Pullens buildings
Encyclopedia
The Pullens buildings, also known as the Pullens Estate, are some of the last Victorian
tenement buildings surviving in London
, England
. In the Walworth
, Newington area, they are near Elephant and Castle
and Kennington
Underground stations.
Located in Amelia Street, Crampton Street, Iliffe Street, Penton Place and Peacock Street, they are protected by Conservation Area
status granted by Southwark Council.
The historic and architectural importance of the buildings has been recognised by their use in several high profile films including The King's Speech, Spider (film)
and Hereafter (film)
.
The Pullens Estate was built by James Pullen
, a local builder, who acquired the land and developed it over a 15-year period from 1886.
The residential buildings are four storeys in height, and each unit is three bays wide with an ornate central entrance to a common stairwell. The ranges vary from three to twelve units in length. They are faced with yellow stock brick, the front being enriched with the use of decorative terracotta arches to the door and window openings. The roofs are flat, providing amenity space for the residents. The workshops attached to the rear of the residential blocks(buildings) are simpler and more “functional” in appearance. They are two storeys high, and also built of stock brick and flat-roofed. The two-storey loading bays are edged with blue brick quoins. The shops, flanking the entrances to the workshop yards, have traditional painted timber shopfronts, with pilasters supporting a fascia and cornice, and stallrisers. The yards are still in use and house a variety of workers including potters, a lute maker, architects, dress makers and jewellery designers such as Alex Monroe . . The yards are open to the public twice yearly to promote the independent traders.
The first block of 16 flats was built on Penton place without the required consent of the Metropolitan Board of Works but Pullen managed to persuade local officials that his work was good and continued building until 1901 - ten years more than he'd been granted permission for.
When Charles Booth (philanthropist)
was surveying London for his poverty map in 1899 he encountered Mr Pullen at work describing him thus 'Old Mr Pullen in a top hat and fustian suit was on a scaffolding superintending'.
Booth stated that demand for the 'well built' flats was high and they were 'Occupied before the paper is dry on the walls' often by police officers from Whitehall and Lambeth districts.
The rent was 'eight shillings for three rooms, kitchen and scullery, plus 6 pence a week charged for cleaning the stairs and gas'. Each had to make a deposit of 24 shillings which is an effectual bar
to any poor tenants. .
The full estate, which originally extended southwards as far as Manor Place, comprised 684 dwellings in 12 blocks. Attached to the rear of the dwellings, arranged round four yards, were 106 workshops. The estate’s shops were located at the entrances to the workshopyards.
In the 1970s, the council planned to demolish the buildings but were stopped in the 1980s by an alliance of tenants and squatters under the umbrella of the residents' association who campaigned and fought successfully to save them.
Some of the buildings were damaged during German bombing in World War II
. Others were demolished when they fell into disrepair.
According to records at www.flyingbombsandrockets.com, a V1
rocket made impact at Manor Place by the Railway on 27 June 1944 at 22:45. The V1 demolished six houses in Crampton Street and four in Manor Place as well as damaging a public wash house and stores in Manor Place, a railway bridge, two arches, and 300 houses and buildings in Manor Place and surrounding streets.
Many of the remaining 351 flats in the buildings are local authority-owned but just under 50 per cent are now in private leasehold ownership and prices have risen sharply, boosted by the re-development plan for the Elephant and Castle area and an interest in the period style of the construction. In 2007 a Pullens flat on Iliffe Street sold for £305,000 another on Crampton Street for £295,000. In 2009, the local authority freeholder, Southwark, complete a major refurbishment of the buildings.
A young Charlie Chaplin
lived in one of the Pullen buildings for nine months in 1907. Supermodel Naomi Campbell
lived in Iliffe Street.
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
tenement buildings surviving in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In the Walworth
Walworth, London
Walworth is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Southwark. Walworth probably derives its name from the Old English "Wealhworth" which meant Welsh farm. It is located south east of Charing Cross and near to Camberwell and Elephant and Castle.The major streets in Walworth are the Old...
, Newington area, they are near Elephant and Castle
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle is a major road intersection in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is also used as a name for the surrounding area....
and Kennington
Kennington
Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....
Underground stations.
Located in Amelia Street, Crampton Street, Iliffe Street, Penton Place and Peacock Street, they are protected by Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
status granted by Southwark Council.
The historic and architectural importance of the buildings has been recognised by their use in several high profile films including The King's Speech, Spider (film)
Spider (film)
Spider is a 2002 Canadian/British drama film produced and directed by David Cronenberg and based on the novel of the same name by Patrick McGrath, who also wrote the screenplay....
and Hereafter (film)
Hereafter (film)
Hereafter is a 2010 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways - all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays...
.
The Pullens Estate was built by James Pullen
James Pullen
James Pullen is an English football goalkeeper who plays for Woking.-Career:He started his career at Heybridge Swifts. On 29 September 1999 he joined Ipswich Town on a free transfer. He made his debut in a 3–1 win against Middlesbrough in the Football League Cup on 6 November 2002.On 11 August...
, a local builder, who acquired the land and developed it over a 15-year period from 1886.
The residential buildings are four storeys in height, and each unit is three bays wide with an ornate central entrance to a common stairwell. The ranges vary from three to twelve units in length. They are faced with yellow stock brick, the front being enriched with the use of decorative terracotta arches to the door and window openings. The roofs are flat, providing amenity space for the residents. The workshops attached to the rear of the residential blocks(buildings) are simpler and more “functional” in appearance. They are two storeys high, and also built of stock brick and flat-roofed. The two-storey loading bays are edged with blue brick quoins. The shops, flanking the entrances to the workshop yards, have traditional painted timber shopfronts, with pilasters supporting a fascia and cornice, and stallrisers. The yards are still in use and house a variety of workers including potters, a lute maker, architects, dress makers and jewellery designers such as Alex Monroe . . The yards are open to the public twice yearly to promote the independent traders.
The first block of 16 flats was built on Penton place without the required consent of the Metropolitan Board of Works but Pullen managed to persuade local officials that his work was good and continued building until 1901 - ten years more than he'd been granted permission for.
When Charles Booth (philanthropist)
Charles Booth (philanthropist)
Charles Booth was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is most famed for his innovative work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century, work that along with that of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree influenced government intervention against poverty in the...
was surveying London for his poverty map in 1899 he encountered Mr Pullen at work describing him thus 'Old Mr Pullen in a top hat and fustian suit was on a scaffolding superintending'.
Booth stated that demand for the 'well built' flats was high and they were 'Occupied before the paper is dry on the walls' often by police officers from Whitehall and Lambeth districts.
The rent was 'eight shillings for three rooms, kitchen and scullery, plus 6 pence a week charged for cleaning the stairs and gas'. Each had to make a deposit of 24 shillings which is an effectual bar
to any poor tenants. .
The full estate, which originally extended southwards as far as Manor Place, comprised 684 dwellings in 12 blocks. Attached to the rear of the dwellings, arranged round four yards, were 106 workshops. The estate’s shops were located at the entrances to the workshopyards.
In the 1970s, the council planned to demolish the buildings but were stopped in the 1980s by an alliance of tenants and squatters under the umbrella of the residents' association who campaigned and fought successfully to save them.
Some of the buildings were damaged during German bombing in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Others were demolished when they fell into disrepair.
According to records at www.flyingbombsandrockets.com, a V1
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
rocket made impact at Manor Place by the Railway on 27 June 1944 at 22:45. The V1 demolished six houses in Crampton Street and four in Manor Place as well as damaging a public wash house and stores in Manor Place, a railway bridge, two arches, and 300 houses and buildings in Manor Place and surrounding streets.
Many of the remaining 351 flats in the buildings are local authority-owned but just under 50 per cent are now in private leasehold ownership and prices have risen sharply, boosted by the re-development plan for the Elephant and Castle area and an interest in the period style of the construction. In 2007 a Pullens flat on Iliffe Street sold for £305,000 another on Crampton Street for £295,000. In 2009, the local authority freeholder, Southwark, complete a major refurbishment of the buildings.
A young Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
lived in one of the Pullen buildings for nine months in 1907. Supermodel Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...
lived in Iliffe Street.
External links
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenwood100/sets/72157622887893230/Photo set of making of The King's SpeechThe King's Speech (film)The King's Speech is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush...
at the Pullens buildings on FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
] - Southwark Council public consultation on development at Crampton Street
- Evening Standard article about the mews workshops at the Pullen buildings
- http://booth.lse.ac.uk/cgi-bin/do.pl?sub=search_catalogue_pages&arg0=amelia&arg1=and/Charles Booth's original notes on The Pullens Buildings - Notebook B365, page 61