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The Westmeads Stone
As we dig deeper into the history of Whitstable, it's amazing
how many things start to tie together and how we are able to
establish links between hitherto unrelated articles. Further connections crop with regard to this
memorial stone at Westmeads Infants School in Cromwell
Road....
Ian Johnson drew it to our attention in the Visitors Book
and, in reply, Nigel Robinson forwarded the photo.
The picture establishes a connection between school
management and the Daniels family.... and, as we know,
the Daniels were major players in the town's maritime
industries of the past. At this point we can cross refer to
Nigel's article on the Daniels operations in our Thames Barge
section. This tells us that J R Daniels
(chairman of the local school attendance committee) was none
other than Capt. James Robert Daniels who was manager and one of
the founders of the Whitstable Shipping Company in
1869. The company operated a number of ships and also a boatyard along the
Lower Island Section of Island Wall. The company offices remain
as the well known Deck House building.
A. W. Daniels was Capt. Alfred William (one of the sons of
James Robert) and he took over as manager of the company upon
his father's death in 1904. Thus, that stone must have been laid
very shortly before James Robert's sad passing.
After the closure of the Whitstable Shipping Company in 1916,
Alfred William formed Daniels Bros (Whitstable) Ltd
with Harry Kingsford Daniels.... and, as we know, the new
company became the town's best known barge and ship operator. It
eventually opened a well remembered office at Starvation Point -
opposite the harbour's west gate.
It's fascinating to see how successful business people
contributed to ordinary life in the Whitstable community. Apart
from connections with the school, the stone confirms that
James Robert was also a local Justice of the Peace. Meanwhile, a
recent article in our Chat Column for w/c 5/5/08 shows a Prize Giving and
Concert program for the private Tankerton College School.
This lists Capt Alfred William as a supporter.
The stone may also show links to other well known local
families. Was the architect (A. A Kemp) related to the local
family of funeral directors and stonemasons? Did he have
connections with Mr Wallace Kemp who owned the former market
garden upon which Oxford Street Boys school was built during the
1870s? (See our history of Oxford Street
Boys school... and a fascinating extract from W J Cox's Guide to
Whitstable of 1876 kindly forwarded by Ian Johnson).
The name C Solly appears on the stone but I can't make out
the text below it. Was he the builder?
The main wording on the stone ties in with a number of
our existing schools articles. From our Oxford Street School
history we know that Oxford Street was the town's first
state school in 1877 and that it had separate boys, girls and
infants sections. We also know that the board opened another
infants school in Albert Street in 1879 and that this was
replaced by Westmeads Infants in 1904. (See our Albert Street School
article).
What I didn't know for certain until now was who commissioned
the building of Westmeads. The problem was that the Education
Act of 1902 abolished school boards and established the Kent
Education Committee at Maidstone. Thus Westmeads could have been
a final act of the old board... or the first major initiative of
the KEC. The stone confirms the latter to be true and it was
probably the committee's answer to overcrowding at the tiny
Albert Street establishment. The only thing that remains a
little odd is the reference to 'schools' rather than 'school'.
I would imagine that we will now build up a collection of
data on Westmeads and I can certainly add a few 'pupil stories'
from my time at the place in the 1950s!!!! However, I won't bore
anyone with that just yet... but I will include a little memento
that my old mum kept stashed away for many years...
It's my Westmeads school badge from 1954. As far as I recall,
it was the only item of uniform. I am sorry about the
crumbs on it.... but it has just been unearthed from a box! I'll
dust it off before it becomes part of an article.
The person to blame is this fellow...
... pictured in a 1950's Westmeads classroom - wearing one of
his dad's collars and his dad's ears.
Reaction to the Westmeads Stone..
Messages received in connection with the Westmeads Stone
article are as follows....
| Hi Dave,
I can confirm that C Solly was indeed the builder -
the full wording on the stone is as follows:
|
THESE
SCHOOLS WERE BUILT
FOR THE
KENT EDUCATION COMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN OF
LOCAL
ATTENDANCE COMMITTEE |
)
) |
J.R.DANIELS ESQ.
C.C. J.P. |
| CHAIRMAN OF
MANAGERS |
|
A.W.DANIELS ESQ |
A.A.KEMP
ARCHITECT |
|
C.SOLLY
BUILDER |
|
It was difficult to photograph as the school was closed
for the summer holidays and I had to take the picture
from an awkward angle.
Fascinating to know that the Daniels had an influence on
your early education Dave. What goes round, comes
round!!
Best wishes
Nigel Robinson
Our Response: Thanks, Nigel. However, I
doubt that the Daniels were the biggest influence on my
life at Westmeads. That honour fell to the formidable
Mrs Garrett - complete with diamente-set glasses and
hair so tightly permed that it wouldn't move in a North
Easterly. 'Was this the face that launched a
thousand ships?' (Christopher Marlowe)..... if so, it
was probably quite a few more than the Whitstable Shipping
Company managed. ;-)
If we get to introduce a Westmeads School section,
my clash with Mrs Garrett during the school nativity
play of '54 is going to be the first story on there!!!
Incidentally, I seem to recall a local builders
called 'Solly' and, so, the company may have been around
for quite a long time. |
Starvation Point
Of course the article above has a link to our last Chat
Column which featured this lovely 1966 sketch of Starvation
Point by
Vicky Quinney....
Starvation Point from the Harbour's
West Gate in 1966
Sketch by Vicky Quinney © Vickey Quinney
The Daniels Bros offices and the other buildings passed into history
when the demolition men moved in. The land was redeveloped as a
public garden and, for ex-pat Natives, this is the same view today....
Starvation Point from the Harbour's
West Gate in 2008
If you are wondering what it might have
looked like if the buildings had stood the test of time, here is an
approximation.....
The photo below shows the garden from the
side.....
The natural slope from the Harbour Gate down to
New Street explains why the buildings had an extra storey at the
rear.
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