Plaque

(lost) Lyons first teashop

Erection date: 20/9/1894

Inscription

First Lyons teashop opened 20 September 1894.

Site: Lyons first teashop (1 memorial)

W1, Piccadilly, 213

We thank History of Kilburn and West Hampstead for the photo. They published it in connection with their biography of Edwin Levy who owned the building and was a good friend of Joseph Lyons and Isidore Gluckstein. We first saw photographs of this shop in the excellent book giving the history of the family that built the Lyons empire, Legacy by Thomas Harding published by Heinemann.

That book has two photos of the shop. The first, presumably taken when it first opened as a teashop, after extensive remodelling, shows it with an ornate fascia and pilastered entrance. The Kilburn and West Hampstead photo was probably taken to record the re-remodelled shop with its streamlined design and 1930's chrome. Also we note that the entrance has been shifted left of centre. The second photo in the book shows the shopfront in 1953, plaque still in place, unchanged, except for the coronation decorations.

Jamie Barras has a 2009 photo of the whole Victorian building captioned "A P Howell, completed 1863". Since then it has been demolished and replaced with St James’s Gateway, which, despite its late date, seems to us to have post-modern tendencies, such as the feature cornice. The Evening Standard reported on the campaign to save the 8 landmark buildings that were lost to this development.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Lyons first teashop

Subjects commemorated i

Lyons first teashop

See Joseph Lyons and J. Lyons & Co. The photo is probably c.1930/40s.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope

EC3, Lombard Street, 32, Plough Court

In a house in this Court Alexander Pope, poet, was born, 1688. The Corporation of the City of London

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
John Galsworthy

John Galsworthy

NW3, Admiral's Walk, Admiral's House & Grove Lodge

Galsworthy was not well enough to go to the ceremony to receive his Nobel Prize for Literature, so they brought it to him at his home here.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Turners' Hall, second

Turners' Hall, second

EC4, College Hill

On or near this site stood the Second Turners' Hall 1736 - 66. The Corporation of the City of London

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Salvation Army Ronalds Road - west

Salvation Army Ronalds Road - west

N5, Ronalds Road, 1, Citadel Court

The designer of the building clearly had the 'citadel' concept in mind. Strangely, some of these foundation plaques have had their inscri...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Sun Yat-Sen

Sun Yat-Sen

WC1, Warwick Court, 4

A London Inheritance has a photo of this plaque shortly after its unveiling on a remaining wall of a bombed building.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators