Archaeological research on the air raid shelters built for the former Harris Lebus furniture factory at the Hale Village site sets a new benchmark for how to study this type of site in the future, according to Kim Stabler, who monitored the recording of the site on behalf of English Heritage.

"Only every now and then do we stumble across a site that is very special and this is - because of its scale and magnitude it's very interesting," she said, "Photos cannot convey the stinking atmosphere and the water, awash with rusting Home Guard helmets.  We thank the developers and CgMs Consulting for giving us this opportunity to learn about the site in detail".  Discussions are underway with English Heritage about publishing a version of the report in book form, to disseminate the study to a wider audience.

Lee Valley Estates commissioned Jon Lowe, Director of CgMs Consulting, to record the archaelogy of the site, where a complex network of interconnected tunnels was discovered.  They had lain untouched and forgotten since 1957, although thousands of workers would gather there for safety as German bombs rained down.  The factory played an important role in the war effort, manufacturing Mosquito aircraft, gliders and smaller items such as munitions boxes.

Several interesting artefacts have been donated by Lee Valley Estates to Bruce Castle Museum, although they go to the Museum of London initially and will then be allocated.  Items included fragments of Harris Lebus crockery, tin hats used by Home Guard members, glue bottle, stretchers, various pencil drawings and risque pieces of graffiti.  Sections of the tunnel construction have also been preserved and donated.  The items will augment the Museum's extensive Harris Lebus archive.

Three members of the Lebus family were among the 70 guests at the Museum on Wednesday (September 24) to hear Jon Lowe's talk about the archaeological study, Unlocking the Lower Levels of Lebus.

Oliver Lebus, the grandson of Harris Lebus and son of Herman Lebus (knighted for his contribution to the war effort), worked for the family firm after serving in the Army between 1939 and 1946, eventually taking the role of chairman.  He recalled, "Because of the scale of the factory it would have taken people many minutes to reach the air shelters, so other shelters were later built above ground for each workshop.  After that, local people were always welcome to take shelter in the underground tunnels."

John and Peter Lebus, the grandsons of Harris Lebus' brother, Soloman (Sol) and sons of Louis Sol Lebus, contributed to the discussion and continue to take an active interest in the firm's history.

Also present was Paul Collier, the author of a forthcoming book about the history of Harris Lebus, the world's largest furniture manufacturer during the post-war period.  His project is sponsored by Lee Valley Estates and supported by Ferry Lane Action Group (FLAG).  Haringey Council's local history and archive service at Bruce Castle Museum is supporting Paul Collier's boook project and has made its archive material available to him.

By coincidence local photographer Henry Jacobs - who was booked to photograph the event by Lee Valley Estates - had his first job in the photographic department of Harris Lebus during 1962-66.  "We photographed furniture and the reps took our images out to sell the products to retailers," Henry recalls.  The team's skills were also in demand as they were commissioned to photograph weddings between the Harris Lebus workers!

Lee Valley Estates' executives Jon Polledri, Denys Downing and Nigel Fletcher welcomed the level of interest in the site and its archaeology.  "There are so many guests here who have a family connection with Harris Lebus," said Jon Polledri, Managing Director of Lee Valley Estates.  "Tens of thousands of people in North London would have worked for the company over many decades and it's great to see how interested their descendants are in this amazing piece of the Hale's industrial history.  We are very proud to record this significant piece of archaeological research for the local community."

ends

For further information, contact Siobhan Crozier on 07831 214352

About Harris Lebus

• The company built its factory in 1900, on what became the Ferry Lane Estate and is now the Hale Village development site
• The workforce would have been between 4,000 and 6,000 strong
• The company transported its materials by water and land to the wharf that is nowadays home to Bream Close
• In 1958 the Lebus company built an architect-designed, state-of-the-art warehouse and dispatch centre on the north side of Ferry Lane
• The project was featured in Industrial Architecture and this 263,000sq ft building until recently stood on the Hale Village site
• Behind it was the factory's sports ground and the Sir Herman Lebus sports pavillion

Hale Village will provide

• £400M worth of investment
• 700 jobs
• New amenities including shops, leisure provision, a health club, nursery, primary school and a health centre
• Landmark buildings set in a development of high quality design
• Energy efficiency built into the scheme, drawing on reusable energy sources

About Lee Valley Estates

• Lee Valley Estates has been established since 1987 to support economic development throughout the Lee Valley Corridor
• We have strong local roots and local commitment and we are based in the area in which we invest
• We currently provide almost 1,000,000sq ft (93,000sq m) of secure and affordable workspace
• Primarily a provider of workspace, we have helped thousands of SMEs to prosper and grow
• London's changing development priorities mean that brownfield sites are being converted into mixed-use schemes, to serve the needs of communities
• Reflecting this trend, we are increasingly involved in large, mixed-use development schemes, providing homes and community facilities alongside workspace, to support sustainable regeneration
• Our interests focus in two main growth corridors: the Thames Gateway and the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor