Collection: Peter Taylor Collection

Description

A collection of two hundred and seventy-two prints showing exterior views of public houses tied to the Watford based brewery, Benskins. The public houses featured, many of which have since closed and have either been demolished or converted into residential properties, are predominantly in Essex and Hertfordshire, although there are a number in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and the area now covered by the Greater London Authority.

A small selection of the prints were separated out from the main boxes of images as, at the time of accession, their locations had not been identified by the donor. Of these, twelve have now been identified and eight remain un-located.

A number of the public houses display the name of the landlord on a licence plaque above or near the entrance, meaning that, alongside entries in contemporary directories, it has been possible to date the photographs to between 1925 and 1935. Additionally, on a couple of images cinema listings can be seen displayed in the windows. The dates of the films advertised further narrows the date to around 1928 – 1930 for some photographs.

The prints held by the archive are modern and were created and donated to the National Monuments Record in 1979 by Peter Taylor. The original photographer is unknown, although it is thought that he may have been employed or commissioned by Benskins.

Archival History

Received Via : Peter Taylor (Bookseller), 1979 Provenance : The negatives to these photographs were owned, at the time these were reproduced for the NMR in 1979, by Peter Taylor They were taken by an unidentified photographer in the 1920s, possibly for Benskins Brewery

Content

Rights

Source: Historic England Archive