| Summary : Poplar Training School was built in 1906 to accommodate around 700 children. It cost a total of £184,280 to construct. The architects were Holman and Goodman who designed the buildings in the form of a 'cottage homes' village, arranged around a large, open green. Children were sent to the school to be educated and trained in skills which would allow them to rise above pauperism in later life. There was a row of double cottages on the west side of the green for the boys with girls' cottages to the east. An elaborately decorated dining room accompanied the boys' cottages, whilst the girls prepared and served meals in their own cottages, as part of their domestic training. To the north of the village green was a gymnasium, a swimming bath, a boiler house and a water tower. To the south were an administrative block and a training base for laundry work. The school and superintendent's house were south of the boys cottages and the site also included a porters' lodge and a farm. Boys were trained in a range of trades including boot making, tailoring, carpentry, baking and gardening. They could also participate in the school military band. Older girls trained as domestic servants and were taught cookery, needlework and laundry skills. Most of the buildings were demolished in the 1980s with the exception of the school building itself, the dining room and porter's lodge. The school is a large, T-shaped building built of red brick with tiled roofs. In around 1974, it became an adult education centre. The dining room was a community hall in 2007 and is Grade II listed. It was restored between 1990 and 1991 following disuse and vandalism. It is a built in a Flemish style of red brick with stone and terracotta dressings, and a double-pitched tiled roof. These buildings were of much greater architectural enrichment than those usually erected for 'pauper' children at the time.The School nuilding was assessded for listing in 2011 but failed to meet the required criteria. |
More information : Poplar Training School was built in 1906 to accommodate around 700 children. It cost a total of £184,280 to construct. The architects were Holman and Goodman who designed the buildings in the form of a 'cottage homes' village, arranged around a large, open green. Children were sent to the school to be educated and trained in skills which would allow them to rise above pauperism in later life. There was a row of double cottages on the west side of the green for the boys with girls' cottages to the east. An elaborately decorated dining room accompanied the boys' cottages, whilst the girls prepared and served meals in their own cottages, as part of their domestic training. To the north of the village green was a gymnasium, a swimming bath, a boiler house and a water tower. To the south were an administrative block and a training base for laundry work. The school and superintendent's house were south of the boys cottages and the site also included a porters' lodge and a farm. [1-4]
Boys were trained in a range of trades including boot making, tailoring, carpentry, baking and gardening. They could also participate in the school military band. Older girls trained as domestic servants and were taught cookery, needlework and laundry skills. [2]
In 1930, control of the school passed to the London County Council. In the 1970s it was taken over by the Inner London Education Authority. Most of the buildings were demolished in the 1980s with the exception of the school building itself, the dining room and porter's lodge. [1-2]
The school is a large, T-shaped building built of red brick with tiled roofs. In around 1974, it became an adult education centre. The dining room was a community hall in 2007 and is Grade II listed. It was restored between 1990 and 1991 following disuse and vandalism. It is a built in a Flemish style of red brick with stone and terracotta dressings, and a double-pitched tiled roof. The five east bays are separated by brick pilasters with Ionic capitals. At the top of each bay a terracotta frieze depicts a coat of arms flanked by foliage scrolls. The roof is lit by five hipped dormers to the east and west with a bell tower above the central dormers. The porters lodge is two storeys high and built of red brick with tile hanging and a tiled roof. Documentary evidence shows that the boy's cottages were two storeys high and built of red brick with tile roofs. They had shaped gables with stone capping, and verandas carrying balconies to the first floor. These buildings were of much greater architectural enrichment than those usually erected for 'pauper' children at the time. It is notable that the leading Guardian was once George Lansbury the social reformer. For the children at Hutton Poplars his policy was that they should have 'decent treatment and hang the rates'. [1-4]
Poplars Hall - Listed Building - national Heritage List England. (5)
The Adult Learning Centre is one of the last surviving buildings of the Poplar Training School, a late example of the 'cottage home village' system of welfare provision first established in England in the late 1860s as an alternative to the industrial or workhouse school for pauper children. The most famous exponent of this approach was Dr. Thomas Barnardo, who established a village home for destitute girls at Barkingside in 1874, the surviving buildings of which (including twenty-two cottage homes) are listed at Grade II. As a remaining building of a cottage home village, the Adult Learning Centre, is afforded some additional historic interest, but the assessment for designation focuses on its original function as a school, a commonplace building type. The use of simply carved Dutch gables on the projecting bays of the main range and the central cupola enliven the composition, but overall the building is plainly detailed and pedestrian in form and treatment, using standard materials of the time such as the rough-cast render on the upper floors. The interior of the main range is largely intact, but similarly has standard fixtures and fittings. Greater attention to detail is afforded to the exterior and interior of the main hall, which although connected to the pedestrian front range, has an enhanced architectural quality. Externally, the roofscape and contrasting stonework of the window surrounds exhibit good craftsmanship, which is matched by the thoughtful interior detailing. The timbered gallery, bracket details and well-crafted hammer beam roof add both gravitas and interest to the building as a whole.
The former school lacks the cohesion in composition and detailing found in the listed boys dining hall and Holman and Goodram's other listed work. The loss of the other school buildings is a serious blow: if they had survived, the value of the group would have considerably bolstered the claim to special interest. The school building has considerable local architectural and historic interest as a vestige of the Poplar Training School, but, notwithstanding its quality in parts, it does not as a whole have the requisite high standard of architectural distinction necessary to meet the criteria for listing from a national perspective.
After examining all the records and other relevant information and having carefully considered the architectural and historic interest of this case, the criteria for listing are not fulfilled.
Brentwood Adult Learning Centre, also known as Bishops Hill, is not recommended for designation for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural Interest: although the exterior of the building has a few pleasing features, and the main hall has some aesthetic merit, the former school lacks the cohesion in composition and detailing found in listed examples of schools of this date and in the nearby boys dining room listed at Grade II.
* Interior: the detailing of the hall is accomplished, but the interiors of the main range are plain and have standard fixtures and fittings for the time.
* Historic Interest: the Adult Learning Centre has some historic interest as a vestigial building of the Poplar Training School, but this does not compensate for the loss of most of the school complex in the 1980s. (6) |