So Who Is Our Letter U?

 An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

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So, I have to confess I have struggled to find an architect with a connection to Loughborough whose surname begins with U. The closest I can get is Raymond Unwin, who was the cousin of Barry Parker, and who worked with Parker on those garden cities with which we are familiar. Of course, it was Barry Parker who designed our very own garden city, in the form of Shelthorpe.

And then, of course, we have an actual building whose name begins with a letter U which was designed by a local architect of whom I have already written under letter H. Willie Thomas Hampton designed Unity House for use as a medical aid centre, offering assistance to people via Friendly Societies before the NHS came along. Dr Corcoran was senior medical officer at Unity House, and Gertrude Mary Hutton was one of the subsequent doctors. Unity House was opened on Wednesday 4 December 1889, and was reported as follows in the Leicester Daily Mercury:

"LOUGHBOROUGH MEDICAL AID ASSOCIATION.

OPENING OF NEW PREMISES.

On Wednesday the new premises in Fennell-street, which have been built for the above association, were formally opened to the members. For some time the original premises purchased and fitted up for the association in Fennell-street have been inconvenient and inadequate to the requirements of the institution, and the committee having acquired a site adjoining the surgeon's residence, commenced the erection of new and improved offices.

Mr W. T. Hampton, architect, Loughborough, was commissioned to prepare plans, and the tender of Mr. A. Faulks, of Loughborough, for the construction of the premises was accepted. The building stands upon a superficial area of 67 feet by 31 feet, the latter being the street frontage. It is two storeys high.

To the left the dispensing department is reached through a private door, and a little farther on are two waiting-rooms, one for patients desirous of consulting the doctors, and the other for those who require the dispenser. These rooms, divided by a fixed screen, are respectively 20ft. square and 29ft. by 16ft., and 12ft. high. Communication with the dispensing department is obtained by means of two small apertures.

Two consulting rooms, connected with each other, are provided, one for each doctor. As the members have their prescriptions dispensed they pass out into Fennell-street by a second door at the other side of the building. Space at the rear is utilised for outhouses, &c. A room, 50ft by 20ft., and 16ft. high, is intended by the committee, if occasion requires, to be used for the meetings of the several friendly societies. The erection of the premises is estimated to have cost about £1,000."

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I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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