I came across this partially concealed and erased sign in Lower Marsh, just behind Waterloo Station. I was actually there to photograph some oil jars but this caught my eye as I wandering around. The main facade of the building faces onto Westminster Bridge Road and although closed up and for sale, was most recently used as a college. I'm not sure what it was originally though - the typography that I can make out seems to suggest a professional catering business and restaurant but it's one of those that has faded just enough to make it impossible to tell. Identification is not helped by later buildings that obscure a good portion of it either.
On a related topic, if you are at all interested in Ghost Signs you might like to listen to a ten minute interview on Radio London featuring Sam Roberts of the Ghost Signs website. The best way to listen is with the slide show that accompanies the discussion. A very enjoyable accompaniment to a cup of tea and a couple of digestives!
3 comments:
Hey Yelfy,
Just spotted your reference to my Robert Elms interview earlier this. Thank you and glad you enjoyed it!
Cheers,
Sam
Can I just say that your site is great, so informative.
In relation to the advertising, it is for the "Old Dover Castle", it was a pub or gin palace that was around from about the 1860's onwards; there is a link here: http://deadpubs.co.uk/LondonPubs/Lambeth/OldDoverCastle.shtml
that says the first landlord was in 1869 and the last was in 1944.
It was a huge place and the "catering" that can be made out I think relates to the dining rooms that were found inside.
I am more than sure that the pub was operational up till at least the 1960's. I was born and brought up in Waterloo in the 1970's so my parents spoke about the Dover Castle as a pub being operative during the 1950's I would suppose. I am doing research into the history of the New Cut street market or what is known now as The Lower Marsh.
In its heyday during the 1890's, the Old Dover Castle was a grand affair as these pics from the National Monuments Record can testify.
http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/reference.aspx?uid=217138&index=0&mainQuery=dover%20castle%20&searchType=all&form=home
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