Former Infant Welfare Centre and front boundary wall, Exeter, Devon

Summary

Former Infant Welfare Centre. 1929 or 1930 by John Bennett, City Architect; builders were Wakeham and Tucker. Minor late C20 and early C21 alterations.

Description

Former Infant Welfare Centre. 1929 or 1930 by John Bennett, City Architect to a neo-Georgian design; the builders were Wakeham and Tucker.

MATERIALS: It is constructed of red brick laid in stretcher, with stone dressings, under hipped, tiled roofs.

PLAN: The building has a rectangular footprint and comprises a two-storey central block with an entrance loggia and flanking single-storey ranges which are L-shaped.

EXTERIOR: All elevations have a horizontally-banded brick plinth and overhanging eaves. The majority of the windows retain their original frames of timber or Crittal-style steel.

The north (main), roadside elevation has a double-height central block fronted by a three-bay loggia which is supported by circular stone columns: the central two are paired and there are half-columns to the ends. The capitals have geometric mouldings. The entablature carries the inscription THE ALICE VLIELAND INFANT WELFARE CENTRE and above this is a raised, central parapet decorated with circular motifs and fluting. The entrance has a pair of glazed doors and to either side is a plain pilaster and a stone flat-faced, mullioned window of five metal-framed lights. To the right of the doorway, below the window, is the foundation stone. There are three, hipped dormers with wooden casements in the roof. Flanking the central block are single-storey ranges, and each has a projecting front bay which breaks slightly forwards of the rest of the elevation. They each have two timber windows, flanked by pilasters with banded rustication and surmounted by a parapet. The east range, which was originally a caretaker’s flat, extends eastwards with two further bays defined by rusticated pilasters. To the right-hand bay is an entrance with 1930s timber door with a glazed upper section and a small light, both have lintels of stretcher brick. To the left is a further window. The left bay is blind. The front elevation of the west range continues with a three-light window and an entrance, now blocked, which has pilasters to either side. The west return has offset pilasters at the corners and each of the bays has its own hipped roof. The opening in the left bay has been infilled; the central and right-hand bays have five- and four-light, timber windows respectively; the one to the right is a modern replacement. There is a dormer window in the west elevation of the double-height block.

To the rear, is an open-fronted verandah with a glazed roof carried on single and paired single pillars resting on stone pads. The ends of the verandah are screened by a short length of stepped walling at right angles to the building. The single pillar to the far right has been removed to provide sufficient space for the addition of a boiler house. The five bays of the double-height block are expressed by plain pilasters. Each of the bays has paired glazed doors to the ground floor, and at first-floor level the three central bays have tall, transomed and mullioned dormer windows which cut through the eaves. The single-storey ranges at either end of the main block contain a three-light timber window and are surmounted by a parapet. On the east elevation the two outer bays of the single-storey range break forwards and each has a three-light window flanked by rusticated pilasters.

INTERIOR: The internal arrangement of ground-floor rooms has changed little. The main (north) entrance opens onto a vestibule and a west-east corridor from which the rooms and lavatories in the central block are accessed. The vestibule and the corridor both have lightwells with geometric design to the glazing bars. The east and west ranges, which served as caretaker’s accommodation and offices respectively, retain their overall historic layout. While there are some replacement doors, there are many surviving original doors and architraves, most have horizontal panels and original door furniture. The main hall and therapy rooms are plainer and have suspended ceilings. They each have paired doors giving access to the rear verandah. Although some fire doors have been added, many original fittings such as horizontal-panelled doors, architrave and other joinery survive. A large dresser in the east range may also be original. The first floor was not accessible (2017).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: To the front is a dwarf boundary wall of brick, with stone and concrete capping. There is a break in the wall at the entrance to the building which has low brick piers, and a wider opening with tall gate piers with moulded stone caps flanking the driveway to the west. Both the wall and the gate piers have been subject to repairs and some rebuilding.

History

The infant welfare movement in Britain originated in the C19 as a voluntary initiative and increased in scale and scope in the early decades of the C20 when infant welfare centres were developed by local authorities, encouraged by the Edwardian Liberal Welfare reforms and the Maternity and Child Welfare Act of 1918. Maternity and child healthcare was a preoccupation of medics in the inter-war years when maternal mortality rose even as infant mortality fell.

The Alice Vlieland Infant Welfare Centre, now the Bull Meadow Clinic, was opened in Exeter in 1929 or 1930. It was named after the wife of Dr CJ Vlieland who, together with several other local women, did much to advance welfare work among mothers and babies through their voluntary work in the city and the surrounding areas. This infant welfare centre was designed by City Architect John Bennett and was built by local firm Wakeham and Tucker. The foundation stone was laid by the Mayor of Exeter and the building cost around £5,000 to construct. A newspaper article in October 1929 about the centre described it as providing a hall, nursery lecture room, medical officer’s room, weighing room, violet-ray room, workroom, offices and kitchen. Provision was also made for a resident caretaker who had a separate entrance. The hall and nursery were situated at the front of the building, and a shelter was provided to store prams. When it opened, the Alice Vlieland Infant Welfare Centre was one of four such clinics in the city.

The building is currently (2018) used as a children’s speech and language therapy centre.

Reasons for Listing

Bull Meadow Clinic, formerly an Infant Welfare Centre, in Exeter which was opened in 1929 or 1930 and was designed by the City Architect is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a carefully-detailed and well-composed building in the neo-Georgian style which has distinct quality and presence;
* despite some adaptation to changing functions, the building is very well preserved; retaining a number of historic fittings and much of the original plan.

Historic interest:

* for its socio-historic interest in representing the local will for improved welfare provision for mothers and babies during the 1920s and 1930s.

External Links

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