Bristol Diocesan Home for Waifs and Strays
Oldland Hall Bath Road Longwell Green South Gloucestershire

OLDLAND HALL THE HISTORY

On the main Bath Road which passes through Longwell Green, stands Oldland Hall, a large Georgian style building with a central two storied block and two recessed wings. The main block has a central porch which stands proud from the structure of the building and has been built with its own pediment.

On the ground floor, there are, at least, 4 rooms, and a wide open staircase lit by a splendid large window which rises the full height of the building from the porch below, and contrasts in style to the ground floor windows and its two first floor neighbours. Above these windows, the front of the main building rises above the roof level, and helped to create attic space for a number of servants bedrooms.

The two wings are structurally very similar to each other, in both size and appearance, except that the left-hand wing has french doors leading from the Dining Room, out onto a raised terrace, whilst the right-hand wing, has a conservatory built across almost the whole of the ground floor rooms, and out to the building line of the main structure. Both have a stone carved acorn adorning the extreme front corners of the house.

image above: Oldland Hall on the Bath Road Longwell Green Once the home for abandoned children (building is still standing today)

It is believed that Oldland Hall was built around 1800, but so far, it has not been established when, or whether the house was originally built as described above, or whether the wings and/or other items were added at a later stage.

Who had the house built and who first lived there has also not yet been established, but what is known, is that some time during the 1840's, the house was acquired by the well known local entre-preneur, Henry Hill Budgett. After his death in 1849, Oldland Hall was put up for sale on the 18 March 1850 and, from the Bill of Sale it is possible to determine that there then existed a large size Dining Room, (the carpet is recorded as being in size 17ft by 12ft.), a Drawing Room in which there was a rosewood drawing room suite, with blue damask coverings, plus a library containing 500 books and stuffed foreign birds, a servants' hall, kitchen, and a cellar (well stocked with a number of 36 and 28 gallon casks and other brewing utensils). Outside, there was a tool house, a workshop, a cart house, a barn, cow and hen houses, pig-sty, plus an orchard, gardens and fields.

The identity of the person who purchased Oldland Hall from the estate of the late Mr.Budgett has not yet been determined, and in fact, there is a gap of 60 years or so before the next owner is positively identified. Around 1910/12, Oldland Hall was acquired by Admiral and Mrs Arden-Close, who then proceeded to open the hall as a residential home for girls. In the 1914 Gloucestershire Directory, the entry reads, 'Diocesan Bristol, Home for girls under the Church of England Society for providing Homes for Waifs and strays,(Miss Mary Humphries matron)'

No doubt it was opened with good intent, and with the pious belief that orphaned girls and/or girls from dubious backgrounds needed strict control of their moral and physical upbringing. The staff all wore a nurses style uniform, whilst the girls wore long black dresses, over which they had a white smock (see photographs)

How successful the Admiral and his wife were in educating and moulding the young girls is not known, but the enterprise probably lasted around 20 years as far as Oldland Hall was concerned for, by 1932/33, the house had reverted to a single family occupancy when, Mr. W. Bence, the local coach-builder and bus proprietor, acquired the Hall. It is believed that he stayed there until his death, and that for a period of time, particularly after the Second World War, the Hall was put to a number of different uses.

Nowadays it has a multiple occupancy.

image above: 1930s Sister Kate teaching the young girls needlework and laundry work. When a girl reached the age of eight, she was allotted both daily and weekly chores

Bristol Diocesan Home for Waifs and Strays

Along the main road towards Hanham, there stands, in its own grounds, a large stylish house, once the home of Mr.H.Budgett, provision merchant of Bristol, known as Oldland Hall which, around 1904 was acquired by the Bristol Diocesan Home for Waifs and Strays, as a gift from Admiral Close of Clifton.

The home could accommodate up to thirty girls between the ages of five to sixteen and, for over twenty years there was a succession of girls who lived there, under the capable care of the matron, a Miss Humphries, who was ably assisted by Sister Kate and Sister Em.

It is from the latter that we have been able to obtain much of our information concerning the daily life within the home. Our thanks accordingly go to Sister Em, now Mrs.E.Nurse, after her marriage some years ago to Charles Nurse of Olds Farm, Castle Inn Farm, Castle Road, Hanham Green, and although widowed, she still lives in the village.

During her stay at the home, Sister Em was in charge of the kitchen and the catering, whilst Sister Kate was responsible for the laundry. Together with Matron, they collectively ran the home for over twenty years with no outside help, except in the garden.

When a girl reached the age of eight, she was allotted both daily and weekly chores, such as cleaning the dormitories before breakfast, cleaning boots, scrubbing the fire buckets, chopping wood etc. On most occasions, each girl would spend six or eight months perfecting each task, so that when they left school at fourteen years of age, they were trained in every sort of domestic work.

The system was designed so that four girls would be allocated work in the laundry, one in the kitchen, with others learning to be dining room maids, house parlour-maids, maids to the assistant matron, whilst the position of matron's maid was always reserved for the head girl.

Even though the inmates left school at fourteen, they remained at the home for a further two years, whilst they honed their skills so that, at the age of sixteen, when it was time to leave the security of the home and go out into the wide world, each girl was ready to deal with any kind of domestic work found for them.

image above: The older Girls helped in the kitchen 

Whilst each girl was a resident of the home she had her own savings account at the Oldland Post Office in which money could only be deposited. It was not until she left the home that the account book was given to her to be used in whatever way she thought fit.

All clothing, with the exception of hats and boots, was made in the home by members of the staff and with thirty growing girls of all shapes and sizes continuously changing, the amount of needlework undertaken by the staff must have been absolutely enormous.

Each girl was provided with one navy coloured winter coat, a set of underclothes made of calico, two winter dresses, a scarf and a cardigan, and three white embroidered summer dresses, to go with their purchased white straw hats with pale blue band, with all of the material used bought from Colmers of Bath.

A typical day in the life of the home was:-6.30am Rise and wash.

6.45am Prayers in the dormitories.

7.00am Make beds and clean dormitories.

7.45am Breakfast, followed by prayers in the Chapel.

8.3Oam set off for school at St.Anne's Church of England School, a mile and a half away in Oldland.

12.30pm return to the home for the mid-day meal then walk back again to school.

4.30pm back to the home after school has ended and have a thorough wash.

5.00pm evening tea, followed by play/leisure time.

6.00pm younger children to have bath before retiring to bed.

6.30pm older children attend evening prayers in the chapel.

7.15pm older children retire to bed.

There was a playroom where their leisure time was spent, although for the older girls much of their so-called leisure time was taken up with the need for them to be knitting their own stockings. For those girls of fourteen years and over and who had already left school there was the additional responsibility to oversee the younger children, including having to see that their hair and hair ribbons were in order, and to knit the younger girl's stockings.

image above: 7.45am staff and  younger children at breakfast  

The girls were not allowed outside Oldland Hall on their own, particularly in the evenings, however when there were suitable social events being held in the village, they would on occasions be taken under supervision. At twelve years of age, the girls were allowed to join the Guild of St.Mary at All Saints', where they also had their own company of Girl Guides.

Each year the girls were treated to an all-day outing to Burnham-on-Sea, plus an allowance of one shilling (5p) each to spend how they wished. Although an apparent small amount, it should be remembered that in the years before the First World War, a shilling represented a considerable amount of money when many unskilled workers were earning less than one pound per week. In addition to this outing the young ladies would, during the month of August would very often exchange 'Homes' with waifs and strays from a similar organisation at Seaview, on the Isle of Wight, and occasionally with girls in other homes.

Even allowing for the above treats and obvious change in their daily routine, the girls still were able to enjoy the security and warmth of the home and the love of those in charge, with many pleasures arising from simple events and home-made pleasures, as they witnessed the many changes going on around them in the outside world, but particularly within the village itself, for example, one can only imagine at the excitement of the girls when William Bence ran his first motor-bus through the village.

Excitement must have also occurred on the day it was announced that one of the girls had actually won a scholarship to Kingswood Grammar School.

Perhaps the girls' greatest excitement came with the efforts they put in to fund raising on 'Pound-Day', which was an annual event held in the grounds of Oldland Hall.

In order to raise money for the upkeep of the home, this annual summer event was held with the condition that admission to the home could only be gained by visitors 'paying' one pound (in weight) of any commodity at the entrance.

Many people brought commodities weighing much more than, just one pound, but nevertheless, one pound of sugar or one pound of soda was sufficient to be let in. All who came must have thoroughly enjoyed themselves for in one article, printed in a local newspaper, describes a dancing display by pupils of Miss Maddocks of Bristol; an orchestra hired to play for dancing in the evening; many side shows, competitions and stalls, and bowling for children.

All the girls were required to attend All Saints' Church on Sundays, with some of the girls also being members of the choir. The vicar of St Anne's was the chaplain of the Home, but more often than not it was the curate of All Saints' who conducted a service in the girls own chapel every Friday evening. One other connection the Home had with the church was that the matron and her charges laundered the clergy's vestments, and the Communion linen, for a nominal sum, which helped to give the girls extra treats on their outings.

Every month a doctor and a dentist would visit the Home, which provided its own dentist chair, to ensure that the girl’s bodies and teeth were kept healthy, and to deal with any minor ailments.

The philanthropist, Mrs.E.Jefferies who had given so much to All Saints’ and the community, also donated sufficient money to the Home so that it could pay to have the stable block converted into a laundry, together with adjoining coal and wood houses. Within the laundry there were hot rollers, and a crook for heating the irons.

A member of the committee would inspect the Home each month, checking upon the general cleanliness of all parts of the building, the general well-being of the girls, the food that was being provided, and the state of the linen, and to ensure that there was no un-necessary wastage.

The director of the Home was William Vaughan, who has recently been honoured for his lifelong service with the Church of England Children?s Society.

With a certain amount of regret the Home in Longwell Green was closed on August 26th, 1930.

EDUCATION IN THE AREA

The earliest recollection of a school within the village itself is that of a dame's school, kept by a Mrs Tutton around 1886. It would seem that around eight or nine pupils attended the school with each paying a fee of twopence (less than one new penny) per week. They were obliged to sit on forms and irrespective of their age they Were all basically taught the same standard subject by the one teacher in the one classroom, the subject being either one of the 'Three R's', with just a few books provided for reading lessons.

The house, which doubled as a school, still exists as one of the oldest properties in the village and is situated opposite Oldland Hall. Beyond the village at Willsbridge, there was an earlier school, which is believed to date back to the mid 1860's. It was run by two ladies, the. Misses Stibbs, in a house now called the 'Quoms'. This establishment was obviously for children whose parents could afford to send them to a more select school, such as, sons and daughters of farmers, or trades people etc., with some of the children coming to the school as boarders from as far afield as Badminton.

The late Rt.Rev.Armitage Robinson, D.D., Dean of Westminster, and later Dean of Wells Cathedral, received his early education at this school, whilst his father was vicar of St.John the Baptist, Keynsham. Other pupils (during the 1880's) included the children of Robert Nurse, although by this time the school was run by two other sisters, the Misses Fraser. Fanny Nurse, writing in her diary says, 'it was a long walk to the Misses Eraser s school, and I went with my friend Annie'. Those children whose parents could not afford to send them to a private school, would walk the mile or so to either the Church of England school on Jefferies Hill, (opened 1841), or to Samuel White's Wesleyan School, which had been built around 1860.

Many years later, around 1890, the Gloucester Education Committee opened, about a mile away from the village, a new school at Cadbury Heath, appointing as its first headmaster, Henry Brain, who was then subsequently succeeded by Mr.Bodey, the father of the present headmistress of Kingswood Secondary School for Girls. The building of the new school at Cadbury Heath was designed to have Longwell Green in its catchment's area, and accordingly many children from the village now began to make their way to the new school, and this arrangement continues right up to the present time.

In 1910, a new school, The Meadows, was opened in Bitton, some two miles away from the village, and as this meant that few, if any, of the Longwell Green children would use this new educational facility, the rate-payers of the village objected most strongly to having to contribute to the cost of the new school. In general they felt that the three schools already in existence were adequate for the needs of the village children. With the passage of time emotions have changed, and now, and for many years past, quite a number of village children have attended The Meadows, despite the greater distance.

With an ever-increasing population in the expanding village, the above schools have been found to be inadequate to meet the demand, so that around 1935, another school, Hanham Abbots Primary, was constructed. However, since the war, there has been the influx of Bristol overspill families to cater for and accordingly, there has, during the past four years, been the construction of a large primary school on the housing estate, built on the fringe of Longwell Green. Thus there is now quite a wide choice of schools for the children of the village and the surrounding area to attend. In the old days the siting of a school away from the village, very often lead to extra cost being incurred with regard to the children's footwear, whereas nowadays the cost is in bus fares.

Nevertheless, the education authorities over the years have not deemed it necessary, probably in view of the small number of children involved, to provide a school in the village itself. * * * * Adult evening classes and lectures have been held in Longwell Green since the turn of the century, with the first known reference being in the Parish Council October 1901 minutes, which records: - Mr.Robert Francis Nurse was elected to serve on the local committee formed to deal with the technical instruction committee of the Gloucester County Council, Southern Centre. In April 1905, ambulance classes for men were started followed, some seventeen months later, by a request for a sick-nursing class for women. Miss Higgins, of Willsbridge House, was asked to form a ladies' committee to advertise and manage this course.

Gardening classes followed in April 1909, with all three well attended and supported, in fact the sick nursing class had an average attendance of twenty-six women over the whole time it was in existence. From the ambulance class, Mr.A.Nurse gained a silver medallion for the level of skill obtained. In September 1914 a cookery class started with the help of the County Council who provided all of the necessary equipment. Although not as numerically successful as the sick nursing class, the average number of students still stood at; fifteen.

Later as the war on the continent ground to a stalemate, lectures were held upon the keeping of poultry, which also proved to be a great success. These well-tried and favourite classes continued for over thirty years, and it was not until 1938 that a new subject was added to the curriculum. As the shadow of the war clouds spread its fear and concern over the land, especially the potential threat of many civilian casualties as a result of terror bombing, it was suggested that lectures should be given on the subject of air-raid precaution.

Accordingly, in April 1938, a list of names of those prepared to offer their services to the newly formed A.R.P. was made, and classes were arranged for those persons to attend. At first, the lectures/instructions concentrated upon the very real and worrying threat of gas attacks and the required anti-gas precautions. Many of those who were in the Council and who sat on A.RP. Committees were old enough to remember quite vividly the terrible effects gas had had during the First World War on men in the trenches, and of course there were some men in the community who were still suffering from having been gassed during those hostilities.

Once this subject was instilled into the minds of the volunteers, the scope of the lectures widened to cover many other possible aspects of aerial warfare. Not unexpectedly, the war years took its toll on the classes held and as a consequence the majority were postponed for the duration. However as the memory of the war began to subside, so attention was given to the re-opening of evening classes, and by 1948 the Gloucestershire Education Committee had begun to sponsor classes involving dressmaking; embroidery; handicrafts, and drama. Gardening classes came under the auspices of the Hartbury Farm Institute of Gloucester whilst a lecturer, provided by the University of Bristol, held two sessions of Musical Appreciation, and extra mural studies.

The interest in these subjects originated from members of the Women's Institute, and is fostered by the Longwell Green Memorial and Playing Fields Association. * * * * For many years there had been a huge desire for the village to have it's own library and after many months of pressure on the County Council they eventually agreed to open a library in the Y.M.C.A. hut on March 14th, 1929. At the beginning, Mr.Alfred Lovell offered his services as the librarian, and started with a collection of three hundred books, and twenty members.

One other fact of great importance is that the librarianship has remained in the same Lovell family as it started, with daughters following in father's footsteps, and all in a purely honorary capacity.

OCT 2005 Email to the webmaster

I noticed the article about Oldland Hall in the web site. I have lived in the left (facing the building) side of the building since 1979, so it was obviously interesting for me to read. About 20 years ago while mowing the front lawn, an old lady looked up the drive then came in out of curiosity. She said she had been one of the 'waifs' who lived in the building when it was a home and that the room in the attic (no longer a room) was where they put the naughty children.

The article says that it is not known whether the wings were added later. My living room is in the central part of the building but I also own the wing which is called East Wing (though as far as I can see, it is in the west of the building!) From what I have seen during various interior repair works, the wall of the living was the original outside wall of the building, so I have always assumed that the wings were added later. It is a very thick wall and most unlikely to be an interior dividing wall.

The photo on the web site showing children, looks like the room I am sitting in at the moment, i.e. my study. The alcoves are still there, my computer being in the one on the left. I think, however, that a larger room has subsequently been divided in two as one can not get that view from a camera at present. The french window is still there, but it has obviously been replaced over the years, at least the bottom part. When the building was divided in three, I think in the 1970s, two additional entrance doors were added, though I suspect that the room was divided even before then. The conservatory at the eastern end (West wing!) has long since gone, though one can still see a mark along a wall where it used to exist.

As for the missing years, there was life sized statue of a dog that looked rather like a spaniel (my dog recognition is pretty weak) in the front lawn. It was there until about 1990. Unfortunately, it is no longer there (my neighbour may know where it has gone). But I do have a photo of it.

(The stone plinth of the statue is still there, presumably with a dog buried under it. It''s just the dog itself that has gone, ravaged by children and the elements)

The caption under the statue reads 'Dean Close's dog, Carlisle, 1861'. So perhaps someone named Dean Close lived there. Of course, there is a public school in Cheltenham named Dean Close, but I don't know if there is any connection.

The cellar is still there, though it is under the floorboards and not accessible without taking up carpet and floorboards. We discovered it in about 1981 when we had to have a large amount of the interior gutted. There is a splendid line drawing by Loxton of the outside of the house in its heyday as a girls' home. It is in the Bristol library, though I have a copy. It looks as if it has been drawn in the 1920s.

The interior details of the house are now quite wrong. There was, so I understand, a large stairway from the front door and there may have been only four rooms on the ground floor, but it certainly isn't like that now.

Thanks for the information. Fred Martin

LETTER TO THE WEBMASTER

Does anyone know anything about a 'Home for Girls' run by Admiral and Mrs Arden-Close, at Longwell Green near Bristol. My great aunt Sybil Katherine Thorne went there to live on August 14th., 1903 at age 8. Sybil had previously been at the Gloucester Diocesan Home for Little Girls in Cheltenham. 

Judy in Canada