THE NAUTICAL SCHOOL AT GREENWICH—QUESTION. (Hansard, 27 July 1863)

§ MR. STANSFELD

said, before answering the Question of his hon. Friend, he desired to take that opportunity of making a statement with reference to a letter of Admiral Codrington, which had not been included in the Malta papers recently laid on the table of the House. His noble Friend the Secretary to the Admiralty had been blamed for omitting to print that letter. What he wished to say was, that the blame of the omission, whatever it might be, ought to rest upon his shoulders, and not upon those of his noble Friend. He could assure the House that it was an entirely accidental omission, and the letter would be printed without further delay. He had to thank his hon. Friend the Member for Finsbury for giving him an opportunity of stating the conclusions at which the Board of Admiralty had arrived on a question which included some little difficulty, and which had been accompanied by some difference of opinion among the authorities of Greenwich Hospital. Most hon. Members would be aware of the nature of the buildings of the school at Greenwich Hospital; there was in the centre a square block occupied by the masters and pupil teachers. That block was flanked by open colonnades, from the ends of which the old east and west wings returned towards the main building of the Hospital. A few years ago it was thought that the amount of class-room accommodation in the old wings, and the amount of breathing space in the dormitories, were not enough for the requirements of modern medical science, and there was a proposal for an addition to the buildings. A new west 1467 wing was erected, and the idea was entertained of following it up by a corresponding new east wing at the other side of the ground. The cost of erecting the new west wing, inclusive of fencing and laying out the grounds, had been £22,000, and the plan for the new east wing, including the raising of the roofs of the old wing, would have led to an expenditure of £30,000; and that, too, without accommodating one additional boy beyond the eight hundred who were in the institution at present. When the plans came to be examined, it was found, that even with this large additional outlay, there were certain architectural defects which would still remain. The configuration of of the ground was such that the new east wing would not be absolutely parallel with the west wing, and would be of less lateral dimensions. The Board of Admiralty took into consideration the question of diverting a public roadway, with the view of making the proposed east wing correspond in dimensions and position with the new west wing; but an examination of the estimates showed that the extra cost involved in the diversion of this road, and in the purchase of buildings to be pulled down, would be £30,000. It thus appeared, that having already expended £20,000 upon improvements, the Board would have to lay out a further sum of £60,000 for a complete scheme, without accommodating one more boy in the school. This was the state of the question when he had the honour of joining the Board; and he must say, especially with reference to the fact that they were then intending and hoping to burden the funds of Greenwich Hospital with an increased annual outlay for purposes strictly within the object of the original charters, that it appeared to him necessary and advisable to reconsider the whole question, with a view to ascertain whether they might not be able to accomplish all essential objects at a much less cost. The difficulty was this:—It was supposed necessary, in accordance with modern, and, no doubt, correct notions, that each boy should have six hundred cubic feet of breathing space. He did not conceive that there was anything cabalistic in the number 600, and that a few cubic feet more or less would not be of much matter. It appeared to him that the question of cubic feet for Breathing space ought to be considered, not simply by itself, but in connection with some other elements; and that the ventilation of the rooms and the 1468 position of the building ought also to be taken into account. The designs and estimates were therefore sent back to Greenwich Hospital for reconsideration, and the result had been a plan which they were prepared to carry out experimentally, and not wholly at once, and which he believed Would accomplish all essential purposes, at a cost, not of £30,000, but of £3,000 or £4,000. They were of opinion that by taking away the ceilings of the old dormitories and providing an open passage for air between the roof and the ceiling they could procure an average breathing space of 570 cubic feet for each boy. There was also a large room, which now served as a chapel, and which they proposed to convert into a class-room; the boys being taken for Divine service to the Chapel of the Hospital. The expense of raising the ceiling of the east wing would in the first instance be £750. A register would be kept of the temperature of the wing where the alteration was made, and next year he would be able to report whether or not the experiment had been successful. If it failed, it would at any rate have cost less than £1,000; and if it answered the expectations entertained of it, it would be the means of a great saving to the funds of the Hospital.