The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building has lived multiple lives since its birth in 1859, from its initial identity as an asylum for girls, to being a base for MI5 interrogations to eventually become a building to house flats and restaurants! In this exposé, we take a detailed look into the building’s primary life as an asylum and how its remarkable history should not be forgotten!
The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building is a Victorian gothic style building, combining the architectural styles of Scottish Baronial and French Châteauesque. Scottish Baronial is a style that developed during the 16th and 17th centuries and then revived in the 19th century, when this building was designed and built. It’s characteristics were limited to small castles and tower houses in Scotland. It introduced and inspired Renaissance elements to buildings that preserved and paid homage to features of the Scottish medieval castles and tower houses. Similarly, the Châteauesque style is reminiscent of elaborate towers, spires and steeply-pitched roofs.
Herry Lawford
The architect of the building was Major Rohade Hawkins (1821-84) and consists of three storeys arranged around two courtyards, separated by a central main hall. You’ll also find an additional single-storey court on the east side of the building. The roof is steeply-pitched as the Scottish Baronial style would suggest, along with metal framed windows.
The building started its life as The Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum on land that was enclosed by Wandsworth Common, which was one of the 53 enclosures made in the years between 1794 and 1866. The reason for this build was due to Queen Victoria, hence its name. During the Crimean War, in 1854 Queen Victoria launched a new charity known as the Royal Patriotic Fund. It’s primary purpose was to collect donations ‘on behalf of the widows and orphans of soldiers, sailors, and marines, that may fall in battle, or die from the ravages and casualties of war, during the present hostilities’.
The charity was overseen and managed by a Royal Commission with Prince Albert at its head. Part of this money raised was used to build the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum for Girls, intended for the ‘education and training of three hundred orphan daughters of soldiers, seamen and marines who perished in the Russian War, and those who hereafter may require like succour’ .
Despite additions being made to the building since its opening, including a swimming bath and a greenhouse which was used in connection with the market garden, the conditions the girls there were living in were dire to say the least! The girls were trained for domestic service, so they were left to perform all of the housework and laundry. Even when the heating system failed, there were no fireplaces installed in any of the rooms! They also had to hand pump train water to tanks in the towers.
Controversy enclosed the asylum in 1863 when a girl living there known as ‘Bennett’ had been burnt to death during a punishment of solitary confinement. This punishment was ordered by the Chaplain of the institution because it was reported the girl was rude to the laundress. Other reports resurfaced of a similar harsh discipline, including of a girl having been flogged with a bird rod, again as commanded by the Chaplain.
When word of these conditions and treatments got out to the public, a Ladies’ Committee was set up to oversee the conditions of the asylum and the safety of the girls. However, when the committee put in a request for amendments to disciplinary procedures, they were ultimately rejected by the institution’s Executive Committee. There were also calls for the current Chaplain and the Asylum's Lady Superintendent to be removed, but these too were unsuccessful. However, the Executive Committee still claimed they were considering some of the changes the Ladies’ Committee had put forward. Numerous members of the royal family also visited the girl’s asylum, including King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on July 24th 1907.
An asylum was also set up for boys in Queen Victoria’s name using the Royal Patriotic Fund, which opened in 1872, just north of the girls’ institution. The boys’ asylum was said to house up to 200 inmates, but closed shortly after in 1881, reportedly to conserve the fund’s finances. Since then, the building has been acquired by the Governors of the United Westminster Endowed Schools and became Emmanuel School which still stands today.
The Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum, Wandsworth: the facade. Wood engraving by W. E. Hodgkin after B. Sly. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY
When the First World War hit England, the building became the South Western General Hospital, as many other grand buildings in England also became safe havens for those returning from the battlefields. Thousands of troops were treated within the walls of the asylum, with additional tents built in the grounds too. This is when the building finally got some well needed refurbishments, with stronger roofing, repointed brickwork and a new heating system.
During the Second World War, concern grew for the girls’ safety and they were evacuated to Wales in 1939. The girls never returned to the Wandsworth site after the war and instead stayed at a reopened site in Hertfordshire.
When the girls evacuated, the building was taken over by MI5, where interrogators - ‘spycatcher’ Colonel Oreste Pinto as one among them, interviewed over 30,000 immigrants to the UK at the euphemistically named "London Reception Centre" in the building over a period of four years. Pinto was notorious in this field, as Dwight Eisenhower once described Pinto as "the greatest living authority on security". The Daily Telegraph referred to him as a "human bloodhound". Conversely, Guy Liddell stated in 1942 that he had been told that Pinto had a “thoroughly bad record". However, despite these claims, his work during WW2 resulted in the capture of eight spies.
Wandsworth Common SW18 - Giclée Art Print
Battersea 90s Style Unisex T-Shirt
The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building has been through many more transformations since its time as an asylum. After the world wars, it became a teaching college and then, from 1952 to 1972, it was a school accomodation managed by the London County Council. From 1974, the building became pretty much abandoned, losing most of its windows as feral pigeons took up residence. It’s decaying appearance led to thieves stealing roofing and water tanks, which led to the building suffering water damage to the fabrics and the timber structure that made up the floors and door frames. The building was almost demolished before being saved by the Victorian Society and the Wandsworth Society, where it became a Grade II listed building.
From here, a property developer purchased the building to start work on its restoration, which included repairing the dining hall which had fire damage. The building now has a mix of flats, studios and workshops. This refurbishment took place in the 1980s, becoming what we know the building as today: a residential complex, housing small businesses, the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and the Le Gothique restaurant. The restaurant hosts the Wandsworth Common Beer Festival twice a year.
We recommend next time you’re near Wandsworth Common to take a moment to admire this historical building, for all the varied lives it has lived and what tremendous service it has done for our country over the years, especially the achievement that it is still standing today!
What Is The South London Club?
The South London Club is a local discount card to help support small independent businesses across South London whilst saving all who live, work & play in South London money! With over 850+ local discounts to choose from, you will discover & explore all the best hidden gems in South London. Join over 7,000 of us & celebrate all that's independent & South London!