This film is part of Free
Opening of Tower House
Precious pre-war film of Lewisham town centre, shot on the opening day of Tower House, the huge Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society store, in 1933.
Overview
Crowds of local residents gather outside the new Co-op department store in Lewisham's town centre for its official opening, carried out by W.B. Neville, General Secretary of the RACS. In its heyday, Tower House was considered the largest Co-operative store in the south of England, boasting more than 70 different departments, including a travel agency and an ornate hairdressing salon.
When nearby buildings were ravaged by a German doodlebug bomb in 1944, Tower House survived the devastation. After the dissolution of the RACS in the 1980s, the building was split up to accommodate various separate commercial concerns.
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