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Baskerville residential school/ hospital Yewcroft School

W

webecca

Guest
Baskerville House Harborne had a residential School for physically defective children boys and girls who suffered from rheumatic conditions - It was operating in the 1940's 50's does anyone have any more information or pics about this please?
 
I have just joined and found your post, I was at that school 1962/63 people there had all sorts of illness's heart problems, asthma problems most of us kids were from the back to back houses of brum.
 
Baskerville school, me and my younger brother, David were pupils at this school in the late 1950s early 60s, we really loved it, I remember the cornfield ,lovely trees and flowers, things we had never seen before in nechells. I also remember the teachers and all the staff being very kind to us.
 
John
was you and your brother their in 1962? I was their for just over a year Feb 62 till about April of 63.
 
I was there in 1962 Feb, maybe we were there at the same time. do you remember Nurse Bell, Southall. Nurse Bell was lovely, Miss Jenkins the head, Miss Briar and Miss Faulkener, I dont remember any of the male teachers maybe you do.
 
I remember the head, Miss Jenkins, and also nurse Bell. l'm afraid that l can't remember any of the male teachers, perhaps there wasn't any.
 
Does anyone know who lived in Baskerville House, Court Oak Rd in Harborne after it was vandalised in 1791 until about 1890, or if it was left empty? I know that John Ryland bought it after John Baskerville's wife died around 1788 and shortly afterwards it was ruined in the b'ham priestley riots, then Ryland's son may have left it in that damaged state when he allowed Gibson to construct a canal through the land there. Frederick Ryland's name starts appearing as residing at baskerville house in 1890 in the kelly's directories - I assume he was a descendent of John Ryland? I can't find any records of what actually happened to the house between 1791-1890 and whether F.Ryland refurbished it and who he is a direct descendent of. Any information would be very much appreciated! Thanks. Tess.
 
Mike, any idea what the name of the road leading off the center - top of your map is? just so I can get an idea of the location. Thought I knew this area of old times well but this is the first I have heard of a Baskerville House.
 
Thanks mikejee for all those leads - that's really helpful - much appreciated! Tess
 
Dave
The road on the right going up of court oak is wood Lane, and the one in the centre going up of coart oak is Grosvenor road
mike
 
hi i lived there for 6 years 1968 , i rember the sunken garden and the woods and lots of daffs . it was yewcroft school when i was there , a man from the blind school over the road came over to tune the piano . i went back to see it but the scumbags had burnt it down .i have 3 photos of the old school . my mom was at baskerville. there was a new baskervill down from the old one . PM me if you wont the pics
 
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Looks like two buildings are being researched as one here. John Baskerville lived in Easy Hill, between about 1755 and 1775. It is the location of the current Baskerville House in Centenary Square, which was built in c 1930. As you say, the house was ruined in riots, the last picture I know of it shows it as a factory belching smoke, c.1820. The Frederick Ryland house in Harborne (which I don't know) looks like it may be named in honour of Baskerville, but is a wholly separate building. Do you have a picture of it?

Tess said:
Does anyone know who lived in Baskerville House, Court Oak Rd in Harborne after it was vandalised in 1791 until about 1890, or if it was left empty? I know that John Ryland bought it after John Baskerville's wife died around 1788 and shortly afterwards it was ruined in the b'ham priestley riots, then Ryland's son may have left it in that damaged state when he allowed Gibson to construct a canal through the land there. Frederick Ryland's name starts appearing as residing at baskerville house in 1890 in the kelly's directories - I assume he was a descendent of John Ryland? I can't find any records of what actually happened to the house between 1791-1890 and whether F.Ryland refurbished it and who he is a direct descendent of. Any information would be very much appreciated! Thanks. Tess.
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In 1920 there is a Clara Winifred Ryland at Court Oak Rd, Baskerville House
and also in 1920 a Caroline James is listed for land at Court Oak rd allotments and under 'abode,other information' is listed for Baskerville House, Harbourne, Court Oak Rd.

Suzanne

And these 2 articles which seem to link Ryland's to both Baskerville Houses.
 
I was a resident at this school from 1960 to 1964 (about). I have lots of happy memories of this school. The headmistress throughout this time was Miss Jenkins,- I have a photo somewhere which I will dig out and add). She lived in the school if I remember correctly, along with her aged mother, who shared her apartment in the main part of the building on the first floor. I can remember visiting the apartment as part of my Housekeeping badge work for the Cub group which was active at the school. I have a mental picture of a clavicord or spinet - a very early type of piano in her room.
Other staff I remember well were the two nurses already mentioned in this thread - Nurse Bell, who looked after the boys, and Nurse Southall, who looked after the girls. They were both resident I believe - and Nurse Bell was the favourite!
Teachers I remember were (and I may be a bit vague with the names!) Mrs Burfitt, who I remember as a plump, motherly figure - she taught us to darn socks and knit, amongst other things, as well as reading Brer Rabbit stories. She was not resident.
Mrs Hardy (I think) taught the older girls and boys, there was a large fish tank in her classroom which we used to clean out periodically.
When I very first started there, there were classes held in a separate building - The Hollies - within the grounds of Baskerville, with a front entrance from Court Oak Road, and a lovely garden at the back, between the building and Baskerville. The teacher there I think was a Mrs Adams, whose husband owned a Bedford Dormobile, and they used to take groups of us children to the Lickey Hills or Clent Hills occasionally in it.
There was another teacher (female) whose name I can't recall - she lived in and had a room by the boys dormitories (there were two of them) - she had a long haired collie dog, and used to read bedtime stories to us.
I could go on and on with memories - sock fights in the dormitories, midnight wanders round the grounds, the food, fancy dress parties, etc.
If anyone is interested or has more details I am happy to follow this up.
 
Hi MIKEJEE, the maps you display are very interesting - this links into another thread that I have been looking at which has this Baskerville as a boarding school for asthmatics, etc which I attended in the early 60's and am very interested in the building and its origins - I note it is not there anymore, I rode past a short while ago and was devastated to see that it had gone. Any ideas what happened to it, and where could I get further information, plans etc?
 
I've no idea what happened to it, but likely there is someone on the dorum who does.
mike
 
mikejee said:
Tess. Attached are two maps of about 1889 and 1903 of the same part of Court Oak road. They show that in the earliest map Baskerville house was called “Sunnyside”. Also attached are Kellys lists for the road for 1890 and 1888, also showing the two names and that in 1888 it was occupied by Mrs Green.From 1868 to 1884 it was occuoied by John Matthias Green, presumably husband, who was a solicitor . In 1862 his home address is listed as The Shrubbery, Harborne (and work at 72 waterloo St). It is possible that the shrubbery is another name for the same , or a different house. Unless I’ve missed it, there doesn’t seem to be a Shrubbery listed as a residence in the 1868 directory (though that proves nothing).
Mike
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The Shrubbery Harborne I believe is a house on the corner of Vivian Road and Harborne Park Road (next to St Marys RC Church). This house was owned and used by that church in the 60's & 70's as a sort of Parish centre, and was subsequently sold off by the Passionist Fathers before they left (they were replaced by the Augustinian Friars). This house has now been demolished and Servite Homes have now built sheltered housing for the elderly.
 
Hi. Have just joined as I am currently Assistant Headteacher at Baskerville School. We are now a school for youngsters aged 11-19yrs with Autism and as part of the city's Building Schools for the Future programme we are due to have a major refurbishment/rebuild. As part of the process our planners have had to dig out old plans and maps that have ignited my interest in the school's past. All of your messages are really interesting for me. From my very brief research the original Baskerville House was on the site in the 1800s and became a school for 'physically defective children' in the 1940/50s. Sometime in the 70s the school was moved to the bottom of the old house's grounds where it now still stands. I think that half of the old school still remains as Yewcroft (presumably when the house was burned down?) - now a resource centre for adults with mental health difficulties. I would be very grateful for any more information (including any photos or maps) and will be happy, after the Christmas break, to try and post copies of any information our planners unearth.
 
Hi. Have just joined as I am currently Assistant Headteacher at Baskerville School. We are now a residential school for youngsters aged 11-19yrs with Autism and as part of the city's Building Schools for the Future programme we are due to have a major refurbishment/rebuild. As part of the process our planners have had to dig out old plans and maps that have ignited my interest in the school's past. All of your messages are really interesting for me. From my very brief research the original Baskerville House was on the site from the 1800s (though possibly known as Sunnyside until 1901) and became a school for 'physically defective children' in the 1940/50s. Sometime in the 70s the school was moved to the bottom of the old house's grounds where it now still stands. I believe that half of the old school still remains as Yewcroft (presumably when the house was burned down?) - now a resource centre for adults with mental health difficulties. The remains of the old Sunnyside / Baskerville House site is, unfortunately, now a new housing estate. Some of this information is also verified in another thread on this site about Baskerville School. I would be very grateful for any more information (including any photos or maps) and will be happy, after the Christmas break, to try and post copies of any information our planners unearth.​
 
This is Baskerville House (School) it is the back of the old house looking out onto the grounds.
Replacement photo

Baskerville%20Residential%20open%20air%20school.jpg
 
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Hi Chris.
Thanks for the photo - it's absolutely stunning! Although the ground on which the main house was built no longer belongs to us (it was sold off by the local authority and is now a small housing estate!) the grounds and some parts of the ornamental gardens do. We still have the small wooded area in the front left of the photo and the square hedges just behind. I think there's also the remnants of some natural stone walls or rockeries. The newer buildings / extensions to the left of the old house are still there and are now used by Social Care as a support centre for people with mental health difficulties (Yewcroft).
Again, thanks for the photo - if you do find any more I'd love to see them.

Regards,
Chris.
 
The Education Dept turned that beautiful house into Yewcroft school for malajusted children who I believe were later responsible for burning it down.
The later buildings on the grounds became a school for Autistic children which is still there and doing a wonderful job.
For any past or present staff of the Autistic school, reading this post, you are the best, the very best.
 
Hi: Dave Seymore
you was there at the same time as me, I was 62/63 about 14 months. I remember a couple of other teachers, one was very strict called Miss Briar and she had her bedroom next to the girls intermediatory dormitory where I was for a short while with Miss Jenkins niece called Elizabeth, I moved into the junior seniors. which was next door. the other teacher was called Miss Faulkener. who would keep calling me trina when my name there was tina. she was on dining duty a lot, I also remember Miss Jenkins apartments as I used to go there to take her tea. I could go on and on with the memories. but I do remember a David there who was there for asphma,
 
Attached is a photo of Baskerville School taken in the early sixties when I was a pupil there (that's me obscuring part of the building) The newer part of the building on the right in the photo, and also shown more clearly in the ariel photo in this thread was the Infirmary - where fortunately I only stayed very briefly during my three years at the School. The rooms shown in this view on the first floor were the girl's dormitories, I believe, where we were allowed to watch the bonfire and firework display on Bonfire Night each year

Photo unfortunately lost
 
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Hi Tina (should I call you Tina?) Not sure if I remember Miss Briar I was ten years old when I left the school, how old were you then? I do remember one of the older girls there - her name was Christine Alcott ( I think). I bumped into her about ten years after I left, she was a friend of my older brother's first wife. I will sort out some more photos that I have of the place, and scan them in and post them soon.
 
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Hi there,

I was a pupil at yewcroft school from 1982 - 1985 my name is Karen Harbourne if u was there same time as me would love 2 hear from u.
 
I heard a kid burnt down the school such a shame i had a really good time there
 
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Hello, I was a former student at the old Baskerville house in 1961 for 3 years .I was very upset when it was burnt down . Whilst there ,there was afilm made about the school and its life,I have tried to find out what happened to this but have not had any luck ,I dont know who made it or why but it was done to show what happened in the school.
I have not got any photographs of the school only the one that you have already got.
You have had communication from David Seymour who was at the school when I was there .
I was in the isolation ward for one month when I first started at the school as I had rheumatic fever ,and it was aconcern that I would get a sore throat when I first started.
There were only three school classes there ,one for 5-7 years ,one for 8-11 and the last one for any child over that .
I would dearly lve any more information or storiesabout the school
thank you and regards Christine
 
Hi Dave, I was a resident at the school in about 1958 til 1960. I too have wonderful memories of what I can only describe as the best school ever. The headmistress was also Miss Jenkins & I too remember Nurse Southall. Do you happen to remember a teacher who came from Wales? I cant remember her name. I remember having my tonsils out at Moseley Hall Hospital & having to go into isolation when I returned to the school. I also remember a maze in the grounds made of hedges, & there were beautiful rose gardens.
 
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