Brixton Road, Brixton, c. 1912

Brixton Road, Brixton, c. 1912 

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Aerial view of Brixton Road, looking towards the railway bridge and Bon Marche, the first purpose built department store in England.

The store closed in the 1970s and the building is now occupied by a variety of shops and offices.

(The first purpose-built department store in Britain, as Timothy Pitt pointed out, is Jenners, opened in 1838 in Princes Street, Edinburgh. Unlike Bon Marche, which opened in 1877, Jenners still trades from the same premises and, indeed, is still owned by the same family.)