Remember Pricerite and Victor Value?

The Dean and Chapter were the first to build shops in post-war Canterbury. The so-called Canadian range appeared on the north side of Burgate in 1950. However, it wasn’t until the following year that new shop buildings appeared under the auspices of Canterbury City Council and Ravenseft. Work on Woolworth’s began in St George’s Street during the autumn of 1951 and opened the following year.

By 1952, other new shop buildings were being built across bomb sites on both sides of St George’s Street. However, it wasn’t until 1960 that post-war redevelopment of this important main thoroughfare was complete. The last business was the round-fronted Pricerite shop on the corner with St George’s Lane. The 1960s saw a completed St George’s Street. With a few notable exceptions such as Marks & Spencer and WH Smith’s, the shop occupants were very different back then. The 1961 street listing highlights some fondly remembered firms, including: Barrett’s (no. 2), National Provincial Bank (no. 7), Bowkett’s (no. 12), Dolcis (no. 13) Macfisheries (no. 18), Woolworth’s (no. 21), David Greig’s (no. 23), Dorothy Perkins (no. 24), Finlay tobacconist (no. 27), Pricerite (no. 34) and Victor Value (no. 37). On creation of the second stage of the ring road, in 1969, St George’s Street became the first section of the main street to become pedestrianised. After this, the pace of change accelerated.

So many of the useful shops disappeared, leaving us with a very different St George’s Street today.

St George’s Street in the 1960s

Pricerite seen from the St George’s clock tower area