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The HISTORY of REDDITCH New Town

Further Education In Redditch

The forerunners of institutions for technical education were the Mechanics’ Institutes and
the Literary and Scientific Institutes, nd in 1850 a Literary and Scientific Institute was
opened in Redditch. The Library and Reading Room were first housed in 4, Prospect Hill,
on the second floor above the shop of William Hemings, the printer and stationer. The
working man’s ticket was issued at four shillings a year, or one shilling and sixpence per
quarter and entitle admission to the Working Man’s Reading Room, use of the library and
admission to back seats at lectures.

There was no room in the shop for lectures, so the Managers of the National School, St.
Stephen’s, in Peakman Street gave permission for lectures and entertainment to take
place in the school buildings for an annual fee. Actual classes began in 1859 when a ‘night
school’ first opened in the National School.
The first examinations, in 1862, were in arithmetic and grammar, but by 1868 there were
also science classes. In 1872 the School of Art opened on Unicorn Hill and remained there
for fourteen Years. It was later felt that the Institute needed more space, so building
began in Church Road in 1885, when Lieut. Col. the Hon. George H. Windsor-Clive, MP
laid the foundation stone. The new Institute building cost £2,400 and this money was
gained from voluntary subscriptions and donations. In 1886 Earl Beauchamp opened the
new premises for the School of Art, the Institute and its library.
The new building
consisted of a library
reading room,
elementary, advanced
and modelling rooms.
There were also a
master’s room and a
caretaker’s apartments
and office. After the
first Technical School
opened in 1892, the
Institute lost the
income from technical
classes. (A new
Technical School was
built in Easemore
Road, and it was
opened in 1900.)
Financial difficulties increased in spite of efforts to make the Institute more attractive.
Such efforts included, in 1910, the ‘open access’ system for the issue of library books.
Films came to Redditch in 1913 and provided an alternative form of entertainment. The
Institute’s buildings and assets were passed over to the Redditch Urban District Council
in 1929 for the purpose of a public library.
The library building was extended and modernised in 1956. One of the things that delayed
completion was the realisation that the School of Art, which occupied the top floor, would
require a fire escape. There was a dispute as to who should pay for it. Eventually it was

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