Building Name

Verdin Technical Schools London Road Northwich

Date
1897
Street
London Road
District/Town
Northwich
County/Country
Cheshire, England
Architect
Work
New Build
Listed
Grade II
Contractor
William Molenyeux of Northwich

The creation of the Verdin Technical schools was an unexpected result of problems associated with the salt industry.  While salt had given Northwich its prosperity, brine extraction had caused considerable subsidence in the area. To compensate those whose properties had been damaged in this way, Joseph Verdin set up a trust fund of £26,388 in 1891. Verdin had hopes that other manufacturers would join his scheme, but none did. Instead, in the same year, Sir John Brunner MP introduced a Bill in Parliament to charge all salt-using industries for the costs of extraction. The funds raised in this way were to provide any necessary compensation for brine subsidence, making Verdin’s scheme redundant. To help the passage of the Bill through Parliament, Verdin arranged that his fund should be used in part to carry out the Technical Education Act. In 1895 work began on the Verdin School at Winsford. Costing  £9,000, this was the first building to be erected from the fund.

The Northwich Schools followed with bigger with better facilities. A site was carefully selected away from the areas affected by subsidence and away from disturbance by heavy traffic. The frontage of Ruabon brick. Decorative plaques representing Science and the Arts. Main stair - stained glass windows with a portrait of the Queen surrounded by the coats of arms of her dominions. Two smaller windows had portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wales. These were made by printing photographs on frosted glass and colouring them by hand. The gymnasium had a huge window filled with pictures of athletes in various competitions. On the secondary stair, the Verdins appear among a collection of glass portraits of the great men of the Victorian era. The Jacobean style stairs splendidly carved with the Verdin arms on the newel posts

The Schools were officially opened on 24 July 1897 by the Duke and Duchess of Westminster. They arrived at Greenbank Station and were taken for a sumptuous lunch at Sir William Verdin’s home, “The Brockhurst”, at Leftwich.  In the afternoon a grand procession made its way through the town to the Schools for the official opening. The building was the School of Art, part of the Mid Cheshire College in the 1990s.

Reference           Winsford Chronicle 28 August 1996 Page 17