This pub was built in 1900 as a car factory and extended soon after. It became home to the Rodboro Boot and Shoe Company in 1919. The company left in 1928, but the premises have been known ever since as The Rodboro Buildings.

Photograph relating to the premises’ historical connection to motor sports

Built in 1900 for the car manufacturer Dennis, this was possibly the world’s first purpose-built car factory.

The firm’s showrooms were on the ground floor, with its various workshops accommodated on the floors above.

The title page of a 1904 sales brochure for Dennis Brothers Limited

An illustration of the Dennis Hansom

The sale price in 1904 for this two-cylinder powered car was 500 guineas.

A photograph of the Dennis Factory Rodboro Buildings, Onslow Street

The text reads: In the 1902 issue of The Gentleman’s Journal, it was described as ‘one of the handsomest buildings in Surrey’.

A photograph and text about John Dennis

The text reads: He left his native Devon in 1894 and moved to Guildford. Then aged 23, he worked for a firm of ironmongers and built and sold bicycles in his spare time. This venture proved unsuccessful, and within one year or arriving in Guildford, he set up The Universal Athletic Stores in Guildford High Street, building Speed Queen and Speed King bicycles for ladies and gentlemen. In 1898, John’s business produced its first motorised vehicle. While John was putting this single-cylinder tricycle through its paces down Guildford High Street, he was apprehended and fined 20 shillings for ‘driving furiously at 16mph!’.

A photograph and text about Raymond Dennis

The text reads: Raymond was John’s younger brother who moved to Guildford when aged 17 to join the family business when it became clear that the cycle-building venture was bound for success. The brothers’ reputation for quality British workmanship and innovative motorised design was widely acclaimed. In 1901, their first three-geared, single-cylinder powered car was produced, and Dennis Brothers Limited, a private limited company, was set up with £30,000 share capital. As part of the expansion, the brothers moved to a new factory and showroom in Rodboro Buildings, Onslow Street.

External photograph of the building – main entrance