A 1920s Walworth butcher’s that once served South Londoners with steaks, saveloys and sausages has been lovingly restored.
Grade-II listed Kennedy’s Butchers at 305 Walworth Road, now home to a Chinese restaurant, has been rejuvenated thanks to a £33,975 donation from Historic England.
The much-loved business was a Mecca for Walworth’s meat-eaters for almost 100 years until Kennedy’s closed its remaining shops in 2007.
Its iconic signage and original interior had deteriorated since its heyday but a lick of paint means the shop is shining once again, bringing a touch of nostalgia to passers-by.
The restoration means Art Deco-style Kennedy’s has been removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, although 599 buildings remain on the list.
Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “It is so heartening to see a number of significant heritage sites removed from the Heritage at Risk Register in London, and given a new lease of life as part of their local communities and places.”
Kennedy’s opened its first-ever shop at 140 Rye Lane, Peckham in 1877 and later expanded to Camberwell, Deptford, New Cross, Herne Hill and elsewhere.
The Walworth Road Kennedy’s branch opened in 1923 in a former Victorian shoe shop and was damaged by a bomb in World War Two.
The store is distinctive for its original shopfront, brightly coloured internal tiling and original fittings including mirrors.
For almost a century, customers would crowd into Kennedy’s for pork sausages, steaks, pasties, bacon and egg pies.
But in 2007, Kennedy’s closed all its stores, including the Walworth Road branch with Chinese restaurant LaoDao later moving in.
In total, there are now 599 entries for London on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2023 – 32 fewer than in 2022, which Historic England described as “an outstanding result for the capital”.