Tag Archives: warehouse

Fading signs painted on a building near London’s Holborn

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TWO FADED SIGNS CAUGHT my attention when I was walking along the east side of Southampton Row (just north of Holborn Underground station). The sign is on the southern side of the intersection of Catton Street and Southampton Row. The two faded, painted signs are separated by another which is carved on a stone plaque, and is clear to read. This sign reads:

“This memorial stone was laid by Alexander Maclaren, DD,, Litt D. President of the Baptist Union 1875-6 and 1901-2 on Wednesday 24th of April 1901”

Above this, there is a painted sign that can easily be read:

“To Kingsgate Baptist Church”

Below these two signs, there is another painted sign,a ‘ghost sign’, which has deteriorated considerably, but parts of it can either hardly be read or are illegible. Here is what I made of it:

“The CA[illegible] [2 more illegible words] Kingsgate House Acc[illegible] &(?) Warehouse Church Furniture”

An online article published in July 2020 in Italian (www.thelondonerd.com/tag/statua/) revealed that then, when the sign was more legible, it read:

“The Carey Kingsgate Press Ltd. – Accountancy – Warehouse – Church Furniture”

This web article also includes lovely photographs of the now re-purposed Kingsgate Chapel.

The three notices are on the corner of Kingsgate House, which was built between 1901 and 1903 for the Baptist Church. It was designed by Arthur Keen, architect for the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. The Baptists used the building up to 1996. Since then, it has been repurposed.

As for the Kingsgate Chapel (the ‘Kingsgate Baptist Church’ on the fading sign), this can now only be accessed by entering Kingsgate House. Constructed in 1856, it is attached to the northeast corner of the building. No longer accessible to the public and hidden away, it is an octagonal building that can be seen on detailed maps of today. When it was in use as a chapel, its entrance would have been just east of Kingsgate House on Catton Street (formerly known as Eagle Street). Close to where its entrance used to be, there is the entrance to the Baptist Bar, which is now housed in the former chapel.

The ghost sign mentions a warehouse and church furniture with an arrow pointing east along Catton Street. This must have been demolished many years ago. I spotted the fading signs whilst returning home late one evening. Now, having found out something about them, I look forward to returning to Kingsgate House and having a drink in the former chapel – if the bar is still open for business.

A brave man

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FIREFIGHTING IS NEVER without hazard. This is something that James Braidwood (1800-1861) knew only too well when he attended a fire in Tooley Street near London Bridge station on the 22nd of June 1861.

Braidwood was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and in 1824, he was appointed Master of Fire Engines just before The Great Fire of Edinburgh, which began on the 15th of November 1824 and lasted for 5 days. Having been trained as a surveyor, he understood building techniques and materials. This along with his recruitment of various types of tradesmen helped him deal with the conflagration. His methodical approach to firefighting gained him a good reputation.

In 1833. He left Edinburgh and shifted to London, where he took over the running of the city’s London Fire Engine Establishment, the forerunner of The London Fire Brigade. In October 1834, he was involved in tackling the fire that destroyed much of the Palace of Westminster. His reputation was already great when he attended the fire in Tooley Street on the 22nd of June 1861. Three hours after the fire broke out, he was crushed to death by a falling wall. It took two days to recover his body and he was given a hero’s funeral. The fire, which began in Cottons Wharf, continued to burn for a fortnight. The reasons for its long duration included:

“The first was that firefighters were unable to get a supply of water for nearly an hour due to the River Thames being at low tide. The second was that the iron fire doors, which separated many of the storage rooms in the warehouse, had been left open. It is believed that had they been closed, as recommended by James Braidwood, the Superintendent of the LFEE, the fire could have been contained, avoiding disaster.” (www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Tooley-Street-Fire/)

Overlooked by London’s recently constructed, glass-clad Shard, is short Cottons Lane that leads north from Tooley Street. Where these two roads meet, there is a sculptural plaque high up on a wall. It depicts a wreath entwined with a firefighting hose pipe. Behind the wreath, the artist carved the façade of a building with smoke billowing out of its windows. There also depictions of other tools used to fight fires in the 1860s when this memorial was constructed. Within the wreath. there are words:

“To the memory of James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, who was killed near this spot in the execution of his duty at the great fire on 22nd June 1861” This is not the only memorial to Braidwood. Others, which I have not yet seen, can be found in Edinburgh and in Stoke Newington’s Abney Park, where Braidwood was buried.