PLAQUE 12:
Lees yard
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Alfred Lee & his staff circa 1900
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Alfred Lee’s Warehouse today
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A quiet corner in Lees Yard
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Looking towards Picturecraft Gallery
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Cottages in Lees Yard
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One of Holt’s early entrepreneurs...
A looped trail leads into Lees Yard. The narrow entrance opens into a courtyard where wine and spirit merchant Alfred Lee built his wholesale warehouse complex in 1896.
The largest warehouse is in excess of 100 feet long and would have represented a significant investment. The cast iron circular plates from the tie-bars along the façade are embossed with the name ‘Baker-Holt’.
In order to leave his mark on the building, Alfred Lee had a series of stone plaques inserted at eye-level bearing engraved initials. One plaque is dedicated to himself, one for his wife Amelia May Lee and another is believed to have been for his brother, William Cooper Lee.
Lees Yard was sold in 1971 and the warehouses were converted into commercial units. Picturecraft, the first art gallery to open in Holt town centre, was established here in 1972.
The largest warehouse is in excess of 100 feet long and would have represented a significant investment. The cast iron circular plates from the tie-bars along the façade are embossed with the name ‘Baker-Holt’.
In order to leave his mark on the building, Alfred Lee had a series of stone plaques inserted at eye-level bearing engraved initials. One plaque is dedicated to himself, one for his wife Amelia May Lee and another is believed to have been for his brother, William Cooper Lee.
Lees Yard was sold in 1971 and the warehouses were converted into commercial units. Picturecraft, the first art gallery to open in Holt town centre, was established here in 1972.