Julian Cleaver
proper brummie kid
Could anyone please shed light on "Wroughton House" i have a descendant was told died there in 1921
I believe it was a workhouse, and have been told it may now be "Chamberlain Hotel", could anyone please add any further information
I just browsed into this thread; Rowton House is the former name, of the big Edwardian(1903?) institution in Alcester st Highgate, which was refurbished and reopened as the Chamberlain Hotel in the late 1980s 0r 1990s. It has been privately owned by a firm called Rowton Hotels LTd who also ran similar buildings in London, and maybe Liverpool. Their original purpose was to provide the cheapest possible accomodation for working men, travelling workmen, sailors etc and had the most basic semi open cubicles with a bench bed and a chair and little else; they ended up providing accommodation for men on Supplementary Benefit paid direct to the managers. By the mid 70s Rowton Hotels tried to improve the standards and began to exclude men with drink, incontinence and other problems and the place closed for a good while. The City Council, as a consequence had to open up a day centre at Summerhill Terrace and support the St Chads crypt which offered a night shelter for homeless, mostly men. I think Rowton tried to do it up and reopen it for students; eventually it came back as the Chamberlain Hotel, and changed again when it became part of another chain which I think includes the JURYs Inn. I don't have any connections and most of this is from memory. Julian C.