The Vinegar Ground

The area now taken up by the Sutton Estate, at the junction of City Road and Old Street was known in the 1940s as the Vinegar Ground.

The Sarson’s Vinegar factory was based on the site of Champions Vinegar works which had long gone when the first houses were built there.

The vinegar was first brewed by Thomas Sarson in 1794 from malt barley. James Thomas Sarson was a vinegar maker living at Brunswick Place, Islington in 1841.
The name of the factory was called Craven street works as seen on a receipt from 1843 which I have included in this post. What was once Craven street Is today Cranwood street, but as you can see from various posts the location Sarsons vinegar works laid on Catherine street from 1893.

The site in this photo is champions vinegar works which was much larger in scale and occupied the corner of City Road and Old street. But to the left of the photo is Catherine street where Sarsons traded from in 1893, this photo below dates from 1880s. 

Going back sales rocketed when his son Henry James Sarson took over in 1850. 

Sarson & Son branded its product as “Virgin Vinegar” from 1861 in order to indicate its purity at a time when food adulteration was rife. Most vinegar brewers added sulphuric acid to their product to decrease the necessary fermentation period.

It was renamed "Sarson's Virgin Vinegar" in 1884.

Sarson & Son did not add caramel to darken their vinegar, unlike most brewers, so their product had a much lighter colour than its rivals.

In 1893, the company was trading under the name of Henry Sarson and Sons from "The Vinegar Works", Catherine Street, City Road, London. Two of Henry's sons, Henry L Sarson and Percival Stanley Sarson also joined the family business as vinegar brewers. 

A print of a cartoon dates from 1893 entitled "The Irony of Circumstance", featuring 'acetic faced women' in front of sign which reads "Virgin Vinegar". I have included this cartoon it was featured in the Sketch Newspaper.

Henry Sarson retired from the business in 1893. Henry Sarson & Sons had been converted into a private limited company by 1900.

A Sarson's Virgin Vinegar colour advertisement postcard survives from the 1900s for a campaign entitled " She would have Sarsons”. And from the 1930s and 1940s there is a photograph of a Sarson's vinegar truck and 49 photographs of the works, in a collection created by British Vinegars Limited and are held in the London Metropolitan Archives.

The slogan used to advertise the product is "Don't say vinegar - say Sarson's".

In 1932 the company merged with other British vinegar producers to form British Vinegars Ltd. The 20th century was the golden age of vinegar. 65 licensed breweries existed in the UK. However, by 1940, only Sarson’s remained.

In 1968, British Vinegars purchased a site from the Co-op in Middleton, Greater Manchester and production moved there. 

 The company was taken over by Crosse & Blackwell which in turn was taken over by Nestlé but sold to Premier Foods. Premier Foods agreed in July 2012 to sell its Sarson's, Haywards pickled onion and Dufrais vinegar brands to Mizkan – a 200 year old vinegar manufacturer in Japan – for £41m as part of a streamlining programme.

Analysis report

Inland Revenue Map Date:1910

Source: Layers of London 

OS Map Date:1893-1896

Source: Layers of London 

OS Map Date: 1940s-1960s

The map now shows the vinegar works now demolished and occupied 

by Sutton Dwellings 

Source: Layers of London 

City road part of site where the vinegar works was once situated 

Enlarged copy of receipt showing Craven street works In 1843

Advertisement

Sarson’s Vinegar

Date: 1893

"The Irony of Circumstance", featuring 'acetic faced women' in front of sign which reads "Virgin Vinegar". I have included this cartoon it was featured in the Sketch Newspaper.

Advertisement Date:1919

Home Pickling Booklet by Henry Sarson Date: 1949

Sarson’s receipt date: 1843

Company stationary receipt date: 1921

City of London Lying in Hospital

City of London Lying In Hospital, City Road, had as part of this hospital a chapel attached, which was principally intended for the "wives of poor industrious Tradesmen or distressed House-keepers" and the wives of soldiers and sailors. It was founded in 1750 for married women only. The original building was situated in Aldersgate street London House. In 1771 still on Aldersgate street the hospital moved to Shaftesbury house.
The hospital moved premises once again but this time to the corner of Old street in City Road on 31st March 1773.

The Museum Curator for the Royal College of Midwives Heritage Team uncovered a beautiful if somewhat battered very old 18th century midwifery certificate awarded to a Mary Burford of the City of London Lying-in Hospital. The certificate is dated 15th April 1779, which makes it the oldest item in the RCM Archive collection.

Mrs Anne Newby of the City of London Lying-in-Hospital is another interesting figure who served as a matron and midwife for 36 years. In 1803 she received a silver medal from the Humane Society for her extraordinary success in recovering 500 babies, who at first were thought to be stillborn. She also engaged in charitable programs to provide clothing for the hospital’s poorest patients. She died in 1813.

The hospital was damaged by the construction of the Great Northern and City Railway underneath Old Street, the hospital was then demolished and rebuilt on the same site between 1904 and 1907.
The rules were relaxed in 1912, to allow "Singlewomen who are sufficiently recommended and are found to be deserving of the Benefits of the Hospital's Charity" to be eligible for admission for their first confinement and the name was changed to the City of London Maternity Hospital in 1918.

During WW2 On 9th September 1940,a week after the evacuation, the northern wing of the Hospital was destroyed by a bomb, fortunately with no loss of life.  The remaining in-patients were transferred to Friern Hospital, some ten miles away. The rear part of the building had to be demolished, although the front part continued to be used for the Out-Patients Department and administration. More bombs on 6th April and 10th May 1941 further damaged the building.

The out-patient maternity service continued, with expectant mothers delivered in their own homes, whilst those willing to leave London were sent to Brocket Hall.

In January 1942, 12 emergency maternity beds were made available in the London Fever Hospital in Liverpool Road.  The number was later increased to 40.

In 1946, after the end of the war, the Hospital took over financial responsibilities for Brocket Hall from Hertfordshire County Council.

In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS under the control of the Northern Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.

They decided not to rebuild the Hospital on the noisy City Road and, in November 1949, it reopened with 52 beds in Hanley Road, Tollington park N4,in premises bought from the Institute of the Blind.  Clinics continued to be held in the City Road building until 1955 when a new Out-Patients Department was built adjacent to the Hanley Road premises.

Its doors were closed in 1983 and amalgamated with the Obstetric Unit at the Whittington Hospital to form the present City of London Maternity Unit.

I have included illustrations, photos and maps with this post.
Sources include:
LMA
Museum of London
RCM Archive
Layers of London
Lost hospitals of London

Source: LMA

Elevation and ground plan of City of London Lying-In Hospital, City Road, Finsbury; with a key. Date:1770

Source: LMA

Date:1831

Source: LMA 

Source: LMA

Source: Layers of London 

Source: Museum of London 

Corner of Old street/ City Road where the hospital was once situated. 

Source: Museum of London

Source:Layers of London 

Date:1929 babies born on Christmas Day 

Source: Layers of London 

Source: Museum of London

18th century midwifery certificate awarded to a Mary Burford of the City of London Lying-in Hospital. The certificate is dated 15th April 1779