CHAPTER 12 - THE LAMBETH WATERWORKS AND THE LION BREWERY
[See plate 39.]
The ground south of Fowler's lead works, which was also part of
Float Mead, was that shown on Morden and Lea's map as in the occupation
of Sir John Shorter. In 1718 this
ground and a house on it called
Belvidere (Plate 37a) were opened to
the public by Charles Bascom, who
advertised that he sold “ all sorts of
wines of the prime growths, entirely
neat; and accommodates his guests
with eatables of every kind in
season, after the best manner,
especially with the choicest river fish,
which they may have the diversion
to see taken.” (ref. 107) This was the most
ephemeral of the several public
pleasure gardens that were open in
the 18th century along the South
Bank, but its name has been perpetuated in that of Belvedere Road.
Figure 13:
Plan of the Lion Brewery
After the closure of the
gardens Peter Theobald occupied
the house for a time and in 1785
water works were established on the
southern part of the garden. (ref. 108) Water
was taken directly from the river
and supplied to residents in the
locality but, after complaints about the foulness of the water, permission
was obtained to pump water from the middle of the river where it was
thought it would be less polluted. (ref. 6) <By 1834 the company had elevated reservoirs on Brixton Hill for supplying filtered water, which superseded pumping direct from the river to the mains.>The works were removed to Surbiton
and Ditton in 1853. (ref. 109) In 1836 John Kershaw of Walcot Terrace, who
had for some years held a lease of the ground between the water works
and John Fowler's property, obtained a building lease of it from the Archbishop, which he at once assigned to James Goding, (ref. 110) and the Lion Brewery
(sometimes called the Red Lion Brewery) was erected there in 1836–7 to
the design of Francis Edwards. (fn. a) In 1837 Goding obtained a lease of ground
on the south side of Belvedere Road, part of the Seven Acres, from Henry
Warburton, on which he had erected stables, warehouses, etc. (ref. 111) In 1853
James Goding bought the lease of the water works site and incorporated it
with the brewery. (ref. 112) On more than one occasion members of the Goading
family asked if they could purchase the freehold of the brewery site but they
were refused in each case. In 1866 the Godings made the brewery into a
company under the name of the Lion Brewery Company Limited. (ref. 48) This continued to operate until 1924 when it was absorbed by Hoare and Co., brewers,
of Wapping. (ref. 113) The main building was seriously damaged by fire in 1931. (ref. 114)
For a few years it was used for storage of waste paper and then stood derelict
until its demolition in 1949 for the Royal Festival Hall.
Figure 14:
Lion Brewery. South-west elevation to entrance courtyard. Measured drawing
It is interesting to note that the brewery was supplied with water
from wells, the first of which was sunk in 1837 inside the main building and
within a few feet of the river. It had to be deepened in 1868 owing to the
lowering of the water level through the sinking of many new wells in the
neighbourhood. (ref. 115) In all, five wells have been found on the brewery site.
Architectural Description
The main building facing the river was of five storeys built in stock
brick, with stucco work on the river and back elevations. The river front had
bold Roman Doric columns which extended through the upper floors and
carried an entablature. The entablature had triglyphs to the frieze and a
mutule cornice above. The order stood on a rusticated ground storey podium
and was set forward at the three centre bays, while at each corner there were
pilasters. The upper windows, excluding those in the frieze, had architrave
surrounds, those at the first floor being pedimented. The podium, which
extended below the wings at each side, had recessed semicircular headed
windows and doorways. Above the entablature was a lion made of Coade
stone (see p. 60) which stood on a substantial base incised “BREWERY”,
The rear elevation also had a rusticated podium with a slight projection at the
center. This projection had coupled Doric pilasters supporting a pediment.
The roof of the main building was designed to act as a large shallow tank for
the storage of water. It was formed of cast-iron plates, which extended up to
form parapets.
The street and courtyard elevations of the subsidiary buildings and
the arched entrance from Belvedere Road were also stuccoed. The buildings,
all with cornices below the parapets, were of three storeys, the lower storeys
at each side of the entrance being semi-basements. On the Belvedere Road
front the windows to the raised ground floor were pedimented with antae
surrounds and mullions. The other openings had architrave linings, those to
the semi-basement being on recessed panels and having segmental heads.
The entrance screen had one larger round-headed opening for vehicles at the
centre flanked by smaller openings for pedestrians. The centre opening had
pilasters at each side and carried and entablature which was surmounted by a
lion of Coade stone (Plate 32). The lion had been missing for some years
prior to demolition.
Figure 15:
Lion Brewery. North-west elevation to entrance courtyard. Measured drawing
The buildings fronting Sutton Walk and the south-east side of
Belvedere Road were distinguished only by the round-headed entrance at the
road junction. The entrance was stuccoed and similar in scale to that on the
opposite side of the road. It also had a lion above the archway. The flanking
elevations were in plain brickwork which was divided into rectangular panels.