Ancestry UK

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, West Riding of Yorkshire

The St Agnes' Home for Girls was opened by the Waifs and Strays Society in 1890 at Dunbottle House, 444 Huddersfield Road, Mirfield. It replaced the Society's Meanwood Home for Girls and seems to have been used as an overflow home for the Beckett Home for Girls. The official opening and dedication of the new home was carried out by the Bishop of Wakefield on January 17th, 1890. St Agnes' could accommodate 12 girls aged from 6 to 12.

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, c.1903. © Peter Higginbotham

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, c.1893. © Peter Higginbotham

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, c.1893. © Peter Higginbotham

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, c.1903. © Peter Higginbotham

A new wing was added to the building in 1910 which required the girls to stay temporarily in the presbytery at St Anne's Convalescent Home in Bridlington. The extended building could then accommodate 18 girls.

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, c.1911. © Peter Higginbotham

In 1927, the home was adapted for use as a home for babies aged from 1½ to 5 years.

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, c.1931. © Peter Higginbotham

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, c.1931. © Peter Higginbotham

Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the residents were transferred to the new Fieldhead Nursery at Battyeford. From 1941 to 1945, Dunbottle House was used as a war nursery.

St Agnes' Home for Girls, Mirfield, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham

The property is now occupied by a care home for the elderly.

Records

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Bibliography