| Description | Conveyance of site in Manchester Road, Isle of Dogs for St Mildred's House (formerly nos 174-160 Manchester Road).
Parties:
(1) Richard Butler Charteris of Cahir Park, Cahir, Tipperary, Ireland, retired Lieutenant-Colonel
(2) John Charles Wynne Finch M.C. of Voelas, Bettws-y-Coed, North Wales, retired Lieutenant-Colonel; Francis Wilfred Ricardo of 120 Broad Street, City of London; and William Heneage Wynne Finch M. C. of Cefnamwlch, Edoryn, North Wales, retired Colonel ("the Trustees")
(3) St Mildred's House |
| AdminHistory | St. Mildred's House came to occupy the 3-storey building on the site of the old Millwall Dock Club. The Millwall Dock Company had built the club in 1862, behind St. Paul's Church, and on dock land. The main entrance faced Westferry Road.
The building was let to Hilda Barry, and St. Mildred's House formally opened in 1897, as 'an institute for poor women'.* It was intended as a centre where 'ladies could reside for religious, social and educational work among women and girls...populated by over 20,000 persons...practically cut off from the rest of the world'.** Organisers felt disinclined to 'make their settlements hospitals for moral invalids, but wished to secure the best and brightest workers'.**
When St. Mildred's sustained bomb damage during WW2, the stained-glass windows in the chapel were rescued and stored for safekeeping in McDougall's Flour Mill. The said windows were lost, then rediscovered in the 1990s, in an organ loft in Christ Church. The windows were restored and installed in the church, where they can be seen today. Note that the damage to dock buildings including St. Mildred's, was not always shown on LCC maps. One possible reason is that the PLA did not allow full access to its land.
In the inter-war period, the building housing St. Mildred's House was demolished, and the land used for storing timber. In the late 1960s, new premises were built in Castalia Square, and became the Island House Community Centre in 1972.
Today, the Centre is a base for project delivery, and continues to host a range of organisations and service providers, including Island History Trust; Docklands Outreach and the Isle of Dogs Bangladeshi Association.
Sources of information:
*See island-house.org
**'An East End Settlement ': p.3 in The Morning Post, Wednesday, 15th March, 1900
'St. Mildred's House, Westferry Road', in islandhistory-wordpress.com
'Millwall Dock Club/St. Mildred's House (demolished)' in british-history.ac.uk |