Industrial History Online

Industrial History Online

Rippon Bros / The Royal British Legion

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Description and History of Site:-
Corner site with its east elevation on Albion Street and Short Street (Butts Court) to the north. Within a few yards of the Leeds Club and the Leeds Stock Exchange in the centre of Leeds' commercial district where potential clients made their money. The building was 27.4m on Short Street (Butts Court) and 9m on Albion Street. It had 3-stories + basement. On the ground floor were plate glass display windows. The upper 2 floors retained their original rectangular windows. The site was redeveloped in the 1960s and 73 Albion Street is now (2016) offices for The Royal British Legion. Albion Street was developed from the 1790s. Prior to acquisition by the Rippon brothers in January 1903 no.73 had been occupied by Whitham & Sons, auctioneers, and before that it had been a clothier's warehouse. To convert the premises to showrooms with workshops below, the Rippons employed local architects Oliver & Dodgshun. Edward Dodgshun had recently designed the West Riding Union Bank in Park Row and the Centaur Clothing Factory in Great George Street. Conversion included creating a workshop in the basement with light provided in the pavement. Large display windows were inserted on the ground floor with a set of sliding glass doors for vehicle access. For vehicles a hydraulic lift was installed at the rear. Stairs were at the front. Rippon Bros. remained in Albion Street until 1962 when they moved to larger, purpose-built, premises in Westgate. The site was subsequently redeveloped.


Further Reading and References:-
Leach, P and Pevsner, N. Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North. Yale, 2009.
Walker, N. A-Z of British coachbuilders 1919-1960 and the development of styles & techniques. Revised ed. Herridge & Sons, 2007.
Wood, J. Rippon Bros: a coachbuilder of renown. Hinchliffe & Sleigh, Dobroyd Mills, Jackson Bridge, 2012.


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Key Words :- coachbuilders carriages cars coachbuilding retailers repairs showroom

Viewing the Site :- Redeveloped site can be viewed from pavement/road

Address :- 73 Albion Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 5AA
Grid Ref :- SE 30051 33646
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.798257 , Long -1.545249
Local Authority :- Leeds Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site redeveloped to industrial / commercial use
Site Dates :- c.1870 - 1962
Contributor :- Robert Vickers - 23 November 2016

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Robert Vickers