Earlier this year I joined a group tour of the buildings and grounds that make up the Salvation Army training college opposite Denmark Hill station. For me, this visit was well overdue as I’ve been meaning to find out what’s beyond the impressive foyer for many years now. Whenever I’ve been in the vicinity before it’s been on days when the library and museum are closed to the public. I am particularly interested because this is a Giles Gilbert Scott design and, since 2020, I have been researching the man, visiting his buildings and hosting talks and in-person presentations about him.
Constructed 1928-32, GGS's style is evident within many of the architectural elements here, such as the tower and brickwork patterns which echo similar features at Liverpool Cathedral, Cambridge University Library and Bankside power station.
However, I think elements of this development, especially the station-facing façade, was steered by the Sally Army guys who, I've noticed, rather preferred a showy-offy kind of style to Giles's less is more approach. You need only to check out some of their small town citadels, masquerading as castles and fortresses, to see what I mean. Here at Champion Park we see OTT ecclesiastical embellishments at high level and windows that look rather disproportionate as if they were enlarged after the design was approved. Indeed, the building opened in 1929 before it was finished.
For some reason I did not take pics of the foyer during this visit. The tour started in the library and we were taken to the upper floors via a gorgeous Hollywood Deco style staircase to the museum. As you can see, the stairs wrap around a lovely old cage elevator/lift.
The stairs on the upper floors afforded views of the meditative walking maze/spiral within the grass at the rear, which is barely discernible from ground level. I love a maze. There's a similar one at the southern end of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and another within a council estate near Olympia.
I really like the stripey carpet and the berry colours echoed on the chairs.
We walked around the gated grounds, which resembles a small village, and we were shown inside some of the living quarters which, although compact, are now bigger than the tiny cell-like spaces that were part of the original design.
It was here that I spotted at my feet a man hole cover with wood blocks within some of the segments – ooh, another one to add to the A-Z of Woodblocks
I surmised that the college must have been built on what had previously been Victorian streets but I now see that doesn't appear to be the case, as is evident by the maps available here on Southwark Council's site. As you can see by the snippet below of Kelly & Co's map, c1888, there were no other streets between Champion Park and Champion Grove. Indeed, later folding maps I have to hand here show the same empty space into the 1940s, well after the college was built.
Hmmm... we have two options – either the man hole cover plate was imprted from somewhere else, or this area of Champion Park might have previously been part of a private business that used many horses and carts. The wood block surface would have kept the clippety-clop and carting and clanking noises to a minimum so as not to upset the well-to-do residents living in Champion Grove and the 1840's paired villas along Grove Lane. Any further info welcome.
FYI, 'champion' has nothing to do with winners or vinegar – we should be pronouncing it with a french accent because the area is named after Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, a Huguenot refugee who, in 1717, built Champion Lodge on his 30-acre estate here.
