HENDON POST AND SORTING OFFICE
131 Brent Street, London NW4
Photograph © Julian Osley
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Architect: Frederick Llewellyn Year: 1932 Selected bibliographical references Hendon Times & Guardian 2 Dec 1932, p. 22; 16 Dec 1932, p. 2 History Opened: 12 Dec 1932 The large sorting office with a vehicle garage appear to have been a later addition as the public entrance to the Enquiry Office bears a date-stone of 1939. |
Building description
From: Hendon Times & Guardian 2 December 1932, p. 22
Vastly improved facilities for the public of Hendon will be available with the opening, on Monday, December 12, of the new Post Office in Brent-street. The development on the corner of Brampton-grove includes a branch Crown office in front of the old sorting office and an extension of the original building to provide more suitable administrative offices. The work has been carried out with an eye on local amenities, and so carefully has the style of the old premises been copied in the addition that when the newness wears off the place will look like one building. The interior of the new post office neatly furnished in bronze and oak. Features of the equipment will include a pneumatic telephone tube in direct communication with the central telegraph office, which will afford a speedy dispatch of telegrams. The writing tables along the side of the office are to be fitted with black, polished glass tops, and the telephone cabinets are of the latest silence type. In the day-time the room is flooded with light through three lantern windows in the roof, and at night it is brilliantly illuminated by electricity. Central heating is provided ... The new building which is to serve the public is practically completed. The public office occupies the frontage on to Brent-street, with an entrance at the corner of Brampton-grove. From the entrance lobby double doors lead into the main office, a spacious apartment with tiled floor, where a counter runs the whole length of the room and where there are two telephone cabinets and convenient writing tables. At the far end of this office is the superintendent's room, and at the Brampton-grove end are the instrument room and a room tor messenger boys. Modern welfare accommodation is provided for the staff, including a retiring room for the female section and a kitchen. Behind the extended sorting office are the stores and an exit lending to a spacious yard,. which accommodates truck sheds and cycle sheds. Inside the wall fronting on to Brent-street has been built a post-box. and provision is made for public clock above tins. The architect for the work is Mr. F. A. Llewellyn, O.B.E., of H.M. Office of Works ...
From Hendon Times and Guardian 16 Dec 1932, p. 2
A Times and Guardian reporter, rising in the dark on Monday morning, shivered his way along Brent-street to assist in the opening of the Hendon Post Office by purchasing the first stamp out of a brand new stamp book, handing the first parcel over the polished oak counter and enriching the Post Office coffers to the tune of tenpence-halfpenny. Our representative beat the postal staff to the portal by a short head and waited in loneliness until an employee came round from the sorting office to unlock the heavy studded doors which the waiting crowds were to admitted. The Master the Key performed his ceremony with fitting dignity, but looked little disappointed at the absence of a queue. No first-nighters squatted underneath the wall on their folding chairs; there was not even a representative of the Hendon Chamber of Commerce, who have been as active as any body in their agitation for postal facilities in this borough. The solitary Pressman whispered “ Open Sesame," smiling sympathetically upon the opener of the door, who stood aside for him to pass within. Once through the lobby a sense awe came over him as he stood in the vast loneliness of that palace of postage. Here, framed in oak panelling and surrounded by oak counters, oak call boxes, glass-topped writing tables and smartly tiled floor, were three lady attendants simply bursting with anxiety to be of service to the great public of Hendon and all the public required at this historic moment was to post one small parcel. But the public, experiencing a sudden burst of generosity, decided to buy a stamp well. Thus he drew two assistants into activity, while the third extended a welcome with the words: "I don’t know whether have to wish you luck, or you wish us luck." “I wish it all to you!" replied the Pressman grabbed his stamp and burst out in search of crowded life and pressing throngs down Hendon Central way. But if the general public missed the opening of Hendon's first Crown office they have made good use of it since and have every reason to appreciate the improved facilities now at hand. The spaciousness of the public counter alone is a welcome provision, but a feature which will be particularly appreciated by many people is the screened section of the counter for Post Office Savings Bank transactions. This eliminates the complaint of numerous users of the sub-offices, who have felt the need for greater privacy in the past. The telephone cabinets, too, are an improvement, being of the new silent type, and the writing tables, topped with black glass, are conveniently arranged below the main windows. While the public business is being transacted through smart bronze grills messenger boys are waiting in their own room to receive telegrams through a hatch from the main office, while a pneumatic tube from the office to the instrument and check room also is another time-saver. Parcels also passed straight into the sorting office through another hatch, and an enquiry window in the supervisor's room also connects with the main office. All the arrangements make for convenience and saving of time, and this extension of Hendon's services comes at a particularly appropriate moment to assist in disposing of the Christmas rush.
From: Hendon Times & Guardian 2 December 1932, p. 22
Vastly improved facilities for the public of Hendon will be available with the opening, on Monday, December 12, of the new Post Office in Brent-street. The development on the corner of Brampton-grove includes a branch Crown office in front of the old sorting office and an extension of the original building to provide more suitable administrative offices. The work has been carried out with an eye on local amenities, and so carefully has the style of the old premises been copied in the addition that when the newness wears off the place will look like one building. The interior of the new post office neatly furnished in bronze and oak. Features of the equipment will include a pneumatic telephone tube in direct communication with the central telegraph office, which will afford a speedy dispatch of telegrams. The writing tables along the side of the office are to be fitted with black, polished glass tops, and the telephone cabinets are of the latest silence type. In the day-time the room is flooded with light through three lantern windows in the roof, and at night it is brilliantly illuminated by electricity. Central heating is provided ... The new building which is to serve the public is practically completed. The public office occupies the frontage on to Brent-street, with an entrance at the corner of Brampton-grove. From the entrance lobby double doors lead into the main office, a spacious apartment with tiled floor, where a counter runs the whole length of the room and where there are two telephone cabinets and convenient writing tables. At the far end of this office is the superintendent's room, and at the Brampton-grove end are the instrument room and a room tor messenger boys. Modern welfare accommodation is provided for the staff, including a retiring room for the female section and a kitchen. Behind the extended sorting office are the stores and an exit lending to a spacious yard,. which accommodates truck sheds and cycle sheds. Inside the wall fronting on to Brent-street has been built a post-box. and provision is made for public clock above tins. The architect for the work is Mr. F. A. Llewellyn, O.B.E., of H.M. Office of Works ...
From Hendon Times and Guardian 16 Dec 1932, p. 2
A Times and Guardian reporter, rising in the dark on Monday morning, shivered his way along Brent-street to assist in the opening of the Hendon Post Office by purchasing the first stamp out of a brand new stamp book, handing the first parcel over the polished oak counter and enriching the Post Office coffers to the tune of tenpence-halfpenny. Our representative beat the postal staff to the portal by a short head and waited in loneliness until an employee came round from the sorting office to unlock the heavy studded doors which the waiting crowds were to admitted. The Master the Key performed his ceremony with fitting dignity, but looked little disappointed at the absence of a queue. No first-nighters squatted underneath the wall on their folding chairs; there was not even a representative of the Hendon Chamber of Commerce, who have been as active as any body in their agitation for postal facilities in this borough. The solitary Pressman whispered “ Open Sesame," smiling sympathetically upon the opener of the door, who stood aside for him to pass within. Once through the lobby a sense awe came over him as he stood in the vast loneliness of that palace of postage. Here, framed in oak panelling and surrounded by oak counters, oak call boxes, glass-topped writing tables and smartly tiled floor, were three lady attendants simply bursting with anxiety to be of service to the great public of Hendon and all the public required at this historic moment was to post one small parcel. But the public, experiencing a sudden burst of generosity, decided to buy a stamp well. Thus he drew two assistants into activity, while the third extended a welcome with the words: "I don’t know whether have to wish you luck, or you wish us luck." “I wish it all to you!" replied the Pressman grabbed his stamp and burst out in search of crowded life and pressing throngs down Hendon Central way. But if the general public missed the opening of Hendon's first Crown office they have made good use of it since and have every reason to appreciate the improved facilities now at hand. The spaciousness of the public counter alone is a welcome provision, but a feature which will be particularly appreciated by many people is the screened section of the counter for Post Office Savings Bank transactions. This eliminates the complaint of numerous users of the sub-offices, who have felt the need for greater privacy in the past. The telephone cabinets, too, are an improvement, being of the new silent type, and the writing tables, topped with black glass, are conveniently arranged below the main windows. While the public business is being transacted through smart bronze grills messenger boys are waiting in their own room to receive telegrams through a hatch from the main office, while a pneumatic tube from the office to the instrument and check room also is another time-saver. Parcels also passed straight into the sorting office through another hatch, and an enquiry window in the supervisor's room also connects with the main office. All the arrangements make for convenience and saving of time, and this extension of Hendon's services comes at a particularly appropriate moment to assist in disposing of the Christmas rush.
