance of the exchange building

Bermondsey was central to the leather industry, initially in small artisan enterprises and later with some of the country’s largest manufacturing businesses with marketing slogans proclaiming ‘There is nothing like leather’ and ‘Everything in leather’. Before the arrival of plastics and synthetic materials, anything from a purse, a pair of gloves or shoes to luggage, heavy saddlery and belts for industrial machines depended on the processing of the skins and hides of animals and reptiles.

Carved roundels on the Weston Street frontage

There are five roundels, each representing a different stage of leather working and trading. On the Weston Street frontage, the roundel to the left of the entrance shows a leather workshop. It has the louvred window spaces allowing air circulation that were to be found on buildings throughout the district. One man handles a skin waiting to be processed. The other operates a tool used in processing leather. Both men wear characteristic caps and are dressed in traditional style as described by Charles Dickens on his visit to Bermondsey. ‘Their clothes are marked with many stains; their trousers are dis-coloured by tan; some have apron and gaiters of raw hide’. The right hand roundel depicts two men – probably a seller and buyer who are examining a pile of hides.

Carved roundels on the Leathermarket Street frontage

On the Leathermarket Street frontage, from left to right, two men are weighing and assessing skins and hides. Next to them, workers are using a beam and heavy knives to scrape away hair. In the third roundel, hides are being dipped in a noxious liquid as part of the lengthy business of preparing leather for use.

Leathersellers’ Technical College As the leather industry developed and changed, modern methods and chemicals replaced the repellent processing substances of the past. The need arose for more formal training and education. The Worshipful Company of Leathersellers persuaded the Herold’s Institute, at the Borough Polytechnic to offer classes in leather manufacture. In 1909 The Leathersellers’ Company established a Technical College at 176 Road with its own laboratories, tannery and library.

Leathersellers’ Technical College, Tower Bridge Road

In the 1970s, changes in the leather industry led to the college closing this building. It retains an imposing stone pediment with the coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers displaying roebucks, and a ram. Their motto, ‘Soli Deo Honor Et Gloria’ can be seen on the garland below. It is now the headquarters of the General Osteopathic Council.

Bermondsey Health Centre Bermondsey Health Centre on Grange Road was opened in 1936. It was designed by Bermondsey Borough Architect, Henry Tansley. Family Group (c1936), a relief sculpture in stone by Edgar Allan Howes (1911-1968) graces the frontage and represents much that the Centre meant to the families of Bermondsey. It depicts a mother accompanied by two figures, a baby and a young child.

In its time, the Centre was in the forefront of public health initiatives. A report by the Medical Officer of Health in 1928 led Bermondsey Borough Council to build this new Medical Centre which opened in 1936. It was the first of its kind in the country.

Bermondsey Health Centre and Family Group by Edgar Allan Howes c 1936

It offered a variety of treatments for the problems resulting from inadequate, overcrowded housing and insanitary living conditions. It included a TB dispensary, a solarium, X-ray and radiotherapy, electrical treatment, a foot clinic, a dental surgery and a laboratory for the public analyst.

Women doctors, health visitors and nurses conducted clinics for mothers and their children which led to a reduction in the infant mortality rate. In 1937, every woman in Bermondsey who had a baby attended the clinic. As well as the present-day medical centre, the building now contains residential apartments – Solarium Court.

Memorial Drinking Fountain – Violet Alice Tritton A modest memorial on the wall of Bromleigh House on the St Saviour’s Estate in Abbey Street commemorates Violet Alice Tritton. It was erected in 1959 and takes the form of a drinking fountain (no longer operational) and sculpture. The limestone sculptural heads of children are by students of the Sculpture Department of Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts. The Bermondsey emblem of a lion is carved on a limestone block behind the bowl.

The Memorial to Violet Alice Tritton (left) and the Time & Talents building (right) Violet Alice Tritton (1883-1956) is remembered as a ‘friend of Bermondsey’ and for her contribution to the Time & Talents Settlement. In her early years, she lived in the settlement building at 187 Bermondsey Street. After some time spent as a matron on long distance steamships, she returned as a social worker with Time & Talents at Dockhead House on Abbey Street. Time & Talents was founded in 1887 as a charity dedicated to improving the conditions in Bermondsey.

The charity encouraged young women to live in the settlement and work for the welfare of the less fortunate people in the area. The settlement had a clubroom for ‘healthy recreation’, a variety of activities and later included facilities for training in social welfare. Its Abbey Street house was active until 1957 and the building on Bermondsey Street until 1962. Time & Talents continues to offer a range of clubs and community opportunities from the Old Mortuary building in Rotherhithe.

Bermondsey Central Hall ( Mission) Methodist Central Halls were designed to offer an attractive gathering place as an alternative to the public house and music hall. They welcomed large congregations and included office space, lecture rooms and a shop. Bermondsey Central Hall at 253 Bermondsey Street was the first in London. It opened in 1900 as the result of the efforts of Henry T Meakin, who remained its first Superintendent until 1906. The architect was Charles Bell (1846-99) who designed other similar buildings and many Wesleyan chapels.

The impressive frontage with its Tudor gateway motif in red brick and terracotta was left in place after rebuilding in 1968. The South London Mission was set up in 1889 and continues its outreach work. It offers support and welfare, including a hostel for workers and students and a food bank distribution centre.

The elaborate carving at Bermondsey Central Hall

You may not previously have noticed these stories in stone. You can take a walk to discover them now. Or if you did know about them, go and take a second look. You may see something new that you missed before.

Photographs by Denis Loretto.