178 &182 New Cross Road, Lewisham

This unusual property is a group of buildings around a central courtyard. The earliest buildings date to the early 19th century and were owned by a horse dealer. The business expanded by the end of the 19th century, and appears to have stored carriages as well as stalling horses. In 1908, 182 New Cross Road was sold and housed a cinema, the Electric Empire, which lasted until 1917. Since then the whole area was given over to vehicle repair. AOC Archaeology Group was commissioned by Purelake to record and analyse the site in 2006.

The largest building is the former cinema, which had retained its early 19th century front. The main aspect of the building resembles a stable block with a hayloft above, entirely consistent with the known ownership by a horse dealer: the name Charles Ranford was painted or inscribed on a decorative entrance arch to the site in the late 19th century. This arch is retained in the development, although not in its original form as it formerly held a statue of a horse passant. The main block was converted to a cinema auditorium and some cinematic features remain, including a timber ceiling and projection box. The surviving mechanism was limited to hatches and levers which appeared to have operated in tandem. These took the form of a pair of projection and viewing ports side by side.

To the rear of the site is a one-and-a-half storey building, the upper floor being set in the loft, and was used as office space. The ground floor had wide doors that had been replaced with modern shutters, and these most likely replace doors wide enough for carriages or carts. New Cross Road was an early Turnpike, and it is possible that the horse dealer had a subsidiary coaching business.

AOC Project Officer: Les Capon
Client: Purelake