F Cooke's Eel, Pie and Mash Shop, Broadway Market

Mid-C19 terraced building with commercial unit to street with residential accommodation above. The eel, pie & mash shop was opened in 1900, with the present internal arrangement and fittings introduced in the 1930s.

MATERIALS: stock brick with stone dressings and tiled piers and marble stall risers to the glazed hardwood shopfront. Tiled interior with terrazzo floor and fittings of timber and marble.

PLAN: the building occupies a narrow commercial plot on the west side of Broadway Market. The whole of the ground floor is occupied by the dining room and kitchen, and the upper two floors contain domestic accommodation (not inspected).

EXTERIOR: renovated shop front of central part-glazed doors with overlight flanked by large sashes with metal handles, set above marble risers, for the dispensing and display of eels and pies. A gold lettered fascia is between original brackets with an original retractable awning beneath and four replica brass spotlight lamps above. To the first and second floors there are pairs of sash windows with gauged brick arches and keystones; segmental arches to the first floor and flat-arched heads to the second storey. Above this is a simple rendered parapet with a painted sign that reads: “F. COOKE EST. 1862 Trading from this premises since 1900”.

INTERIOR: the shop and restaurant occupies most of the ground floor. The walls here are clad in glazed white and cream tiles with a frieze and borders of mottled navy and light blue tiles, which pick out a series of inset rectangular mirrors. The floor is of white and grey terrazzo with black tramline borders to the counter and walls. To the right of the entrance is the main serving area, with a tiled counter which has a marble counter-top and shelves. To either side of the central doors there are small enclosures with marble counters with channels to drain water; these counters having originally been used to display fresh eels on ice. The rest of the space is occupied by a series of seating booths set at right-angles to the wall. The low benches have wooden backs and seats with steel legs; between each pair of benches is a marble-topped table, supported on the wall at one end and by a steel upright at the other. At the back of the restaurant (west end wall) there is a leaded, stained-glass window with an Art Deco sunburst motif (south side) and, to the north side, there is a door through to the kitchens (not inspected). The upper floors, which are accessed from the rear of the building, are in residential use (not inspected).