For over 130 years James Knight and sons was a much-loved department store at 10 Bell Street in Reigate until its closure in 2016. Long before the arrival of the Knight family in 1883, there have been drapers and tailors on the site since the late eighteenth century, run for many decades by the Elgar family.
The site's commercial history began at Christmas 1783, when Charles Cocks, the local MP and later the 1st Baron Somers, granted a lease to the tailor William Charman for a newly built tenement next to the Grapes Tavern. In 1815, shortly before Charman's death, his son-in-law Thomas Elgar took over the business. Elgar was a skilled draper, hosier, and hatter who had relocated from Folkestone and by 1822, local trade surveys recorded the premises as a linen drapery.
The Charman and Elgar families maintained a continuous trading connection with the building for over 90 years. Thomas's son, Charles Charman Elgar, ran the business until 1870, when he sold the lease to Thomas Goodman. The shop changed hands again shortly after, when it was acquired by Wigg Brothers, tailors and drapers. It was the Wigg Brothers who sold the business to James Knight in 1883.
James Knight had previously been employed as a silk buyer at Jonathan Croker & Co, a firm of calico printers and drapery warehousemen on the corner of Watling Street in the City of London. Though his brother John had been working in Reigate for a rival business since the 1870s, it was James who established the first shop the family held in their own name.
James launched his business in the midst of what economists later termed the ‘Great Depression of 1873–1896.’ It was a period of severe economic anxiety across Britain, forcing James to focus strictly on his customers’ needs during hard times. The early years were exceptionally difficult, and the business operated at a loss for several seasons.
THE PEOPLE’S DRAPER, J Knight & Co.
In consequence of the depression in trade, and mildness of the season, we have bought under exceptional circumstances, a large lot of
BLANKETS, FLANNELS, SERGES AND DRESSES
Which we are now offering much below regular prices
Local alderman Mark Dean - a highly entrepreneurial figure who had started life as a postman before developing a successful dairy business - later claimed he gave the fledgling business a helping hand by helping shift some of the slow-moving stock at a handsome profit.
James slowly built a reputation for honest trading at affordable prices, and his four sons grew up to be experienced tradesmen. Frank, (men’s outfitting and footwear), and Percy, (drapery), remained with their father to run the Bell Street business. meanwhile the eldest son, Arthur, opened his own drapery shop, Bon Marché, at 20 Station Road in Redhill and Cyril, the youngest, ran the London Road Furniture shop.
The Bell Street premises expanded significantly when the lease formerly held by the Grapes Hotel became available. Originally an eighteenth-century coaching inn, it lost its licence in 1909 and James now had the opportunity to acquire a much needed, extended shop frontage.
In summer the Governor would take us to Brighton for the day by coach and gave us 2 shillings and sixpence for our lunch. Christmas times we would have a concert in Mr Frank’s house. I always had to sing and there were violins, piano and recitation, a nice evening.
Winnie Walker, who joined Knights as an apprentice in the First World War
The Knights could now offer board and lodgings to their younger employees, a long-standing tradition in the drapery trade. ‘Living in’ continued until 1930 and Mrs Beasley, the firm's housekeeper, sometimes had as many as fifteen residents to care for. Young men boarded above No. 10 and young women above No. 8. At lunchtime, the thirty staff ate in the former hotel kitchen.
Christmas time customers came from the country with their Christmas Club cards to spend the money saved all year. The Governor would give them cups of tea, fruit cake and a sit down. The gentry would come to buy their servants new dress lengths for presents.
Winnie Walker
James died in 1930 after 46 years of trading. Though he had passed the thriving business to his two sons, Frank and Percy in 1920, he had remained a constant presence on the shop floor, greeting customers at the door and sitting them down to discuss their needs.
The Second World War brought another period of exceptionally difficult trading conditions and Knights had to adapt to a highly regulated, austere wartime economy, with severe textile shortages, strict government rationing and the rapid mobilisation of the civilian workforce.
Percy’s sons David and his brother Geoffrey were mobilised immediately as they had served in the Territorial Army. Frank and Percy ran the business with Frank’s daughter Frances through the years of shortages. From 1941 every citizen was allocated a strict annual allowance of clothing coupons which they needed to present to buy clothing. Because coupons were scarce and precious, customers prioritised essential, long-lasting items (like boots or warm coats) over bespoke tailoring or fashionable clothing. The yearly allowance for 1941 was just 66 coupons. A single suit required 35 coupons and an overcoat 16.
There were severe material shortages. Silk, cotton, and wool imports were severely restricted by German U-boat blockades and the redirection of shipping routes for war supplies. UK textile mills were requisitioned to produce uniforms, parachutes, blankets, and bandages for the army. The 1944 stocktake found, ‘NO sheets, blankets, pillowslips, curtain nets or fancy linens.’
1944 Stocktake
NO sheets, blants, pillowslips, curtain nets or fancy linens
Civilian drapers like Knights were left with minimal, lower-quality stock. When David returned from the Royal Artillery in 1945 after service in North Africa and Italy, he found empty shelves and a buying visit to London found him only a few used army blankets.
David and Geoffrey took over the business when Percy died in 1954. Frank’s daughter Frances had been running the men’s outfitting department for several years but in 1960 she retired to devote her time to her father. Frank died in 1963, 93 years old, the last of James Knight's sons.
In 1972 David's son, Michael, who had spent eleven years at Harrods, came into the firm and oversaw a number of improvements to the shop. The business remained independent and in the hands of the Knight family until 2006 when Michael retired and sold the business to independent store group, Tudor Williams Holdings.
Sadly, adverse trading conditions led the business to close only ten years later in 2016. While the grand Bell Street premises are under new ownership, the Knights name and its legacy of service live on in Knights Haberdashery at 27 Lesbourne Road. Michael Knight attended the opening event for Knights Haberdashery in 2017 to raise a toast and officially pass on his blessing for the historic name to continue.
Knights of Reigate, 100 years 1883-1983, The Story of Jame Knight and Sons, Drapers in Bell Street Reigate, (1983), based on research by Reggie Langbridge and updated in 2026 by Michael Knight
Image of Clothing coupon books as issued to British civilians during the Second World War, from collection in the Imperial War Museum.