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The 'real' Nonnatus house?

Discussion in 'Midwifery History' started by iolaus, Jan 1, 2012.

  1. iolaus Education Moderator

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    SMNET Staff Past Quiz Winner
    For those of you who have read Call the Midwife this is meant to be the place Nonnatus house was based on
    History[IMG]

    History
    In 1881, resident members of Christ Church College, Oxford resolved to support the establishment of missions in the East End throughout the 19th century, of which Toynbee is the most famous. The purpose of the missions was two-fold - for food provision and to enrich the mind. They were housed in ennobling architecture, and St Frideswide’s Mission is an example of this, in a design clearly influenced by the then fashionable Queen Anne Movement.
    The founding committee was presided over by the then Dean, Dr H.G Liddell, and the first church consisted of two joint rooms in a house, measuring 20 feet by 12 feet, along Lodore Street. The mission developed slowly, using the cottages already there on the site. By 1892, an aisled church dedicated to St Frideswide had been built on the corner of Follett Street and Lodore Street. The mission attracted the attention of Miss Catherine Phillimore, who paid for the new mission buildings constructed on the same site.
    Opened on February 11, 1893, the St Frideswide’s Mission House was devoted to a girl’s and mother’s group, with the western part of the building set aside to house the nuns within an oratory. The clergy of the church lived in the cottages on the north side of Follett Street in Christ Church House. But when this became too small, a new Clergy House was built on site, on the corner of Follett Street and St Leonard’s Road, again to a design by Messrs Clarkson.
    The work of the mission continued to expand and in 1899 Miss Phillimore paid for the construction of another building at the present 18 Follett Street, the Jerusalem Coffee House. It was opened in 1900 and later became the Hostel of the Poplar Association for Befriending Girls.

    More info here

    Her interview

  2. Binky Round 3 it is...

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    Past Quiz Winner
    Ooooh...nice find :) ETA was just the pic when I went to post, I'll have to look at the rest later as I'm already procrastinating too much :p
  3. Mush Well-Known Member

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    Very much like I pictured it.
  4. SuperNanny Member

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    oh that's cool, its very similar to how i'd imagined it - although in my head there are stairs leading up to the front door :p
  5. alyce1990 New Member

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    fantastic
  6. steel Member

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    I must have a really vivid imagination then as that is nothing like I imagined lol!
  7. Damara Active Member

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    Brilliant find :) thankyou
  8. Alexa Member

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    Its not like I imagined it either but nice to see and interesting 2 read the history. Thanks for posting it, its a nice bit of light relief from my assignment!
  9. casualelegance Active Member

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    The history of the sisters of St John the Divine is also an interesting read :)

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