Cadby Hall
Encyclopedia
Cadby Hall was a major office and factory complex in Hammersmith
, London which was the headquarters of pioneering catering company Joseph Lyons and Co.
for almost a century.
Cadby Hall itself was designed by Lewis Henry Isaacs
and constructed using Portland stone
and red Fareham bricks, with terracotta panelling above the first floor windows, and carved portraits of famous composers. Reliefs on the sides of the entrance doorway depicted scenes celebrating music and poetry. Cadby called the building the Cadby & Company Pianoforte Manufactory.
The arrangement of buildings in the complex was designed primarily to prevent the spread of fire by confining it to one building should such an incident occur.
Cadby lived for a time in what is now known as Keats House, previously owned by the poet John Keats
in Hampstead
. When Cadby died on 22 October 1884, the factory and all stock were sold, and subsequently a variety of businesses occupied the site between 1886 and 1893, including Kensington Co-operative Stores and the Schweppes
Mineral Water Works.
, growing to cover an area of more than 13 acres (52,609.2 m²).
As the Lyons catering business expanded, the factory complex grew outwards from the central point of the original Cadby Hall, spreading in all directions but chiefly east and west along the Hammersmith Road, with new blocks being added as new areas of production were launched, including tea, baked goods, meat and ice cream.
Blocks were given a letter designation, with A Block being the original piano manufacturing area, which was converted into bakeries. Subsequent blocks were added to the site, and as time and production moved on throughout the 20th century, old blocks would be renovated or demolished and new ones built in their place, although the original Cadby Hall building (A Block) remained largely intact right through until the demolition of the entire complex in 1983, by which time it had become J Block.
At the peak of the Lyons operations, the entire stretch of land along the Hammersmith Road between Blythe Road and Brook Green became one vast manufacturing enclosure with over 30,000 staff working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The name of Cadby Hall became so synonymous with the company that the three later overseas J. Lyons & Co. complexes in Toronto, Canada; Natal, South Africa, and Salisbury, Rhodesia (today Harare, Zimbabwe) were also named Cadby Hall.
The original Cadby Hall site in Hammersmith also earned a place in history as the birthplace of the first ever business computer, LEO
, which Lyons developed between 1949-1951 to automate its clerical and administrative tasks.
. Gradually, the Lyons infrastructure was sold off to pay for Allied's consolidation in the drinks industry, and the Cadby Hall complex was scaled down until the site was finally cleared in June 1983.
Prior to its demolition, Cadby Hall served as a location for filming of episodes of 1970s TV action dramas The Professionals
http://www.personal.u-net.com/~carnfort/Professionals/b02.htm http://www.personal.u-net.com/~carnfort/Professionals/b09.htm and The Sweeney
http://www.thetvlounge.co.uk/sweeney/viewtopic.php?p=8565761&sid=c98cdabe9dc5e6892ae9058de00e7509.
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London which was the headquarters of pioneering catering company Joseph Lyons and Co.
J. Lyons and Co.
J. Lyons & Co. was a market-dominant British restaurant-chain, food-manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1887 as a spin-off from the Salmon & Gluckstein tobacco company....
for almost a century.
Origins
The name originated from Charles Cadby, piano manufacturer, who purchased 8.5 acres (34,398.3 m²) of land along the High Road (today named Hammersmith Road) in 1874. The location had formerly been known as the Croften Estate. Cadby allocated 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²) on the site for his new piano factory and showrooms while the remaining 7 acres (28,328 m²) were set aside for smaller building plots.Cadby Hall itself was designed by Lewis Henry Isaacs
Lewis Henry Isaacs
Lewis Henry Isaacs was an English architect and surveyor and a Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892....
and constructed using Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
and red Fareham bricks, with terracotta panelling above the first floor windows, and carved portraits of famous composers. Reliefs on the sides of the entrance doorway depicted scenes celebrating music and poetry. Cadby called the building the Cadby & Company Pianoforte Manufactory.
The arrangement of buildings in the complex was designed primarily to prevent the spread of fire by confining it to one building should such an incident occur.
Cadby lived for a time in what is now known as Keats House, previously owned by the poet John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
. When Cadby died on 22 October 1884, the factory and all stock were sold, and subsequently a variety of businesses occupied the site between 1886 and 1893, including Kensington Co-operative Stores and the Schweppes
Schweppes (brand)
Schweppes is a beverage brand that is sold around the world. It includes a variety of carbonated waters and ginger ales. Its marketing campaign made heavy use of an onomatopoeia in their commercials: "Schhhhh......
Mineral Water Works.
J. Lyons & Co. Ltd.
By 1899, the fledgling J. Lyons company had purchased property near Cadby Hall at No. 62 Hammersmith Road, and when they subsequently took over the Hall complex itself they retained the name, although the official address of the Cadby Hall complex became 66 Hammersmith Road. In time it became one of the largest food factories in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, growing to cover an area of more than 13 acres (52,609.2 m²).
As the Lyons catering business expanded, the factory complex grew outwards from the central point of the original Cadby Hall, spreading in all directions but chiefly east and west along the Hammersmith Road, with new blocks being added as new areas of production were launched, including tea, baked goods, meat and ice cream.
Blocks were given a letter designation, with A Block being the original piano manufacturing area, which was converted into bakeries. Subsequent blocks were added to the site, and as time and production moved on throughout the 20th century, old blocks would be renovated or demolished and new ones built in their place, although the original Cadby Hall building (A Block) remained largely intact right through until the demolition of the entire complex in 1983, by which time it had become J Block.
At the peak of the Lyons operations, the entire stretch of land along the Hammersmith Road between Blythe Road and Brook Green became one vast manufacturing enclosure with over 30,000 staff working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The name of Cadby Hall became so synonymous with the company that the three later overseas J. Lyons & Co. complexes in Toronto, Canada; Natal, South Africa, and Salisbury, Rhodesia (today Harare, Zimbabwe) were also named Cadby Hall.
The original Cadby Hall site in Hammersmith also earned a place in history as the birthplace of the first ever business computer, LEO
LEO computer
The LEO I was the first computer used for commercial business applications. Overseen by Oliver Standingford and Raymond Thompson of J. Lyons and Co., and modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC, LEO I ran its first business application in 1951...
, which Lyons developed between 1949-1951 to automate its clerical and administrative tasks.
Decline
By the late 1970s, J. Lyons & Co. began to decline as rapidly as it had expanded a century earlier, and in 1978 the company was taken over by Allied Breweries LtdAllied Domecq
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, UK that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard.-History:...
. Gradually, the Lyons infrastructure was sold off to pay for Allied's consolidation in the drinks industry, and the Cadby Hall complex was scaled down until the site was finally cleared in June 1983.
Prior to its demolition, Cadby Hall served as a location for filming of episodes of 1970s TV action dramas The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
http://www.personal.u-net.com/~carnfort/Professionals/b02.htm http://www.personal.u-net.com/~carnfort/Professionals/b09.htm and The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
http://www.thetvlounge.co.uk/sweeney/viewtopic.php?p=8565761&sid=c98cdabe9dc5e6892ae9058de00e7509.