There are always secrets waiting to be found in any old house.
Most I grant you will be mundane, but they will still be a secret with a story.
So here is the one concerning a beer bottle and the space under the floorboards of a house on Harrow Road in Leicester.
The bottle was found by our Polly and Joshua soon after they moved in, and with it comes a little bit of Leicester’s history.
The name on the bottle was R C Allen, and a search of the directories for 1906 showed they had premises at Humberside Gate and 2 Gallowree gate, and according to one source, “the Allen family has long associations with the brewing industry in Leicester.
In the late 1860's, Thomas Allen ran the 'Lord Rancliffe' in Redcross Street and, in 1870, John Allen was a wine and spirit merchant on Gallowtree Gate.
By 1875, 'Southern & Allen were mineral water manufacturers and 'Allen & Co.' were wine and spirit merchants on Humberstone Gate.
In 1898, R. C. Allen was set up as a limited company, being a joint venture between 'Everards', 'Welch Brothers' and the 'Leicester Brewing & Malting Co.' to bottle beer brands other than those of Allsop's, Bass and Guinness.
Allen House (on the corner of Oxford Street and Newarke Street) was built in the late 1920's and incorporated both offices and the bottling plant. Taken over by 'Praeds in 1951, part of the building was eventually used as an antiques centre”*.
Now, I recommend the site because there is a lot more including pictures of the Allen’s buildings and information on some of the breweries associated with R C Allen.
But as ever, I never crib other people’s research and so suggest you follow the link to read more about the Allen’s and Leicester’s brewers.
For now I will return to Polly and Josh’s bottle which is a fine example of others that can be found for sale, along with a delightful “ginger beer bottle opener” which has the name R C Allen embossed on the handle.
We were discussing what Polly and Josh should do with the bottle, and I like the idea that they may leave it to the next owner, because as Josh said, “it belongs with the house”.
We will never know when it got there, but the chances are that it was left during the construction of the house sometime around or a little before 1906.
This would make it just one of those careless acts by one of the builders, but the romantic in me wonders if it was put there by the first residents to mark their presence in the house.
Such acts are quite common and go back far into history.
My maternal grandparents discovered a George III coin under the front step of their terraced house, which fits with the rough date of its construction, while friends have discovered shoes and other objects under their floor boards, none of which seem random acts.
Of course, the secret of the bottle will for now remain just that.
But I like the link with Leicester’s history.
Sadly a trawl of the directories didn't come up with any adverts for R C Allen, but I did find these two which caught my fancy.
Location; Leicester
Pictures; from the collection of Polly and Josh, 2019, adverts from a 1906 directory
*Past and Present pubs of Leicestershire & Rutland, https://www.pappolar.com/city-breweries
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| The bottle, 2019 |
So here is the one concerning a beer bottle and the space under the floorboards of a house on Harrow Road in Leicester.
The bottle was found by our Polly and Joshua soon after they moved in, and with it comes a little bit of Leicester’s history.
The name on the bottle was R C Allen, and a search of the directories for 1906 showed they had premises at Humberside Gate and 2 Gallowree gate, and according to one source, “the Allen family has long associations with the brewing industry in Leicester.
In the late 1860's, Thomas Allen ran the 'Lord Rancliffe' in Redcross Street and, in 1870, John Allen was a wine and spirit merchant on Gallowtree Gate.
By 1875, 'Southern & Allen were mineral water manufacturers and 'Allen & Co.' were wine and spirit merchants on Humberstone Gate.
In 1898, R. C. Allen was set up as a limited company, being a joint venture between 'Everards', 'Welch Brothers' and the 'Leicester Brewing & Malting Co.' to bottle beer brands other than those of Allsop's, Bass and Guinness.
Allen House (on the corner of Oxford Street and Newarke Street) was built in the late 1920's and incorporated both offices and the bottling plant. Taken over by 'Praeds in 1951, part of the building was eventually used as an antiques centre”*.
 |
| Looking out on Harrow Road |
But as ever, I never crib other people’s research and so suggest you follow the link to read more about the Allen’s and Leicester’s brewers.
For now I will return to Polly and Josh’s bottle which is a fine example of others that can be found for sale, along with a delightful “ginger beer bottle opener” which has the name R C Allen embossed on the handle.
We were discussing what Polly and Josh should do with the bottle, and I like the idea that they may leave it to the next owner, because as Josh said, “it belongs with the house”.
We will never know when it got there, but the chances are that it was left during the construction of the house sometime around or a little before 1906.
This would make it just one of those careless acts by one of the builders, but the romantic in me wonders if it was put there by the first residents to mark their presence in the house.
 |
| A rival, 1906 |
My maternal grandparents discovered a George III coin under the front step of their terraced house, which fits with the rough date of its construction, while friends have discovered shoes and other objects under their floor boards, none of which seem random acts.
 |
| Fine dinning in Leicester, 1906 |
But I like the link with Leicester’s history.
Sadly a trawl of the directories didn't come up with any adverts for R C Allen, but I did find these two which caught my fancy.
Location; Leicester
Pictures; from the collection of Polly and Josh, 2019, adverts from a 1906 directory
*Past and Present pubs of Leicestershire & Rutland, https://www.pappolar.com/city-breweries
Allen & Southam are ancestors of mine. Thank you for posting.
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