Kathryn A Morrison
@kathrynmorrison.bsky.social
Architectural and Retail Historian (FSA FRHistS). ‘Chain Stores’ published May 2025.
Website: buildingourpast.com
Also expect posts about Romanesque sculpture (CRSBI fieldworker, Hampshire) and the Western Isles.
Website: buildingourpast.com
Also expect posts about Romanesque sculpture (CRSBI fieldworker, Hampshire) and the Western Isles.
Bet not many of these #Cambridge students realised that Gardenia's shopfront was installed for Lennards (shoe shop) by Pollards in the late 1920s. A tad altered, but recognisable - hope it isn't now swept away!
October 5, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Bet not many of these #Cambridge students realised that Gardenia's shopfront was installed for Lennards (shoe shop) by Pollards in the late 1920s. A tad altered, but recognisable - hope it isn't now swept away!
Lovely historic shops in Grand Hotel Buildings, #Eastbourne.
September 13, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Lovely historic shops in Grand Hotel Buildings, #Eastbourne.
Some of the wonderful medieval sculpture we enjoyed on the #BAA Conference (in and around Leicester) this week. Bet you can identify them all!
July 26, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Some of the wonderful medieval sculpture we enjoyed on the #BAA Conference (in and around Leicester) this week. Bet you can identify them all!
Fish on Friday!
Here's some light weekend reading - a new blog post on the shops of Mac Fisheries (not sure how many of you will remember them!)
tinyurl.com/33zxm9zb
Here's some light weekend reading - a new blog post on the shops of Mac Fisheries (not sure how many of you will remember them!)
tinyurl.com/33zxm9zb
June 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Fish on Friday!
Here's some light weekend reading - a new blog post on the shops of Mac Fisheries (not sure how many of you will remember them!)
tinyurl.com/33zxm9zb
Here's some light weekend reading - a new blog post on the shops of Mac Fisheries (not sure how many of you will remember them!)
tinyurl.com/33zxm9zb
Another historic #Letchworth landmark bites the dust - Lloyds & Co. (mowers, agricultural implements etc) built a new factory on Birds Hill in 1915. Burnt down rather dramatically last night.😥
June 21, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Another historic #Letchworth landmark bites the dust - Lloyds & Co. (mowers, agricultural implements etc) built a new factory on Birds Hill in 1915. Burnt down rather dramatically last night.😥
Walter J. West. Rather lovely butcher's stallriser spotted recently in #BishopsWaltham #Hants
June 18, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Walter J. West. Rather lovely butcher's stallriser spotted recently in #BishopsWaltham #Hants
On a much brighter note - here's a detail of #Southampton's Henry & Joyce Collins mural, from #Sainsbury's Lordshill, 1978.
Taken down 1990. Restored and installed on Hamtun Street 2011.
Taken down 1990. Restored and installed on Hamtun Street 2011.
June 12, 2025 at 10:02 AM
On a much brighter note - here's a detail of #Southampton's Henry & Joyce Collins mural, from #Sainsbury's Lordshill, 1978.
Taken down 1990. Restored and installed on Hamtun Street 2011.
Taken down 1990. Restored and installed on Hamtun Street 2011.
Stopped in my tracks by this sad sight in #Southampton yesterday.
The ongoing demolition of the once great Edwin Jones store (Healing & Overbury 1959) renamed #Debenhams in 1973.
The ongoing demolition of the once great Edwin Jones store (Healing & Overbury 1959) renamed #Debenhams in 1973.
June 12, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Stopped in my tracks by this sad sight in #Southampton yesterday.
The ongoing demolition of the once great Edwin Jones store (Healing & Overbury 1959) renamed #Debenhams in 1973.
The ongoing demolition of the once great Edwin Jones store (Healing & Overbury 1959) renamed #Debenhams in 1973.
Talking of Harris, stumbled across Mary Miers's lovely article about Rodel House (the former Rodel Hotel) in Country Life (9 April). Fascinating history - and who knew there was a link with Theobalds! #Isle0fHarris
June 2, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Talking of Harris, stumbled across Mary Miers's lovely article about Rodel House (the former Rodel Hotel) in Country Life (9 April). Fascinating history - and who knew there was a link with Theobalds! #Isle0fHarris
Chain Stores is here!
It's Publication Day - and my first copies arrived in the morning post! Here's a glimpse of the chapter on shoe shops.
Over the next weeks I'll post some of the material that I couldn't fit into the book, including extra pictures.
Thanks @livunipress.bsky.social.
It's Publication Day - and my first copies arrived in the morning post! Here's a glimpse of the chapter on shoe shops.
Over the next weeks I'll post some of the material that I couldn't fit into the book, including extra pictures.
Thanks @livunipress.bsky.social.
May 28, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Chain Stores is here!
It's Publication Day - and my first copies arrived in the morning post! Here's a glimpse of the chapter on shoe shops.
Over the next weeks I'll post some of the material that I couldn't fit into the book, including extra pictures.
Thanks @livunipress.bsky.social.
It's Publication Day - and my first copies arrived in the morning post! Here's a glimpse of the chapter on shoe shops.
Over the next weeks I'll post some of the material that I couldn't fit into the book, including extra pictures.
Thanks @livunipress.bsky.social.
The last #Beales is scheduled for closure at the end of May.
Here's a new post about the history of Beales, focusing on the company's early stores.
buildingourpast.com/2025/05/05/l...
Here's a new post about the history of Beales, focusing on the company's early stores.
buildingourpast.com/2025/05/05/l...
May 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
The last #Beales is scheduled for closure at the end of May.
Here's a new post about the history of Beales, focusing on the company's early stores.
buildingourpast.com/2025/05/05/l...
Here's a new post about the history of Beales, focusing on the company's early stores.
buildingourpast.com/2025/05/05/l...
Steinacleit, Isle of Lewis (with bonus of crannog in background). #StandingStoneSunday
May 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Steinacleit, Isle of Lewis (with bonus of crannog in background). #StandingStoneSunday
The irises are in full bloom.
May 4, 2025 at 10:59 AM
The irises are in full bloom.
The sorry impact of heritage tourism in the Western Isles. The loss of Georgian-era #Callanish Farm/Inn, to make way for a large visitors' centre serving the standing stones.
Photos 2016 (present and correct), 2024 (undermined but still standing) and 2025 (gone).
Photos 2016 (present and correct), 2024 (undermined but still standing) and 2025 (gone).
April 30, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The sorry impact of heritage tourism in the Western Isles. The loss of Georgian-era #Callanish Farm/Inn, to make way for a large visitors' centre serving the standing stones.
Photos 2016 (present and correct), 2024 (undermined but still standing) and 2025 (gone).
Photos 2016 (present and correct), 2024 (undermined but still standing) and 2025 (gone).
Well, that's 'Chain Stores' off to the printer! Time to stop looking for typos!
Tiles are from #WHSmith #ColwynBay. This branch closed in 2021.
Tiles are from #WHSmith #ColwynBay. This branch closed in 2021.
April 11, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Well, that's 'Chain Stores' off to the printer! Time to stop looking for typos!
Tiles are from #WHSmith #ColwynBay. This branch closed in 2021.
Tiles are from #WHSmith #ColwynBay. This branch closed in 2021.
Nitpicking again!
News reports describe #WHSmith as a 'staple of UK town centres since the Victorian era'.
Not quite. The first branch shop (as opposed to railway bookstall) opened in Clacton in 1902. Here it is!
News reports describe #WHSmith as a 'staple of UK town centres since the Victorian era'.
Not quite. The first branch shop (as opposed to railway bookstall) opened in Clacton in 1902. Here it is!
March 28, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Nitpicking again!
News reports describe #WHSmith as a 'staple of UK town centres since the Victorian era'.
Not quite. The first branch shop (as opposed to railway bookstall) opened in Clacton in 1902. Here it is!
News reports describe #WHSmith as a 'staple of UK town centres since the Victorian era'.
Not quite. The first branch shop (as opposed to railway bookstall) opened in Clacton in 1902. Here it is!
Sod's law! #WHSmith announce sale and rebrand of high-street shops just after I finish indexing 'Chain Stores' 😠
Now, how the difficult task of squeezing this important information into an endnote without disrupting my pagination!
Now, how the difficult task of squeezing this important information into an endnote without disrupting my pagination!
March 28, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Sod's law! #WHSmith announce sale and rebrand of high-street shops just after I finish indexing 'Chain Stores' 😠
Now, how the difficult task of squeezing this important information into an endnote without disrupting my pagination!
Now, how the difficult task of squeezing this important information into an endnote without disrupting my pagination!
The permanent wave cubicle in Marshall & Snelgrove's hairdressing dept. in 1923. Just look at that terrifying 😱contraption on the ceiling!
Marshall & Snelgrove, Oxford St, later Debenhams - not sure what's coming next!
Photo Historic England Archive.
Marshall & Snelgrove, Oxford St, later Debenhams - not sure what's coming next!
Photo Historic England Archive.
March 21, 2025 at 5:58 PM
The permanent wave cubicle in Marshall & Snelgrove's hairdressing dept. in 1923. Just look at that terrifying 😱contraption on the ceiling!
Marshall & Snelgrove, Oxford St, later Debenhams - not sure what's coming next!
Photo Historic England Archive.
Marshall & Snelgrove, Oxford St, later Debenhams - not sure what's coming next!
Photo Historic England Archive.
Missed this story in December - a 1938 Burton's store in an extraordinary setting of low-rise post-war housing (Ormonde St superseded by Arndale's Viking Centre). With some lovely surviving details, including the main entrance.
February 3, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Missed this story in December - a 1938 Burton's store in an extraordinary setting of low-rise post-war housing (Ormonde St superseded by Arndale's Viking Centre). With some lovely surviving details, including the main entrance.
A reminder of how very lovely W. H. Smith's shops were once upon a time.
January 27, 2025 at 11:52 AM
A reminder of how very lovely W. H. Smith's shops were once upon a time.
Wherever you go these days, the most eye-catching - and the PINKEST OF PINK - modern shopfronts seem to be Victoria's Secret #Glasgow #MiltonKeynes
January 20, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Wherever you go these days, the most eye-catching - and the PINKEST OF PINK - modern shopfronts seem to be Victoria's Secret #Glasgow #MiltonKeynes
New Year visit to #Dundee where the large Debenhams in Overgate is being converted for Frasers and Sports Direct (to open May 2025). Frasers also plan a Flannels store in the former Argos. Meanwhile, old signage remains.
January 3, 2025 at 3:05 PM
New Year visit to #Dundee where the large Debenhams in Overgate is being converted for Frasers and Sports Direct (to open May 2025). Frasers also plan a Flannels store in the former Argos. Meanwhile, old signage remains.
Selection of rather lovely historic jewellery shops in #TunbridgeWells (though I'm not sure what Walsh Bros - the art deco one - was originally: anyone know?).
December 11, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Selection of rather lovely historic jewellery shops in #TunbridgeWells (though I'm not sure what Walsh Bros - the art deco one - was originally: anyone know?).