Time Walk
From Brewery Gates to Marmite Jars
A street that once smelled of hops now smells of nothing at all — the factory that made it famous is long gone. Durham Street is a short walk lined with a Victorian terrace, a former public house, and the handsome brick bulk of an old brewery on the east side. At the Harleyford Road end a Victorian sewer vent column still marks the junction.
Beneath the terraces lies a story of 1820s speculation, when new roads opened up land that had sat undeveloped for generations. That beginning explains why the street exists at all — and why its name is worth asking about.
Name Origin
An Unexplained Name
No source consulted here explains why Durham Street carries that name. It appears as a settled street name by the 1820s, when it was laid out alongside Harleyford Road to open up part of the Kennington manor's copyhold land. Beyond that, the record used for this page is silent on the choice of name.
History
Opening Up the Manor
Durham Street owes its existence to a push to develop Kennington's unbuilt land. Harleyford Road and Durham Street together gave ready access to a part of the manor that had until then stood undeveloped, and building quickly followed in the 1820s.
Some of that land had earlier belonged to a house on Kennington Lane: No. 337 Kennington Lane, formerly No. 143 Upper Kennington Lane, had extensive grounds that later came to be covered by the buildings of Durham Street and Kennington Grove.
The street's surviving fabric still carries that early building phase. At Nos. 40 and 42 — formerly Nos. 11 and 12 — original wood shop-fronts survive, with fascias that sweep up at the ends and narrow reeded pilasters at the sides.
A Victorian sewer vent column still stands at the junction of Durham Street and Harleyford Road, a small cast-iron survivor of the street's 19th-century infrastructure.
Culture
Beer, Yeast, and a Mock-Tudor Corner
At the Harleyford Road corner stands The Beehive, an interwar public house built in a picturesque mock-Tudor style.
Today
Workspace Where the Brewery Stood
Durham Street now holds the Vox Building, home to Workspace Ltd offices. The brewery's clock tower and the Marmite years are gone, but the Victorian terrace, the former pub at No. 4, and the shop-fronts at Nos. 40 and 42 still mark out the street's 19th-century shape.
On the Map
Durham Street Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Durham Street?
The sources used for this page do not explain the origin of the name. The street was laid out in the 1820s as part of the development of Kennington's manor land.
What is Durham Street known for?
It is known for the former New London Brewery buildings on its east side, which became a Marmite factory from 1927 until 1967, and for the mock-Tudor Beehive pub at its Harleyford Road corner.
Is the old brewery building still there?
The former New London Brewery premises, in Italianate style gault brick with a lodge and clock, still stand on the east side of Durham Street.