More Hidden Treasure

Well, this is exciting.

   The ‘Springett and Lord’ sign, revealed when Crofton Park Opticians began work on replacing their sign is, we noticed, really, really heavy. It took three of us (thank-you, William) to carry it to its current location in storage.

   The board was so heavy because it was attached to another piece of wood, which we initially thought was a backing board.

This afternoon, Mike carefully unscrewed the two pieces of timber.

    Feeling rather like Howard Carter when he first looked into Tutankhamun’s burial chamber, we lifted off the Springett and Lord sign. Preserved beneath it for, probably, well over 100 years, was the sign for another earlier shop, belonging to J Heath.

The variation in the colour of the paintwork tells us this sign originally had the name picked out in wooden letters which were removed when the Springett and Lord sign was fixed over it.

    The street directory for 1899 tells us that at that time, the shop belonged John Heath, a tobacconist. There were quite a few shops in the Brockley Road selling tobacco and confectionary at this time. Springett and Lord had taken over the business by 1901 and were there until 1919, when Tyrell’s took over.

   We cannot find any local resident with the name Springett who is listed as a tobacconist or a shopkeeper. However, the 1911 census has John Springett, a 69-year-old newsagent and tobacconist, living a few miles away in Bermondsey, with his wife and six children.

   There is also a family by the name of Springett living in Marnock Road. The census says that living at 4, Marnock Road in 1911 were George Springett, aged 76 and a naval pensioner; his wife Phoebe, aged 74, and one of their four surviving children, 46-year-old Caroline.

   We’re talking to Lewisham Heritage about the best way to preserve the signs, and talking to a local venue about the best way to display them.

   We will let you know when everything is finalised and we can have a proper unveiling.

Springett and Lord listed in this advertisement from September 1902