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    Children’s homes provide care for children who are unable to live with their own family. The first children’s homes in London were established by philanthropists, charitable or religious institutions. They focused on providing lodgings and education for poor and orphaned children. In our collection we have pictures of Christ’s Hospital which opened in 1552 in the City of London, and The Foundling Hospital which opened in 1741.

    By 1839, children made up half of the workhouse population. From the late nineteenth-century, cottage homes, where children lived in small family size homes and were looked after by house-parents, were built by the state and charitable institutions. Often located in the countryside of Greater London they functioned like self-contained villages and had amenities, such as schools, shops, swimming pools, gymnasiums and chapels within their extensive grounds.

    Most of the children’s homes images in this collection are establishments that were run by the London County Council (L.C.C.). between 1930 and 1965. When school-aged children first came into the care of the L.C.C. they would be placed in a Reception into Care Home, such as Wood Vale, which provided short stay accommodation while longer-term plans could be made. Babies and infants would be placed in residential nurseries, which also provided a nursery school, such as Ladywell Residential Nursery. There were also several boarding schools, such as Shirley Residential School (also known as Shirley Oaks) and Ashford Residential School.

    By the late twentieth-century the emphasis has been on placing children with foster carers. The London Picture Archive provides a unique insight into historic child care institutions throughout Greater London.

    Children's Homes

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    209009
    A bus at Shirley Residential School
    206352
    Ashford Residential School, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, (near Staines)
    206245
    Banstead Residential School, 1 Fir Tree Road, Banstead: a Wendy house in a classroom
    206246
    Banstead Residential School, 1 Fir Tree Road, Banstead: gymnasium
    172946
    Beechholme Children's Home
    172939
    Beechholme Children's Home, 1 Fir Tree Road, Banstead: 'Elm' house
    172935
    Beechholme Children's Home, 1 Fir Tree Road, Banstead: The Church of the Good Shepherd
    179613
    Christ's Hospital: courtyard with St Sepulchre Church in the background
    127206
    Dixcot in North Drive
    120328
    Dr Barnardo's Headquarters in Stepney Causeway
    123588
    Earlsfield House in Swaffield Road
    207433
    Gisburne House, 95 Gammons Lane, Watford: children eating in the dining room
    207434
    Gisburne House, 95 Gammons Lane, Watford: dormitory
    173341
    Hornchurch Children's Homes, 117 Hornchurch Road, Romford: cottage
    207880
    Hutton Residential School (also known as Hutton Poplars), Poplar Drive, Hutton: assembly hall.
    207874
    Hutton Residential School (also known as Hutton Poplars, Poplar Drive, Hutton: school band perform
    1320
    Interior view of the Great Hall of Christ's Hospital, by George Hawkins
    174179
    Ladywell Residential Nursery, 82 Ladywell Road, Lewisham: children's nursery
    174169
    Ladywell Residential Nursery, 82 Ladywell Road, Lewisham: toddlers day sector
    174168
    Ladywell Residential Nursery, 82 Ladywell Road, Lewisham: toddlers’ lavatory
    of 3
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