Cobblers City, Woodley

[susannon]

My grandmother was born in the workhouse in Woodley, which I understand was called Cobblers City.  Does anyone have any information about it please?  Thank you.
Susannon

[behindthefrogs]

Welcome to Rootschat.

Can you give us some idea of the timescale involved.  I thought that after 1834 Woodley was part of the Wokingham Poor Law Union and the workhouse was actually in Wokingham.  This was opened in 1850 in Barkham Road Wokingham and is now Wokingham Hospital.  Prior to that the local workhouses would presumably still have been in use.  I know that the original old workhouse in Wokingham wasn't pulled down until 1964.

David

[behindthefrogs]

Checking further I have found the following:

The Woodley and Sanford Workhouse prior to 1834 had spaces for 50 inmates.

The new Wokingham Union initially made use of the former Wargrave parish workhouse, for the upgrading of which the Poor law Commissioners authorized an expenditure of £1,390. However, a report by Edwin Chadwick in 1846 found that conditions were too cramped to allow proper segregation of the different classes of inmate, rooms were damp and badly ventilated, and there was a lack of infirmary and fever wards.

A completely new workhouse for 250 inmates was built in 1848-50 at a site on the northern side of Barkham Road on land purchased from Mr George Howell. A competition was held to design the new workhouse. Fourteen entries were received and the £50 prize was won by Mr Richard Billing of Reading. The building contract for £6,200 went to Mr Trugo from London and work commenced in January 1849. The layout consisted of a three-storey T-shaped main block, with a separate infirmary block and fever ward to the rear which also contained the vagrants' wards and the receiving wards for new admissions to the workhouse. Women were housed in the eastern half of the site which also included the institution's laundry. Men were placed in the western portion, separated fronm the women's side by the dining hall.

David

[susannon]

Thank you.  My grandmother, Daisy Eaton, was born in 1887, her mother was called Louisa Eaton and she was 15 years old when she gave birth.  On my grandmother's  baptismal certificate is written 'Cobbler's City' which I understand was a workhouse - I found this out from the library in Reading.  Apparently it was a collection of cottages on the main road - do you think it might have been almshouses rather than a workhouse?

Regards,

Susannon

[behindthefrogs]

You will find a photograph here which might be vaguely relevant:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0435/

There is another photograph from the same source:

Horse-drawn delivery wagon for "Zilvo" flour, produced and distributed by George Aldridge and Company, bakers and flour dealers, Cobblers City, Headley Road

I don't know that bit of Woodley very well and so I am not sure where on Headley Road, Cobbler's City might have been  It may well have been that the old workhouse was being used as a maternity hospital at that time.

David

[behindthefrogs]

Here is some more information:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0436/

In 1851 the population of Woodley was
only 865 including children (mainly
farmers, agricultural labourers, and
servants). Woodley was described as a
large scattered parish, with groups of
houses at places called Woodley Green,
Cobblers City and Wheeler’s Green. At
this time land ownership in Woodley was
dominated by two families; The Palmers
of Holme Park and the Whebles of
Bullmarsh (Bulmershe)

David

[susannon]

Thank you David, this is great - I couldn't understand why my great grandmother, at 15, would have been put into the workhouse to have the baby, and then taken back into the family.  Clearly the library were wrong and Cobblers City was an area of Woodley, rather than just the position of the previous workhouse.

I loved the extract from Professor Goodson, and the talk of 'fierce independence'.  I have looked up the 1901 census and my ancestors lived in 143 The City, Woodley (which I presume to mean Cobblers' City), do you think this was Headley Road?

Best wishes,

Sue

[behindthefrogs]

I would guess most of the houses in Cbblers City were on Headley Road but they may have been a cluster built on a plot of land.

It is some time since I have been along Headley Road and I can only remember semidetached houses built in the 1930s 40 or 50s.

David

[dillybert]

Sorry for arriving late to this thread.

I drive along Headley Road when I take my daughter to nursery in Woodley on Thursday, and have been musing about this a bit.

I noticed a woodley map on ebay today that had cobbler's city on it, and started looking at some old maps online. Cobbler's City is listed on maps right up to the 30s and you can get your bearings from Woodley Green/Church which is still there - Cobbler's City not where Headley Rd is currently, which is closer to the middle of "current" Woodley.

Cobbler's City seems to have been at the elbow junction of what is now Headley Road E and Tippings Lane. It's all quite confusing because the whole airfield area has been redeveloped.

See here:
http://www.old-maps.co.uk (search woodley green)

and I think this is how it works on a modern map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=51.457296,-0.893755&spn=0.018478,0.035534&t=h&z=15&msid=100978812150981893219.000456ef8bfe164b2c2b0

It doesn't really change much as I'm pretty sure there'll be no trace of anything older than 1950s now, but will drive that way on Thursday and let you know.
dillybert