F
Waltham House - front.
A
Waltham House - front onto St John Street.
C
Waltham House - front onto St John Street.
E
Waltham House - front.
G
Railway Wagon Label, consigned to G.H.Wheatcroft.
Dates:
Photo taken:
Size:Postcard
Source: John Palmer
Click on photo for enlargement (on CD only)
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Waltham House, Wirksworth
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Waltham House is on the West side of St John St, near the centre of
Wirksworth. Built in the early 1800s, it became the home of the mill owner
George Hanson Wheatcroft in
1881,
1891 and
1901.
In 1927 it became the new Cottage Hospital and later a Maternity hospital,
then a medical centre..
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A
Tony Holmes writes:
"On the West side of St John St was Waltham House, the home of
George Hanson Wheatcroft.
He owned Haarlem and Speedwell Mills. The house was purchased for £1,000,
together with the adjacent cottage for £350, in 1927 for use as a Cottage
Hospital. This Hospital was to replace the existing hospital - Babington
House on Greenhill. A further £800 was needed to outfit the hospital making
a total of £2,150. £1,972 had been raised from legacies and donations and
this left a deficit of nearly £200. A carnival was held during Wakes week
in September 1927 to raise in excess of this sum. The local community funded
hospitals at this time"
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B
Tony Holmes writes:
"A photograph taken soon after the opening of the hospital in 1928 showing
the architecture at the rear of the building. Considerable alterations were
carried out when the maternity hospital was converted to the present
medical centre. The right-hand bay windows and building have been demolished
to make an entrance to the car park, which has now covered the old gardens"
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C
Denis Eardley writes:
"Waltham House, in this picture taken about 1930, was built in the early
1800s. The Wheatcroft family, who produced tape at Haarlem and Speedwell
Mills, occupied it for many years. It became a cottage hospital in 1928 and
is now a medical centre".
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Bertram Haworth (1904-1998) writes (in the 1970s):
"The house is almost as it was in the early 1900s. The Wheatcrofts, as
you know, were tape manufacturers. They owned The Harlem Mill, The
Speedwell Mill, and the Bleach Mill (Wash Green) and were one of the
largest employers of labour. The family was 4 sons and one daughter.
Two sons were casualties of the 1914-18 war. It is hard to imagine what
sway this family had over many families in Wirksworth. The family were
strong Congregationalists, and if any of their employees had not been to
service on Sunday an explanation was required. How different today. They
also owned Millers Green (then a separate village) and the farm (Wards) -
The Barrell - and succeeded in closing it after purchase. They also owned
Stonebridge Farm (which our grandfather was tenant - until after the war
when it was purchased). They kept a full staff of servants who all had a
good training in their particular spheres. Later, the war and the
depression broke the business and, after the death of the parents
Wheatcrofts, the sons carried on the mill with diminishing success. Now
that family has died out and Wirksworth is not quite the same.
The Mill, now under new management, makes many more lines for many uses.
Fashion has changed and dictates the need for a large range of narrow
fabrics. So, prosperity has come again and the employees are now well
paid, and indeed there is a shortage of staff. The House was left vacant
after the elder Wheatcroft's death. The sons had, of course, their own
establishments and so we all got together and the house was purchased to
become the New Cottage Hospital, replacing the old one up in Babington
House, Greenhill.
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B
Waltham House - rear
D
Waltham House - rear.
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