Page 7 - Literaty Institute

The Redditch Literary and Scientific Redditch Heritage

The Redditch Literary and Scientific Institute

The forerunners of institutions for technical education were the Mechanics’ Institutes and the
Literary and Scientific Institutes, and 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.

Inside the old Reading Room.

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