A hidden vault under the old Astoria nightclub has been unearthed by Crossrail builders and it has revealed an unexpected history of one of Britain’s first condiment suppliers.

At a time when city centre industry was commonplace, pickles, jams and ketchup once flowed into jars bottled in Soho by the Crosse & Blackwell company. At the height of its operations in the area, the company owned a massive warehouse on Charing Cross Road, which later became the Astoria nightclub.

The building was torn down as part of the TCR tube station upgrades for Crossrail and London Underground, and during the works, MOLA archaeologists discovered the vault, packed full of 19th and 20th century pickle pots, jam jars and essence bottles.

Tottenham Court Road eastern ticket hall – Goslett Yard archaeology under Crosse and Blackwell site © Crossrail

The finds include glass bottles for Mushroom Catsup (today we call it ketchup), ceramic bung jars for mustard and Piccalilli, and painted white jars for Preserved Ginger.

The finds are giving researchers a rare insight into the history of British food manufacture and development and offer a glimpse into the birth and development of products that still sit within kitchen cupboards today.

(although probably not the mushroom flavoured ketchup)

Crosse & Blackwell Pure Orange Marmalade jar shard ©
Crossrail

Archaeologists also found white earthenware jars for Pure Orange Marmalade, Household Raspberry Jam and Plum Jam, some of which still have their original labels.

Crosse & Blackwell was in fact one of the first companies to industrialise the production of jam, and hence lower its cost for city dwellers who wanted what had been generally a home made product until then.

Nigel Jeffries, MOLA’s Medieval and Later Pottery Specialist and author of a book about the discovery commented that: “Excavations on Crosse & Blackwell’s Soho factory produced a large and diverse collection of pottery and glass related to their products, with one cistern alone containing nearly three tonnes of Newcastle made marmalade jars with stoneware bottles and jars. We think this is the biggest collection of pottery ever discovered in a single feature from an archaeological site in London.”

MOLA Archaeologists excavate the Tottenham Court Road site © Crossrail

Crosse & Blackwell started off as a joint venture by two friends, and by 1840, they had opened a shop and bottling plant in Soho Square. Within 4 years they had three buildings fronting Soho Square, and a large bottling plant behind, and later, the warehouse building fronting onto Charing Cross Road.

That warehouse later became the Astoria nightclub – maybe the legacy of all that jam explains why the floors always felt a bit… sticky.

MOLA Archaeologists discover a large number of finds at the Tottenham Court Road site © Crossrail

They were also one of the first companies to receive a Royal Warrant from the newly crowned Queen Victoria in 1837 and also one of the first brands to use celebrity chefs and authors for the endorsement and development of their products and employed Alexis Soyer, Charles Francatelli and Signor Quallioti, chef to Napoleon, who introduced Crosse & Blackwell’s Piccalilli to the market.

Crosse & Blackwell manufactured, bottled and packaged their products on this site until 1921, which according to one Daily Graphic journalist led to “a very distinctive pungency to the surrounding atmosphere” and more directly, a “suffocating effluvium” according to the local Medical Officer for Health at the time.

Tottenham Court Road eastern ticket hall – Goslett Yard archaeology under Crosse and Blackwell site © Crossrail

In 1924, one of the Soho buildings was demolished and turned into a new head office for the firm, although it was vacated later and occupied by the legendary GPO Film Unit, and today, by a theatre tickets agency.

Underneath the site of the former bottling plant, around 13,000 finds were recovered from a cistern, a number of these were whole ceramics and pieces of glassware. They were used as landfill and therefore were protected and well-preserved. Crosse & Blackwell had the Victorian entrepreneurial spirit and therefore the cistern was installed as part of the ongoing development and remodelling of the many buildings that they acquired around Soho Square to facilitate growth and development.

Since Crossrail began construction in 2009, more than 200 archaeologists have unearthed over 10,000 objects from 40 locations, spanning 55 million years. The findings of the archaeology programme – the biggest ever undertaken in the UK – are now being published in a series of 10 books.

The Crosse & Blackwell finds are studied in the latest book, released this month called: ‘Crosse & Blackwell 1830-1921: A British Food Manufacturer in London’s West End’. The book explores the expansion of the Crosse & Blackwell empire and how the location of the business and Victorian entrepreneurial spirit facilitated the rapid growth and development that cemented the brand as one of Victorian England’s lasting legacies.

The Elizabeth Line opens in December 2019.

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43 comments
    • Suzie says:

      Yes it’s a great vegetarian alternative to Worcester Sauce! I have some in my cupboard now.

    • Siobhan Smith says:

      I was coming here to say the same. I use it all the time, either to flavour steaks or as an alternative to Worcester sauce. I always have a bottle in my fridge

    • Barrie Lee Thorpe says:

      I have food shipped out to Crete from an Internet company called The British Corner Shop, and in my last delivery was Mushroom Ketchup made by Geo Watkins.So iit is still available. They also do Anchovy Sauce.

    • charles says:

      I live in Norway and have considered this site..is it goo

    • Jane Neal says:

      Yum yum! Will check this out at Waitrose etc. X

    • Annabel says:

      Count me among those who was going to mention mushroom ketchup! Unlike the more familiar tomato kind, it is a liquid that you add to soups, stews, etc, and is really delicious. Sainsbury’s sell it.

  1. Gillian Lawrence says:

    fantastic reading

  2. LovelLovely stuff, Ian. Keep it coming! Happy New Year.

  3. Lovely stuff, Ian. Keep it coming! Happy New Year.

  4. John says:

    Interesting but not exactly news. This was widely reported about 3 years ago.

    • Jim Thorp says:

      Maybe the find is not news, but now we can read about it in detail in one of the new publications. That’s the point surely?

  5. Sue says:

    It’s VERY interesting for those of us who hadn’t read it before!
    Thanks Ian.

  6. Dan Sanders says:

    For the community of 200+ ex-Astoria crew who still meet annually to toast her passing, this has been a nice bit of background, thanks!

    Would you like to hear my Astoria ghost story?
    Dan

    • Sean Fleming says:

      Yes, Dan.

    • AdamL says:

      Yes please!

    • Frey says:

      Interesting reading. I go beachcombing in Wales near an old dump site and find amazing pottery shards and bottle stoppers.

      Yes Dan, I love a ghost story, please tell us !

    • Amanda Ella Mental Lomas says:

      YES!! I was an Astoria raver back in the early 90s, I didn’t even know people still met up for Astoria Reunions! Please have a look for me on fb Amanda Ella Mental Lomas.

    • Heather says:

      I have a couple of “tales from the Astoria” dating from the ’80s. What larks!!

  7. sonia jacomb says:

    very interesting and a pity that the building will be destroyed

  8. James Miller says:

    Fascinating story!

  9. Bob Solley says:

    Super super super, now retired from 40 +years in food production in East Anglia and as child from London suburbs, seems unreal that Crosse n Blackwall had a production plant in Soho. totally amazed.
    thanks Ian

  10. Rufus Middleton says:

    How did I know the comments section would have a priority link to Mushroom Ketchup? Internet best post ever! Excellent and fascinating article.

  11. Drew says:

    Does anybody know what will happen to all of these finds? Will we be able to go and see them somewhere?

  12. Jolly says:

    Very interesting! Thanks for sharing the info. I look forward to reading more of your blog.

  13. Martin Kerans says:

    I wonder if the Jam ever played there?

  14. James Sandham says:

    Is it still edible?

  15. M Lyons says:

    Thought the article on Astoria N/club, ex Crosse and Blackwell find, very interesting.

  16. Ned Kelly says:

    Surely Crossrail must now be referred to as Cross&Blackrail

  17. Don Goose says:

    Ode to the Astoria… https://youtu.be/Rw9UwJr5f8I

  18. Terry Wilkins says:

    My Mum worked for Crosses and Blackwell in Silvertown East London.

  19. Dave W says:

    Is it true they now to call it the Picallilli Line?

  20. Jim Thorp says:

    My Mum used to have a few jars of about this vintage. Use-by-dates? You must be joking!

  21. Jim Thorp says:

    If trains are delayed passengers will be Cross & Blacklooked.

  22. Ross Daley says:

    I worked for crossrail at Stockley Junction and found several fossils in the offices working for Carillion Rail.

  23. Paul c rey says:

    I worked at the astoria theatre at the end of 1977 to 1978, supplying the lighting and equipment for the forthcoming new musical’Elvis! I didnt realise that it had been demolished as i live abroad and therefore out of touch with developments in london and the uk, my cousin ian albery was at the time technical adviser to the astoria when it was converted for that show.

  24. K Sherwood says:

    Another fascinating item. I live in NE England but never miss my London updates from Ian. Thanks

  25. Stuart Arnott says:

    What happens to this site? Does it eventually get demolished, or removed, or filled in with concrete, or do they build over it and these old vaults become part of a basement?

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