The material below is taken from the web page Unless otherwise indicated, content is copyright Peter Higginbotham and may not be re-published without permission.
Ancestry UK

Children's Garden Village, Cheadle, Cheshire

In 1920, the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges established its Children's Garden Village on the 22-acre Belmont estate at Cheadle, Cheshire.

The estate's original residence, Belmont House, became a home for girls.

Belmont House, Cheadle, c.1950. © Peter Higginbotham

Belmont House, Cheadle, 2014. © Peter Higginbotham

Belmont Estate grounds, Cheadle, c.1950. © Peter Higginbotham

Belmont Estate grounds, Cheadle, c.1950. © Peter Higginbotham

In 1923, a new pair of houses named Crossley-Gaddum was erected in 1923, followed by another pair named Hayes-Shaw in 1925.

Crossley-Gaddum and Hayes-Shaw houses, Cheadle, c.1950. © Peter Higginbotham

Belmont Estate kitchen garden, Cheadle, c.1950. © Peter Higginbotham

Communal facilities at the site included the William Stevenson recreation hall. A medical facility, named the Milne-Perrins Sanatorium, was funded by the Milne family, the former owners of the Belmont estate.

Milne-Perrins Sanatorium, Cheadle, c.1950. © Peter Higginbotham

The layout of the Belmont site is shown on the 1934 map below.

Children's Garden Village site, Cheadle, c.1934.

By 1930, the estate provided accommodate for up to 120 children, aged from 2 to 12 years.

In 1958, the Refuges' Bethesda Home moved out from Manchester to make use of the growing amount of vacant space at the Belmont site. Belmont House was disposed of in 1983 owing to the financial difficulties of the charity, now known as the Together Trust. The Trust retained the remainder of the site which now houses its headquarters offices. The former Crossley-Gaddum and Hayes-Shaw houses are now occupied by the Trust's Inscape House School — a non-maintained day special school for children and young people aged 4 to 19 years with autism spectrum conditions and related social communication difficulties.

Records

Note: many repositories impose a closure period of up to 100 years for records identifying individuals. Before travelling a long distance, always check that the records you want to consult will be available.

  • Former residents of the Together Trust — formerly known as the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes (1870-1959) then the Boys' and Girls' Welfare Society (1960-2005) — may access their records, as can relatives of deceased former residents. For details on how to do this, visit the charity's Access to Information web page.

Bibliography

Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.