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Tivoli Buildings

Click here for the history of this row of buildings.

24 Andover Road (formerly 1, Tivoli Buildings)

This corner property occupies part of the site of a detached house, which was demolished in the mid 19th century and replaced with a row of four shops known as 1-4 Tivoli Buildings in about 1865.
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​For at least 90 years this property was the home to the same trade. ​1,Tivoli Buildings was occupied by Mr Oliver Bradley, a grocer, in 1870. By the following year this had changed to Mr T Wilkins, also a grocer and wine merchant. By 1880, a new owner, Mr CJ White advertised himself as a ‘Tea Dealer and Grocer.’

Gloucestershire Echo, 1909

The property changed hands again in 1890 when Mr Joseph Farman Sadler acquired the business and at the same time expanded into the recently vacated property next door at 2, Tivoli Buildings (now 26, Andover Road).

​Mr Sadler, who from 1892-99 was a churchwarden at St Stephen’s, remained here until his death in 1925 at the age of 72, during which time he further extended the business into number 3, Tivoli Buildings (now 28, Andover Road). He was an active member of the Primrose League, which was founded in 1883 to promote Conservative values.

The late Jack Crook well remembered the mirror-like brass name plate that adorned the whole of the shop front window ledge, polished every morning so that one could see one’s face in it and used for ‘hair adjustment’ by the young girls of the neighbourhood.

The same trade continued in these three properties as Bert Wilding and Co. grocers, until some time into the 1950s, when the shop was transferred to Silk and Son. But by 1965 numbers 1 and 2, Tivoli Buildings were vacant and number 1 then became a toy shop, into the 1970s. More recently DN Goodman converted the shop into the Interior Design Centre, a furniture and soft furnishings showroom.

The present business, Severn Furnishing Office Furniture and Specialist Seating Supplies, was opened in 2004 by Nigel Eldridge.
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Severn Furnishing Ltd

Severn Furnishing

Research by Brian Torode ​and Stuart Manton (February 2024)

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