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This programme is an account of housing provision for the working-class in London in the period 1840-1895. It concentrates on the organisation and financing of four of the chief housing societies a...nd illustrates examples of their work. These include the Model Houses for Families built by Lord Shaftesbury's society in 1850 in Streatham Street and the same society's work for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The work of the Metropolitan Association is exemplified by the complex at Spicer Street which included a lodging house and tenements. Probably the most important housing organisation in the 1860s was the Peabody Trust and the estate at Islington illustrates its methodical approach. The Bethnal Green Estate, not completed until 1890, shows the work of the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, founded by Sidney Waterlow. The extent of the problem of London housing at the time can be seen in the evidence of the periodical 'The Builder' and the programme provides illustrations and written comment from that paper for conditions in the 1850's. The programme ends with a look at the first major slum clearance scheme in Whitechapel which, in effect but not intentionally, provided the first public subsidy for working class houses. The programme is presented by John Nelson Tarn, Professor of Architecture at Liverpool University.
This programme is an account of housing provision for the working-class in London in the period 1840-1895. It concentrates on the organisation and financing of four of the chief housing societies a...nd illustrates examples of their work. These include the Model Houses for Families built by Lord Shaftesbury's society in 1850 in Streatham Street and the same society's work for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The work of the Metropolitan Association is exemplified by the complex at Spicer Street which included a lodging house and tenements. Probably the most important housing organisation in the 1860s was the Peabody Trust and the estate at Islington illustrates its methodical approach. The Bethnal Green Estate, not completed until 1890, shows the work of the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, founded by Sidney Waterlow. The extent of the problem of London housing at the time can be seen in the evidence of the periodical 'The Builder' and the programme provides illustrations and written comment from that paper for conditions in the 1850's. The programme ends with a look at the first major slum clearance scheme in Whitechapel which, in effect but not intentionally, provided the first public subsidy for working class houses. The programme is presented by John Nelson Tarn, Professor of Architecture at Liverpool University.
| Module code and title: | A401, Great Britain 1750-1950: sources and historiography |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A401; 07 |
| First transmission date: | 22-05-1974 |
| Published: | 1974 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:27 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Richard Callanan |
| Contributors: | Peter Jeffrey; J. N.(John Nelson) Tarn |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Howard buildings; London; Working class |
| Footage description: | Professor Tarn of Liverpool University introduces a talk on 19th century attempts at solving the problems of working class housing in London beginning with Chadwick's report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population in 1842. He mentions Shaftesbury's "Society for improving the condition of the labouring classes" and its architect Henry Roberts, whose Model Houses for Families (1850) in Streatham Street, W.1 are illustrated by sketches, plans and photographs and fully described. Next he discusses Prince Albert's Model Cottages, 1851, in Kennington Park, S.E 11 followed by the Metropolitan Association for Improving the dwellings of the industrial classes development of 1850, Howard Buildings in Spicer Street (now Deal Street), E1. He summarises the contribution of these two societies. Next section consists of extracts read by Peter Jeffrey from articles by Charles Godwin in 'The Builder' of 1853 describing over crowding and insanitary conditions at Charlottes Building, Grays Inn Lane, and at a recent development at Agar town just north of Kings Cross station. Another extract condemns slap dash building methods at Lower Road, Islington. Sketches accompanying the articles are shown. Tarn next discusses the work of the Peabody Trust, illustrating the Peabody Estate of 1866 at Greenman Street, N.I., and then the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company's Bethnal Green Estate, 1868-1890, showing Cornfield Street, Ainsley Street and Wilmot Street, W.2. Finally he deals with advances in local and national legislation during the period, mentioning particularly the Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Improvement Act of 1875. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71358 |
| Production number: | 00525_3142 |
| Videofinder number: | 3344 |
| Available to public: | no |
