History of moseley school lrc
.Two large buildings make up Moseley School. Building B which opened in 2013 and Building A in 1857.
Spring Hill College opened it's doors in 1857 as a religious training college for non-conformist ministers. The college was built by the wealthy Mansfield family who eventually left Moseley for Oxford. Using the building plans for Spring Hill College, the family had another, very similar, building erected and named Mansfield College. That college is now part of the University.
The room in which the LRC is housed, is in an extension to the old college that was added during the 1890's. William Ross bought Spring Hill College and created, on the site, Pine Dell Hydropathic Establishment and Moseley Botanical Gardens . He built a large glass roofed building on the eastern side of what had been the cloistered quadrangle of the college to house a swimming bath and bath houses. A well was sunk to the east of the East wing to ensure a sufficient supply of water for the baths and laundry.
Various treatments were offered at the Spa including Turkish and Russian Baths. Pine Dell also offered Droitwich Brine Baths at 3/- (three shillings or 15p) and it was claimed that brine from Droitwich Spa (some 20 miles away) was transported here via train and horse & cart! The size of the Pine Dell establishment, and the presence of a well in the grounds, may cast some doubt on this!
Pine Dell closed its doors in 1900 amid rumours that the Baths and Gardens hadn't made money. The Ross family continued to live in the building as a private residence for some years.
In 1914 Spring Hill was requisitioned as a barracks housing the 3rd Birmingham City Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
In 1923 Birmingham Education Authority acquired the building and converted it into a school and appointed
Mr E.H. Robinson as the Headmaster. Beneath the floor of the Library is the old swimming bath and if you walk down into the Non-Fiction area of the LRC, you will see the old Victorian tiles that lined the bath. The rest of the pool is still hidden beneath the floor.
If you are in the LRC, look above - you can see the ornately decorated ceiling. Ten separate decorative panels depict academic disciplines and signs of the zodiac. In each corner there are the zodiac signs of winter, spring, summer and autumn. The other six panels depict Visual Arts, Drama, Music, Athletics, Science & Mathematics and Literature & Knowledge.
The panels were designed by William Bloye who had been a student at Birmingham School of Art. He was the unofficial Civic Sculptor and many examples of his work can be seen in and around Birmingham including The Hall of Memory, the North west door of Birmingham Museum of Art Gallery, The Chest Clinic, Bear Inn in Sparkhill, Yardley Library & the Dental Hospital .
Spring Hill College opened it's doors in 1857 as a religious training college for non-conformist ministers. The college was built by the wealthy Mansfield family who eventually left Moseley for Oxford. Using the building plans for Spring Hill College, the family had another, very similar, building erected and named Mansfield College. That college is now part of the University.
The room in which the LRC is housed, is in an extension to the old college that was added during the 1890's. William Ross bought Spring Hill College and created, on the site, Pine Dell Hydropathic Establishment and Moseley Botanical Gardens . He built a large glass roofed building on the eastern side of what had been the cloistered quadrangle of the college to house a swimming bath and bath houses. A well was sunk to the east of the East wing to ensure a sufficient supply of water for the baths and laundry.
Various treatments were offered at the Spa including Turkish and Russian Baths. Pine Dell also offered Droitwich Brine Baths at 3/- (three shillings or 15p) and it was claimed that brine from Droitwich Spa (some 20 miles away) was transported here via train and horse & cart! The size of the Pine Dell establishment, and the presence of a well in the grounds, may cast some doubt on this!
Pine Dell closed its doors in 1900 amid rumours that the Baths and Gardens hadn't made money. The Ross family continued to live in the building as a private residence for some years.
In 1914 Spring Hill was requisitioned as a barracks housing the 3rd Birmingham City Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
In 1923 Birmingham Education Authority acquired the building and converted it into a school and appointed
Mr E.H. Robinson as the Headmaster. Beneath the floor of the Library is the old swimming bath and if you walk down into the Non-Fiction area of the LRC, you will see the old Victorian tiles that lined the bath. The rest of the pool is still hidden beneath the floor.
If you are in the LRC, look above - you can see the ornately decorated ceiling. Ten separate decorative panels depict academic disciplines and signs of the zodiac. In each corner there are the zodiac signs of winter, spring, summer and autumn. The other six panels depict Visual Arts, Drama, Music, Athletics, Science & Mathematics and Literature & Knowledge.
The panels were designed by William Bloye who had been a student at Birmingham School of Art. He was the unofficial Civic Sculptor and many examples of his work can be seen in and around Birmingham including The Hall of Memory, the North west door of Birmingham Museum of Art Gallery, The Chest Clinic, Bear Inn in Sparkhill, Yardley Library & the Dental Hospital .