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Article THE MIDDLESEX ARCHÆOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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The Middlesex Archæological Society.
that ample space is left between each block for the purposes of ventilation and exercise . Under able guidance , we glanced at the steward ' s department ; and , beginning at the basement , found that on this particular day the spacious kitchen was very actively in use , as it was not cold meat day ; all were busily at work cooking the dinner of seven hundred and nine boys . From the kitchen to the hall is but a short journey . The windows there are filled with stained lass ; at the farther endbehind a daisis a large
g , , gallery . On the wall in this partis a picture of considerable size , representing Edward VI . granting the charter to the hospital . Mr . J . Gough Nichols , in a very valuable "Catalogue of the Portraits of King Edward the Sixth , " recently printed for private distribution , points out that this painting is ' an amplification of the picture representing the foundation of the city hospitals at Bridewell Hospital . It has been erroneously attributed to Holbein . Another large picture in the balleihty-five feet long '
, g , painted by Verrio , represents the foundation of the mathematical school by dames If . There are also portraits of the Queen , Frince Albert , and others . It is an imposing sight to see all the boys assembled here to sup . From the hall we went over several of the dormitories and sleeping wards . The iron bedsteads are arranged to the number of about fifty in eacli ward , which is superintended by a matron . It is almost needless to say that the greatest attention is paid to cleanliness . There is a curious feature in most of the
sleeping wards : in one corner , near the roof , and reached by a staircase , is a wooden box of moderate proportions , which serves as a resting-place and study for the " Grecian" of the ward . From this eminence he is enabled to notice any delinquency below . It is evident that in a sanitary point of view , the position is not very enviable ; for the atmosphere of those studies must , under the best circumstances , be polluted to some extent by the breath
of sleepers below . In the dormitory for the houseless in New Farringdonstrcct , the beds arc ranged in considerable numbers on the floor , while surrounding this place is a gallery of from six to seven feet wide , and at a time of great pressure beds were made up in the gallery . Down below , during a considerable time , no disease of ( ever or any case of this class occurred ; but in the gallery several were from time to time stricken with fever , and so dangerous did it prove to be to allow persons to sleep there , that orders
were given for its disuse by the officers of health . The various schools—the Latin school , mathematical school , writing school , drawing school—are established in different apartments , and are presided over by numerous masters . The school rooms are plain , and without any striking architectural feature . The sick wards are separated from the other buildings , and arrangements arc made for the treatment of any iitfectious disease ; the medical attendants' residence is close at hand .
It has now struck twelve , a bell has rung , and presentl y from all parts deafening voices are heard , and large bodies of the scholars rush ad libitum to the playground . There are some who , notwithstanding the temptation , open a door which is marked " library , " and on entering with a few of the " small boys , " we find a spacious room , divided into boxes and provided with tables : on the walls hang useful maps , and engravings of the steam engine : at one end is stored a small but well chosen collection of books ,
and on the table are several illustrated periodicals . This library is of recent foundation , and will , no doubt , be attended with much good . Before its establishment the boys bad no option but to waste a very large amount of the spare time between school hours ; now they can amuse themselves with useful reading . The books already in use have been purchased by a grant of two hundred pounds—a sum sufficient to make a beginning ; the shelves , however , arc very bare , and wc think that if some of the wellwishers of 3 H 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Middlesex Archæological Society.
that ample space is left between each block for the purposes of ventilation and exercise . Under able guidance , we glanced at the steward ' s department ; and , beginning at the basement , found that on this particular day the spacious kitchen was very actively in use , as it was not cold meat day ; all were busily at work cooking the dinner of seven hundred and nine boys . From the kitchen to the hall is but a short journey . The windows there are filled with stained lass ; at the farther endbehind a daisis a large
g , , gallery . On the wall in this partis a picture of considerable size , representing Edward VI . granting the charter to the hospital . Mr . J . Gough Nichols , in a very valuable "Catalogue of the Portraits of King Edward the Sixth , " recently printed for private distribution , points out that this painting is ' an amplification of the picture representing the foundation of the city hospitals at Bridewell Hospital . It has been erroneously attributed to Holbein . Another large picture in the balleihty-five feet long '
, g , painted by Verrio , represents the foundation of the mathematical school by dames If . There are also portraits of the Queen , Frince Albert , and others . It is an imposing sight to see all the boys assembled here to sup . From the hall we went over several of the dormitories and sleeping wards . The iron bedsteads are arranged to the number of about fifty in eacli ward , which is superintended by a matron . It is almost needless to say that the greatest attention is paid to cleanliness . There is a curious feature in most of the
sleeping wards : in one corner , near the roof , and reached by a staircase , is a wooden box of moderate proportions , which serves as a resting-place and study for the " Grecian" of the ward . From this eminence he is enabled to notice any delinquency below . It is evident that in a sanitary point of view , the position is not very enviable ; for the atmosphere of those studies must , under the best circumstances , be polluted to some extent by the breath
of sleepers below . In the dormitory for the houseless in New Farringdonstrcct , the beds arc ranged in considerable numbers on the floor , while surrounding this place is a gallery of from six to seven feet wide , and at a time of great pressure beds were made up in the gallery . Down below , during a considerable time , no disease of ( ever or any case of this class occurred ; but in the gallery several were from time to time stricken with fever , and so dangerous did it prove to be to allow persons to sleep there , that orders
were given for its disuse by the officers of health . The various schools—the Latin school , mathematical school , writing school , drawing school—are established in different apartments , and are presided over by numerous masters . The school rooms are plain , and without any striking architectural feature . The sick wards are separated from the other buildings , and arrangements arc made for the treatment of any iitfectious disease ; the medical attendants' residence is close at hand .
It has now struck twelve , a bell has rung , and presentl y from all parts deafening voices are heard , and large bodies of the scholars rush ad libitum to the playground . There are some who , notwithstanding the temptation , open a door which is marked " library , " and on entering with a few of the " small boys , " we find a spacious room , divided into boxes and provided with tables : on the walls hang useful maps , and engravings of the steam engine : at one end is stored a small but well chosen collection of books ,
and on the table are several illustrated periodicals . This library is of recent foundation , and will , no doubt , be attended with much good . Before its establishment the boys bad no option but to waste a very large amount of the spare time between school hours ; now they can amuse themselves with useful reading . The books already in use have been purchased by a grant of two hundred pounds—a sum sufficient to make a beginning ; the shelves , however , arc very bare , and wc think that if some of the wellwishers of 3 H 2