Erection date: 17/10/1900
{In the foliated pediment, on a belt-ringed roundel:}
Royal Arsenal Co-operative Soc. Ltd.
Each for all and all for each.
{On the tablet below:}
Royal Arsenal Cooperative Socty. Ltd.
This stone was laid by R. MacKay, Chairman of the Society, to commemorate the commencement of building on Bostall Estate.
October 17th AD 1900
Committee
{9 names - see Subjects commemorated}
A. McLeod - Secretary & Manager
T. O. Arnold - Assistant Secretary
F. Bethell - Architect & Surveyor
J. Hall - Assistant Manager
gives the origins of this plaque: "The first brick of the estate was laid on May 28th 1900, and a tablet to commemorate the event was erected in the following October at the corner of McLeod Road and Bostall Lane. When the R.A.C.S. Abbey Wood Branch Store was built on the spot some time later, the tablet was moved and fixed to the wall facing Bostall Lane."
This large decorative feature was surely originally high on the facade of a building similar to that of the RACS Central Stores in Powis Street, Woolwich, also by Frank Bethell, and a similar style to this pediment. So we'd expect that it was taken down to its current position when that building was demolished/modernised. This has a few photos of what seem to be the Abbey Wood branch but none of them show this piece of architecture atop a building.
Site: Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society - Abbey Wood (2 memorials)
SE2, McLeod Road, 103 - 116
The memorials are in Bostall Lane, on the side wall of the McLeod Road Co-op. In our photo, over at the right, the plaque for the Abbey Wood branch is the white square that can be seen just to the left of the street sign.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of plaquesoflondon.co.uk
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them