The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) was a large
consumer co-operative
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a fo ...
based in south east
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The co-operative took its name from the
Royal Arsenal
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...
munitions works in
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
and its motto was: "Each for all and all for each". In 1985 it merged into the national
Co-operative Wholesale Society
A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...
.
Establishment and growth
Co-operative trading had been rooted in Woolwich and the Royal Arsenal since the mid 18th century. In 1868 the Royal Arsenal Supply Association was established by William Rose (1843–1909?) and
Alexander McLeod
Alexander McLeod was a Scottish-Canadian who served as sheriff in Niagara, Ontario. After the Upper Canada Rebellion, he boasted that he had partaken in the 1837 Caroline Affair, the sinking of an American steamboat that had been supplying Wi ...
(1832–1902), consisting of 20 workers from the Royal Arsenal. The first base and store was at Rose's house at 11 Eleanor Road (now Barnard Close). In 1869 Rose was laid off at the Arsenal and emigrated to Canada (where his son
William Oliver Rose became a well-known politician). McLeod took over as secretary and moved the store to Parry Place (Spray Street Quarter). The society adopted the
Rochdale Principles
The Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals for the operation of cooperatives. They were first set out in 1844 by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in Rochdale, England and have formed the basis for the principles on which co-operativ ...
of profit-sharing and renamed itself Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society in 1872.
At first, the store was only open four evenings a week and on Saturday afternoon, but this improved after 1873, when the store moved to larger premises in
Powis Street
Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land i ...
, next but one to the house in which the
Woolwich Equitable Building Society
The Woolwich Equitable Building Society (later Woolwich Building Society or The Woolwich) was founded in Woolwich in 1847 and remained a local institution until after WWI when it began a modest regional expansion. This accelerated after WWII and ...
had been established in 1842. Membership grew from 232 in 1873 to 1,597 in 1879 and 6,721 in 1889. By that time it was the largest co-operative society in London and the 21st largest (of more than 1500) in the country. According to the social reformer
Charles Booth, there was "nothing at all like it within the boundaries of London".
In the century that followed, the society's activities expanded from food retail into a huge range of commercial, social and political activities. In 1902 it had over 20,000 members. Shops opened up in areas beyond Woolwich and house-building took place beyond the parish boundaries in
Abbey Wood
Abbey Wood is an area in south east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross.
Toponymy
The area takes its name from Lesnes Abbey Woo ...
and
Eltham
Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...
. In 1924 membership had surpassed 100,000 and in 1938 this number had quadrupled. At its height (circa 1975), membership had reached 500,000 and sales exceeded £60 million. The society had outlets across most of
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
and parts of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
and
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
.
Activities
Retail and services
![London, Woolwich Dockyard, Cooperative Funeralcare](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/London%2C_Woolwich_Dockyard%2C_Cooperative_Funeralcare.jpg)
The RACS ran not just food shops (a founding aim of the
UK consumer
co-operative movement
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...
being the provision of cheap unadulterated food) but also milk, bread and fuel deliveries, department stores, a bookshop, jewellery department, shoe shops and chemists. Other services included removals, catering, undertakers (customers included
Herbert Morrison
Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minis ...
), hairdressers, laundry, a travel agency, insurance and savings clubs. As was usual for such co-operative societies, members were paid a
dividend
A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-in ...
in proportion to their spending with the society – at one point in embossed tin tokens, later by the quoting of a "Divi Number", towards the end by stamps.
Production and distribution
To support its retail activities the RACS established bakeries, bought farms and piggeries and built food processing factories. It owned stables and railway wagons, an abattoir, dairy, a frozen food plant, a fleet of coaches and two hotels on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
.
Social
From 1878 onwards 2.5% of the society's profits were spent on education. The RACS had an Education Department, ran classes and sports days, opened reading rooms, supported the
Woodcraft Folk
Woodcraft Folk is a UK-based educational Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, movement for children and young people. Founded in 1925 and grown by volunteers, it has been a registered charity since 1965 Registered Charity since 2013. and a ...
and the
Co-operative Women's Guild
The Co-operative Women's Guild was an auxiliary organisation of the co-operative movement in the United Kingdom which promoted women in co-operative structures and provided social and other services to its members.
History
The guild was founded ...
, youth clubs at
Falconwood
Falconwood is an area of south east London within both the London Boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich. It is north east of Eltham and south west of Welling.
The local area
Falconwood forms part of the Falconwood and Welling ward in the London Boro ...
and Coldharbour, a cricket club, orchestras and at one point two choirs conducted by (Sir)
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...
. The society opened its first library in
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
in 1879 some 20 years before the local authority provided such a facility.
In July 1888, the society helped Frank Didden raise funds to establish
Woolwich Polytechnic, supporting a sports meeting held in
Charlton Park. The Polytechnic eventually opened in 1891,
also spawning day schools.
Housing
![Downman Road, SE9 - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Downman_Road%2C_SE9_-_geograph.org.uk_-_228350.jpg)
In 1900 the RACS became a large-scale housing developer by building the Bostall Estate on its farmland in
Abbey Wood
Abbey Wood is an area in south east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross.
Toponymy
The area takes its name from Lesnes Abbey Woo ...
– Robert Mackay (chairman of the RACS) and its Works Department led by architect Frank Bethell constructing over a thousand homes between 1900 and 1914. In 1925 the RACS bought the 1250-home Royal Arsenal workers estate at Well Hall in
Eltham
Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...
from the Government, which it then renamed the
Progress Estate
The Progress Estate is a housing estate located in Well Hall, Eltham, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London. It was built in 1915 to house some of the senior and skilled workers employed at the nearby Royal Arsenal munitions fac ...
.
Political
The RACS was always one of the more political co-operative societies. Its motto was "Each for All and All for Each"; it employed a Political Secretary, published magazines and newspapers (such as ''Comradeship'' and ''The Wheatsheaf'') and housed
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
refugees from the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
(see also
Milk for Spain). The RACS supported the campaign for working-class political representation (see
Labour Representation Committee) and the election of
Will Crooks
William Crooks (6 April 1852 – 5 June 1921) was a noted trade unionist and politician from Poplar, London, and a member of the Fabian Society. He is particularly remembered for his campaigning work against poverty and inequality.
Early life ...
as
MP for Woolwich.
In 1929, the RACS affiliated directly to the
Labour Party, rather than to the
Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fair ...
as was more usual for such societies. It also affiliated to the
London Labour Party
London Labour is the devolved, regional part of the Labour Party in Greater London. It is the largest political party in London, currently holding a majority of the executive mayoralties, a majority of local councils, council seats and parli ...
and various borough and local labour parties. As well as the usual co-op dividend to its customer-members, the RACS also paid a "bonus to labour" – for instance paying the tradesmen building the Bostall Estate a halfpenny an hour above the
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
rate. Overall control of the RACS rested with a full-time Management Committee elected by society members under
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
.
The RACS directly sponsored
Labour Party candidates in several Parliamentary elections, many of whom were successful.
Decline and fall
By the late 1970s the RACS was in trouble. Greater customer affluence and competition from
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
chains such as
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
were changing the society's market – its size and
democratic ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...
structure made it slow to adapt. Membership numbers declined, weakening the society's democratic basis. Reserves dwindled and dividend payments – for many, the Co-op's
unique selling point
In marketing, the unique selling proposition (USP), also called the unique selling point, or the unique value proposition (UVP) in the business model canvas, is the marketing strategy of informing customers about how one's own brand or product is ...
– all but ceased. In 1985, after a century of expansion in size and scope the RACS avoided collapse by 'transferring its engagements' to the national
Co-operative Wholesale Society
A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...
. Many of the former RACS supermarkets and funeral homes remain as Co-op outlets.
Legacy
![London, Woolwich, Powis St, Co-op building 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/London%2C_Woolwich%2C_Powis_St%2C_Co-op_building_03.jpg)
Some of the former RACS buildings and farms have survived and are protected as cultural heritage.
Woodlands Farm Trust in
Shooters Hill
Shooter's Hill (or Shooters Hill) is a district in South East London within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It borders the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north of Eltham and south of Woolwich. With a height of , it is the highest point in t ...
is a former RACS farm that was threatened by redevelopment in the 1990s and is now run by a community trust.
The two large landmark buildings at the west end of
Powis Street
Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land i ...
in Woolwich are evocative of the co-operative movement that was such a major force in this town. The Neo-Victorian RACS Central Stores (125–153 Powis Street) has an 82 m long red brick and
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
façade with a 32 m high copper-domed clock tower. It was designed by the Society's architect, Frank Bethell, and built in three phases: 1902–03, 1912 and 1926. Above the main entrance is a statue of the founder, Alexander McLeod, by
Alfred Drury
Edward Alfred Briscoe Drury (11 November 1856 – 24 December 1944) was a British architectural sculptor and artist active in the New Sculpture movement. During a long career Drury created a great number of decorative figures such as busts and ...
, and the society's motto. In 2011–13 it was converted into a hotel with 120 rooms and shop units.
The RACS department store (138–152 Powis Street) was built in 1938–1940 in a streamlined
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style. The large, metal-framed windows emphasise the horizontal lines in the faience-tiled gable, set between two end towers. The elegant east tower contains an open stairwell with wrought-iron railings with the letters 'co op' integrated in the design. The west tower is less pronounced and stands over an access road to Mortgramit Square. In 2013-16 it was converted into apartments ("The Emporium"), adding three recessed storeys on top of the restored building.
The former RACS store on Lewisham High Street with a decorative facade has now been converted to flats.
[Caroline's Miscellany http://carolineld.blogspot.com/2009/11/tower-house-lewisham.html]
The Bostall Estate in
Abbey Wood
Abbey Wood is an area in south east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross.
Toponymy
The area takes its name from Lesnes Abbey Woo ...
consists of over one thousand late-Victorian houses. The streets still bear co-operative-themed names, such as
Owenite
Owenism is the utopian socialist philosophy of 19th-century social reformer Robert Owen and his followers and successors, who are known as Owenites. Owenism aimed for radical reform of society and is considered a forerunner of the cooperative ...
(after
Robert Owen
Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...
), Commonwealth, Rochdale (after the '
Rochdale Pioneers
The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumers' co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement.
Although other co-operatives preceded it, ...
'), McLeod and Will Rose (after founder-members Alexander McLeod and William Rose). The
Progress Estate
The Progress Estate is a housing estate located in Well Hall, Eltham, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London. It was built in 1915 to house some of the senior and skilled workers employed at the nearby Royal Arsenal munitions fac ...
in
Well Hall
Well Hall is a place to the north of Eltham in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London, England, with no present formal boundaries and located east-southeast of Charing Cross.[Eltham
Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...]
, is a
housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
partly developed by
Woolwich Borough, partly by RACS. The area was conceived as a
garden city and is a
conservation area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
since 1975.
File:2016 Woolwich, Powis St, former RACS Central Stores.jpg, Former RACS Central Stores, Woolwich
File:London-Woolwich, Powis St 03.jpg, Former RACS department store, Woolwich
File:RACS.jpg, Commemorative stone Bostall Estate, Abbey Wood
File:Eltham houses 4.jpg, Progress Estate, Eltham
See also
*
Royal Arsenal
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...
*
Woodlands Farm Trust
*
Progress Estate
The Progress Estate is a housing estate located in Well Hall, Eltham, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London. It was built in 1915 to house some of the senior and skilled workers employed at the nearby Royal Arsenal munitions fac ...
* Other London-area consumer co-operative societies:
**
Croydon Co-operative Society
The Croydon Co-operative Society was a cooperative retailer in Croydon and surrounding parts of Surrey, England. In 1918, it became part of the new South Suburban Co-operative Society, now the Co-operative Group.
A co-operative society had been fo ...
**
South Suburban Co-operative Society
The South Suburban Co-operative Society (SSCS) was a co-operative retailer in south London, Surrey and Kent, England. It became part of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, now the Co-operative Group.
The SSCS came into existence in 1918 with t ...
**
London Co-operative Society
The London Co-operative Society (LCS) was a consumer co-operative society in the United Kingdom.
History
The Society was formed in September 1920 by the amalgamation of the Stratford Co-operative Society and the Edmonton Co-operative Society, ...
Further reading
* Rita Rhodes ''An Arsenal for Labour: the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society and Politics 1896–1996'', Holyoake Books, 1999,
* Walter T. Davis & William B. Neville ''The history of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society, Ltd. 1868–1918'',Pioneer Press, 1921
* ''Minute books and papers of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society, 1868–1986'', Adam Matthew Pubs., 1994, ISBN B0000EEZ1F
* Alex. Mcleod & T. Geo. Arnold, ''The origin and progress of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society'', Co-operative Printing Society, 1896
* Ron Roffey, ''The Co-operative Way'', Membership Services of South East Co-op, 40 Orchard Street, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2DG,
* John Attfield, ''With Light of Knowledge: Hundred Years of Education in the Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society, 1877–1977'', Journeyman, 1981,
* Bert A. Frenc
Boyhood memories of Eltham* Rod Le Gear/Kent Archaeological Societ
"Good service in life and death" This is Local London, 9 July 2003
* E.F.E. Jefferson, ''The Woolwich Story'', Woolwich & District Archeological Society, Jan 1970
References
External links
Amateur film of activities of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society, 1938 - Film 36093(on YouTube)
{{Authority control
Former co-operatives of the United Kingdom
Defunct companies of the United Kingdom
Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom
Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom
1985 disestablishments in England
Business services companies established in 1868
Retail companies established in 1868
Retail companies disestablished in 1985
Shops in London
Woolwich