Then and Now: Marks and Spencer, Brixton Rd/ Dorell Place
Photographic comparisons of old and modern views of Lambeth



c 1920 A view looking north up Brixton Road. Dorell Place is the small lane between the Butchers Shop and the Exchange Stores of Francis and Son. Opposite can be seen the original Brixton Woolworths. The railway bridge features a sign pointing to Brixton's South Eastern and Chatham Railway station, with a large billboard advertising Quin & Atkens Millinery below.
(pic: Lambeth Archives)



July 2003 The Exchange Stores were replaced by a streamlined Marks and Spencers in the 1930s, at the same time that Woolworths relocated to new premises further up the road. The butchers is now a Superdrug pharmacy. The turreted building seen to the right in the original photograph still survives, but is obscured by a large tree.

Related pic: Zebra taxi cab in Brixton Road
The new Marks and Spencer 'super store' close to completion in 1931.

The very first Marks and Spencer shop in London opened in a railway arch in Station Road, Brixton as a Penny Bazaar in 1903. The new building replaced the Francis & Sons store (below).


Clearance sale at the gloriously Victorian Francis & Sons Ltd building, prior to its demolition in 1930. I wonder what happened to those gloriously flamboyant iron railings adorning the roof?



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