Driscoll House
Encyclopedia
New Kent Road
New Kent Road is a road in the London Borough of Southwark. The road was created in 1751 when the Turnpike Trust upgraded a local footpath. This was done as part of the general road improvements associated with the creation of Westminster Bridge; in effect it was possible to travel from the West...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, which, until its closure in July 2007, was a hotel aimed primarily at international visitors. The building is on the south side of New Kent Road, between the Bricklayers' Arms
Bricklayers' Arms
Bricklayers' Arms is a busy road intersection between A2 and the London Inner Ring Road in south London, England. It is the junction of Tower Bridge Road, Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Great Dover Street; Old Kent Road and New Kent Road east-bound are connected by a flyover.The area is named...
flyover and Elephant and Castle
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle is a major road intersection in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is also used as a name for the surrounding area....
station, and is a well-detailed example of the pre-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
institutional Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style. When it opened as "Ada Lewis House" in 1913, it was one of the first of a small number of accommodation places for women in London. The opening ceremony was performed by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
The Princess Louise was a member of the British Royal Family, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, Prince Consort.Louise's early life was spent moving between the various royal residences in the...
, and the building was named after Ada Lewis, widow of philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
Samuel Lewis.
The building was eventually bought by Terence Driscoll, founder of the International Language Club in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
. He renamed the building after himself, and two plaques were later added to the front of the building in remembrance of the 335,451 men and women of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
(left plaque) and the 292,131 Americans (right plaque), who gave their lives in the two World Wars. The plaques were unveiled on 13 August 1995. The left plaque was unveiled by Mr Driscoll, and the right plaque was unveiled by representative of Admiral William James Crowe
William J. Crowe
Admiral William James Crowe, Jr. was a United States Navy Admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and as the ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Bill Clinton.-Biography:Crowe was born in La Grange, Kentucky...
, US Ambassador to the UK
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
from 1994 to 1997.
Chest of drawers
A chest of drawers, also called a dresser or a bureau, is a piece of furniture that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers stacked one above another...
. although this varied, with some rooms having no wardrobe and some having three crammed into the small space. There were communal bathrooms and toilets. The interior of the hotel was largely unchanged since 1913, with green and red tiled walls in the television rooms and lounges. The hotel had pianos, and on the bottom floor there was the kitchen, small dining room, large dining room with long tables, a table tennis room, and a laundry room complete with mangle. One major change that did occur over the years was that early in 1980, the policy was changed so that male as well as female guests were accepted. One floor was however reserved for female guests, and it was frowned on for men even to appear in the corridors of that floor.
The hotel's rates were cheap. For example, up until the hotel’s closure, a single room cost just £30 per night / £150 per week, including breakfast and evening meal per weekday, and breakfast, lunch and evening meal per day on Saturday and Sunday, which made it one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, of accommodation places in London.
In his 2003 book, Do Not Pass Go, Tim Moore
Tim Moore (writer)
Tim Moore is a British travel writer and humorist. He was educated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. In addition to his seven published travelogues to date, his writings have appeared in various publications including Esquire, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Observer and the Evening...
describes his visits to the locations of all the Monopoly
Monopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
squares in London. As he ends his journey at the Old Kent Road
Old Kent Road
The Old Kent Road is a road in South East London, England and forms part of Watling Street, the Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead. The street is famous as the equal cheapest property on the London Monopoly board and as the only one in South London....
, he tries to stay at Driscoll House, but Mr Driscoll turns him away, explaining that the hostel is for foreign students only. Moore's Icelandic wife, Birna, does manage to stay at Driscoll House for one night.
In November 2005, Terence Driscoll, then 93 years old, was fined £16,000 at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court for food hygiene violations. He told the court that he had recently sold Driscoll House for more than £1 million.
In December 2005, Southwark Council refused a planning application by Ujima Housing Association and Oracle Homes to demolish Driscoll House and redevelop the site into 91 affordable homes.
In March 2006, a local campaign group applied to make Driscoll House a listed building. Driscoll House was due to close at the end of that month, but with the refusal of the planning application and the pending application for listed status, the hotel then planned to remain open for another three years. Later in 2006, Driscoll House was designated a Grade II listed building.
Even in his latter years, Terence Driscoll worked daily at the hotel reception, which had a small shop selling chocolates, etc., as well as postcards featuring Mr Driscoll himself. Also, Mr Driscoll would give a weekly speech in the hotel at Sunday lunch, which, apart from the usual notices, could include news from past residents, as well as his opinions on some issues of current affairs in the world. And on Christmas Day, Mr Driscoll would dress up as Father Christmas and appear at the Christmas Day lunch, whereupon presents would be given out and carols sung.
After Mr. Driscoll took over the hotel, Driscoll House included a surprisingly large number of religious paintings and other religious artifacts. These, it was said, were added by Mr. Driscoll as a loving gesture to his wife, who was, apparently, a devout Roman Catholic. In one of his weekly addresses, Mr. Driscoll reported that many years earlier, when it was still the Ada Lewis House, a resident had reported having a vision of the Virgin Mary in her room. He encouraged residents to remember this whenever they were tempted to entertain members of the opposite sex in their rooms.
Terence Driscoll died in June 2007, aged 95 years. Although he died in hospital, he continued to be active in the running of Driscoll House until his very last weeks. He celebrated his last birthday in the building. His funeral was held on 4 July 2007 in Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge....
, and was attended by more than sixty people. During the service, a passage from St John's Gospel was read by grandson Simon Shilston. The Dean of Southwark, commenting on the reading during his address, highlighted Christ's words: 'In my house there are many dwelling-places'. "This is especially appropriate in that Terry Driscoll's work throughout most of his life was devoted to his hotel and accommodating as many people as possible." Terence Driscoll died leaving three daughters, a son and a grandson.
Simon Hughes
Simon Hughes
Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...
, MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey
North Southwark and Bermondsey
North Southwark and Bermondsey was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, paid tribute. He said: “Terence Driscoll was a larger than life individual, who ran a unique sort of hotel for many years in our borough. Many people from all over the world will miss him and certainly there will not be his sort of gentleman active in public life in Southwark again.”
Driscoll House closed the weekend after Mr Driscoll's funeral.