IN THE BEGINNING - THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION.

IN THE BEGINNING - THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION.

Wyre Farm Camp School was one of over 30 almost identical camp schools around the country formed by The National Camps Corporation. Some were featured on Pathe News. Here's some background.

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Bewerley Park Camp School at Pateley Bridge

According to Sir Clifford Morris FRPS " The National Camps Corporation was formed in the late 1930s, with assistance from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), and was given 1.2 million pounds; half grant, half loan; by the government to build fifty camps in remote areas initially to enable children from towns and cities to be able to experience something the countryside and animal life. It appears that the money ran out after thirty one had been built. The House of Commons passed ‘The Camps Act’ which was given the Royal Assent in May 1939. The cessation of the construction of new camps was mainly due to the increased costs as a result of war, and the realisation that such camps were not a completely adequate solution to the problem of evacuation. Each camp was designed to accommodate approximately 350 children. The average cost of each camp was £25,000. One of the jobs of the Corporation was to make people ‘camp minded’.

The government appointed chairman was Lord Wyndham Portal of Laverstoke who had risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel during the First World War and was awarded the Distinguish Service Order (DSO) and was a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO). After the first war he was a Director of the Great Western Railway before entering politics. After the Second World War he was to become Chairman of the GWR up until nationalization. Lord Portal and members of his board visited 155 possible sites for camps which were to be built as residential schools, each for around 400 children."

The camps would have other uses too - Holiday camps for school children. - Evacuation camps for the children: a function for which they ultimately, and very importantly, served. One report suggests an early use of the Wyre Farm site was for itinerant agricultural workers.

Some of the sites however got snatched up by the Air Force authorities who often managed to get in first, forcing the Corporation to have to search again!

"Although originally designed as camps for schools or for holidaymakers, their role was dramatically redefined with the onset of war in 1939 when they were used as evacuation centres for some of the thousands of children who were moved out of urban areas. In the post-war era the camps became sites for an education experiment in living and learning."

The use of the schools as evacuation camps had the obvious consequence of reducing the number of evacuees who could be housed at such camps to under 9000 nationally. Nevertheless, in November 1940 the Minister of Health Malcolm MacDonald described the camps as "one of the most significant pieces of work that Parliament has lent its hand to in recent times".

The camps also offered children from poorer, urban backgrounds a unique living experience in rural environments. Consequently, the health benefits of these environments were strongly promoted.

The huts at the camps were all very similar and were designed for the purpose by Thomas Smith Tait, (1882 – 1954). Tait was an architect with the company Burnet, Tait and Lorne and there is a Blue Plaque commemorating his work on his former home at Gates House, Wyldes Close, London, NW11. The huts were constructed of Canadian Cedar wood and those that have survived have done so extremely well over the last eighty years. One of the last camps to be built in 1939 at Sayers Croft in Surrey cost £25,968 to construct on fifteen acres of land.

Interestingly, for us, Tait was involved with Basil Spence (who designed the new Cathedral in Coventry) -

" Tait is remembered for his contributions to the design and master planning for the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938, held in Bellahouston Park. Tait was appointed as head of a team of nine architects, which included Basil Spence and Jack Coia. Tait's vision was of a modernist, Utopian future, and the Empire Exhibition was the largest collection of modern architecture built in United Kingdom in the first half of the 20th century. Dominating the whole exhibition was "The Tower of Empire", designed by Tait himself. The 300-feet-high tower was erected on the summit of the hill in the centre of the park and had three observation balconies, each capable of carrying 200 people."

However Tait's distinguished career seemed to come to an end with the outbreak of the 2nd World War " The outbreak of the Second World War cut Tait’s career prematurely short. St Andrew's House, Edinburgh, (built for the former Scottish Office and from 1999 the headquarters of the Scottish Government) was completed shortly after the outbreak of war in 1939, leaving much of the proposed interior decoration incomplete. From 1940 to 1942 he worked as Director of Standardisation at the Ministry of Works. He retired from the partnership in 1952, and the practice was taken on by his eldest son, Gordon. Thomas Tait "

Linton Residential Camp school

Why Canadian Cedarwood?

"Cedar’s unique properties and characteristics have been recognized and appreciated throughout history. The Western Red Cedar has great cultural, economic, and spiritual significance to the Native American peoples of the Pacific Northwest. They used every part of the tree in every aspect of their life. The continuing popularity of cedar is due to its striking natural beauty, durability in an exterior environment and its extremely low maintenance, and affordable price."

Where does it grow?

Western Red Cedar is found in coastal forests along the upper Pacific coast of North America, from southern Alaska to northern California. The principal supplying region is the coastal forest area of British Columbia (where the Western Red Cedar is the official tree). Cedar naturally grows in mixed softwood forests intermingled with other species such as Douglas Fir, Pacific Coast Hemlock, and Sitka Spruce. Western Red Cedar forests are largely managed forests. In a managed forest environment, natural regeneration, controlled harvests, and a planned reforestation program try to ensure a perpetual harvest with good forest conservancy practices.

Western Red Cedar grows in low to mid elevations, along the coast and in a wet belt of the interior. It prefers cool, moist locations, and a slightly acidic soil. A mature tree can attain a height of 180 feet with a trunk diameter of 8 feet. The Western Red Cedar is slow-growing and long-lived. A specimen can live upwards of 1000 years, and has one of the longest lifespans of any North American softwood. Cedar has a low density of 22 lbs. per cubic foot, with a low specific gravity of 0.33. This makes it one of the lightest softwoods available, but also soft, and prone to indentation. The low density also gives cedar it’s excellent thermal insulation properties.

The heartwood of Western Red Cedar contains extractives that are toxic to the decay-causing fungi. Two principle agents responsible for this decay resistance are Thujaplicans (taken from the scientific name for Western Red Cedar) and water soluble phenolics. The tree’s ability to produce these agents increases with age, making the outer layers of the heartwood the most resistant. (In general, sapwood, in all species, has a low resistance to decay) These naturally occurring substances repel moths, insects, termites, carpenter ants and bees, and ambrosia beetles — the bugs just don’t like cedar and prefer to eat elsewhere."

No doubt this is why the old school buildings have outlasted the later 60's buildings and why the style has been adapted for the Pioneer Centre.

In the decades following the war, most of these camps were sold to county councils and education authorities for use as schools. At Wyrefarm, it was Headmaster RT Morris whose drive led to Wyrefarm Camp School being bought by Coventry LEA as a Secondary Modern Boarding School and establishing a GCE system. The school became known as The City of Coventry Boarding School in 1957.

Sayers Croft Camp School in Surrey

We can now see that this shared history of Wyre Farm Camp School forms part of a much wider social history.

" The construction of four camps has been started, one in Hampshire, one in Buckinghamshire, and two in Oxfordshire. It is hoped that seven more will be begun in the course of the next fortnight. The contacts for the other camps will be let as the plans for the layout of the camps are approved.

Berks: Cockpole Green, Hurley. Bucks: Horseleys Green, Stokenchurch, Moor End. Cheshire: Marton (Newchurch), Somerford. Denbigh: Colomendy Hall (two sites). Derby: Woolley Bridge. Hants: Overton. Herts: Nettleden. Lancs: Whalley. Northumberland: Bellingham, Hexham. Oxford: Henley, Kennylands, Peppard. Staffs: Blithbury, Rugeley. Surrey: Cranleigh, Ewhurst, Merstham, Tilford. Sussex: Hartfield, Itchingfield. Worcs: Bewdley. York (East Riding); Etton . York (West. Riding. ); Grassington, Linton, Pateley Bridge."

"The National Camps Corporation, Limited, which has been recognised as the operative company for England and Wales under the Camps Act, 1939, has considered 155 sites for camps, all of which have been personally inspected by either the 'chairman or the managing director, and the majority also by departmental officers. Between 30 and 40 camps are likely to be constructed in England and Wales. They are to be used as school camps in peace time and as evacuation camps in time of war The Camps Corporation are required, by the terms of their agreement, so far as possible to give preference in letting the camps to education authorities desiring to use them as school camps. Thirty sites have so far been found suitable. Two have been given to the corporation, and the others have either been purchased, or are the subject of negotiations for purchase. The camps are being built of standardised units which have been designed by Mr. Tait, of Messrs. Sir John Burnet Tait and Lone, consulting architects to the corporation. All the buildings are of Canadian cedar with cedar shingle roofs. Each camp will be laid out on the site by an architect chosen from a panel drawn up in conjunction with the Royal Institute of British Architects. The contracts for making the woodwork for 30 camps were let on 22nd May to four different firms. The delivery of these units has already begun, and, proceeding at the rate of two or three a week, will be spread over some four months. The construction of four camps has been started, one in Hampshire, one in Buckinghamshire, and two in Oxfordshire. It is hoped that seven more will be begun in the course of the next fortnight. The contracts for the other camps will be let as the plans for the layout of the camps are approved. In all cases the local authorities are being consulted, in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Camps Act. It is anticipated that the first camp will be completed by the end of August, and I am satisfied that all possible expedition is being used."

Debated on Parliament on Thursday 20 July 1944

"Under the Articles of Association the National Camps Corporation, which was set up under the Camps Act, 1939, is managed by a Council, the membership of which is subject to my approval. The present members are:

Lord Portal, D.S.O., M.V.O. (Chairman).

Patrick Abercrombie, Esq., F.R.I.B. A.

Sir Samuel Gurney-Dixon, J.P.

George Hicks, Esq., M.P.

Sir Edward Howarth, K.B.E., C.B.

Dame Florence Simpson, D.B.E.

Percy Thomas, Esq., O.B.E., P.P.R.I.B.A.The members are unpaid apart from Sir Edward Howarth, who receives a salary of £2,200 per annum as managing director. The cost of the central organisation of the Corporation was approximately £7,700 for the year ended 31st March, 1943, which represents just over 3½d. in the £ on the total sum dealt with in the period. Thirty-one camps have been erected; one of these is occupied by an evacuated orphanage, the others, with one exception, are occupied by local education authorities of vulnerable areas for occupation by school children, together with the necessary teachers and staff; under the Act the Corporation is a company not trading for profit. The Act requires that an annual report of the Corporation shall be submitted to me and that copies of the report shall be laid before Parliament. The last report (for the year ended 31st March, 1943) was presented to this House on 10th November, 1943."

Merchant's Hill Camp Hindhead, Surrey 1944

Elmbridge Camp School, Cranleigh Surrey

Evacuees at Kennylands Camp School, near Sonning

Brownrigg Camp School,
Bellingham, Northumberland,