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SHOREDITCH INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
ALTERNATIVE NAMES: HACKNEY BRANCH HOME, ST FAITHS HOSPITAL, HACKNEY BRANCH INSTITUTION
Shoreditch Industrial School was built by the Shoreditch Trustees of the Poor in 1854. It comprised a south-facing main building, three stories high at the front with a dining-hall and kitchens in a wing at the centre rear, and long, narrow wings to each side. The front building was symmetrical with 21 bays broken by three advanced gable sections with white brick quoins. It had decorative round arched windows and a central entrance porch decorated by banded white bricks.
The site was enlarged in 1869 and in 1879 when three detached blocks were built to the east. The school was taken over by Hackney Board of Guardians in 1885 and converted to a branch workhouse from 1908. Further additions were made including a swimming pool designed by W. A. Finch. From 1917 it was taken over by the Metropolitan Asylums Board and used to accommodate 300 female epileptics. It was later transferred to the London County Council in 1930, when it became St Faith's Hospital, and to the National Health Service in 1948. The school buildings now no longer exist and the site has been redeveloped to provide office accommodation.
In 1894, the school was the subject of a scandal when dreadful cases of cruelty came to light. One of the female officials, Nurse Gillespie, was sent to prison as a result.