Crosse and Blackwell 1830-1921

This book presents the results of the archaeological excavations in advance of the redevelopment by Crossrail Limited of the Eastern Ticket Hall at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station, charting the history of one of the great enterprises of Victorian and Edwardian Britain – Crosse and Blackwell. After its move from King Street (close to present-day Shaftesbury Avenue) in 1838 to Soho Square in London’s West End, food manufacturer Crosse and Blackwell built and converted property on a number of streets between Soho Square and Hog Lane (later Charing Cross Road) into warehousing and factory space, enabling production of its food sauces, pickles, vinegar, jams and marmalades on a vast, industrial, scale. With a royal appointment, granted in 1837, the unprecedented use of celebrity chefs to either develop or endorse its products and the branding and labelling of its lines that referenced Britain’s imperial pretensions, Crosse and Blackwell was soon able to dominate not only the domestic market but compete globally. In 1922 it moved from the West End to Branston, Staffordshire, where Crosse and Blackwell developed arguably its most famous product, Branston Pickle.