L Manze Eel, Pie and Mash Shop

L Manze Eel, Pie and Mash Shop

This listed building is a commercial structure with domestic accommodation above, located on the south side of Walthamstow High Street. It occupies a long narrow plot approximately 6 metres by 30 metres, with a narrow passageway along the western side.

The building comprises a flat-roofed shop unit projecting about 8 metres forward of a three-storey main block, constructed of red and stock brick with flat asphalt roofs. The ground floor is entirely devoted to the dining room and kitchen, while the upper two floors contain domestic accommodation originally comprising a sitting room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, WC and five bedrooms.

The shopfront features glazed double doors with an overlight, flanked by large sash windows inscribed "MANZE'S JELLIED & HOT EELS" and "MANZE'S PIE & MASH". These windows functioned as serving hatches for off-sales. The frames and surrounds are of hardwood with brass trim, and the stall-risers below are clad in brown tiles. The fascia is of black Vitrolite or similar material, with gold lettering reading "L. MANZE / WHOLESALE AND RETAIL" and scrolls on either side inscribed "LIVE EEL IMPORTER". Below are two curved lamps and above a retractable awning; the brackets, cornice and solid metal gate to the right-hand passage are all painted dark green as of 2013. The two-bay building behind is faced in red brick with large cross-casement windows beneath flat-arched heads, ornamental brick quoins and a raised parapet. Joinery and rainwater goods are painted green to match the front.

The interior of the shop-cum-restaurant occupies most of the ground floor. The walls are clad in white and green tiles with large inset mirrors, a frieze of wreaths and ribbons and an egg-and-dart cornice. The floor is of pink and grey terrazzo and the ceiling of pressed tin panels. To the left of the door is the main serving area, which has marble shelves and counter-top and a zinc and hardwood working surface containing four large bains-marie. Affixed to one of the mirror-frames behind is a small notched plate for testing coins. On the right of the door is a small enclosure with a panelled half-height door and a marble counter with a drain, where fresh eels were formerly displayed on ice. The rest of the space is occupied by a series of seating booths with high-backed timber partitions set at right-angles to the wall, ending in turned acorn-topped newels and fitted on either side with low benches. Between each pair of benches is a marble-topped table, supported on the wall at one end and by a Y-shaped metal upright at the other. Halfway down is a side door to the passage, and at the back a door into the kitchen. A narrow winder stair leads to the first and second-floor accommodation. The kitchen fittings have been renewed, and the upper floors likewise modernised, though plain six-panel doors, green and white bathroom tiles and an ornamental fireplace survive.