View of the Tower House in Lewisham High Street, which was the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society's flagship department store.
The Tower House was the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society's flagship department store. That makes sense of much of the decoration including the lorry bearing the letters RACS and the prominent 1868 - the year of the Society's foundation. The reason for the transport theme is less obvious. RACS may have begun as a food shop in Plumstead, but it grew to offer a huge range of products and services: books, jewellery, shoes, pharmacy, catering, hairdressers, laundry, travel agency, hotels, life insurance and even an undertaker's. It constructed housing on the Bostall Estate, had an education section and was politically active. Around 1975, the society counted half a million members - but a decade later it had declined drastically and merged with the national co-operative society. The Building is now occupied by the Twin Group, which provides educational training and career development courses. It also housesa Soho fitness Gym.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Lewisham High Street, Lewisham, London.
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -operative, architecture, arsenal, department, flagship, high, house, lewisham, racs, royal, society, store, store., street, tower
