Ancestry UK

Rose Cottage Home for Girls, Dickleburgh, near Scole, Norfolk

The Rose Cottage Home for Girls was established in 1878 at Burston Road, Dickleburgh, Scole, Norfolk. It was founded by the Rector of Dickleburgh, Henry Brandreth, and his wife Louisa. The home could accommodate 22 girls aged from 7 to 12 at their date of admission.

Rose Cottage Home for Girls, Dickleburgh, c.1900. © Peter Higginbotham

On July 27th, 1880, the home was certified by the Local Government Board to receive destitute children placed there by the Boards of Guardians who administered the poor relief and workhouse system. A payment of 3s. 6d. or 3s. 9d. per week was made for each girl placed at the home. As the home became known, this sum was often supplemented by 1s. 6d or 1s. 3d. a week, given by some well wisher who gained a personal interest in a particular child. Thus the true cost of maintaining a child at the home, estimated at 5s. a week, was met.

Rose Cottage Home for Girls, Dickleburgh, c.1900. © Peter Higginbotham

Rose Cottage Home for Girls, Dickleburgh, early 1900s.

It was expected that girls at the home would eventually enter domestic service. As well as attending the local school, they were given training in skills such as needlework, housework and laundry work. They also contributed to the cleaning of the home and mended their own clothes.

Former Rose Cottage Home for Girls, Dickleburgh, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham

Applications for admission to the home became so numerous that in 1883, the Brandreths opened a second girls' home in the village at Lee Cottage on Rectory Road. In July 1888, the running of both Rose Cottage and Lee Cottage was taken over by the Waifs and Strays Society.

The home closed in around 1912. The property is now a private residence.

Records

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Bibliography