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228 CHARITIES FOR WOMEN.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Preston Hospital, Shropshire. T The Ains...
these _forming the corridor or gallery into which , the upper rooms open . These galleries are approached by low and very wide
_stairscases , so as to offer but little impediment to the aged footsteps which pass to and fro . The building is of brick , with facets of stonework
at the angles and around the crowns of the cloister arches ; a style that was prevalent during the first half of the eighteenth century .
The hall , raised somewhat above the rest of the building , is approached by a handsome flight of steps , and within , it is large ,
lofty , and well-lighted . Its floor is of marble , tesselated black and white ; at one end stands a fine organ , a recent acquisition , and on
the walls hang the portraits of Lord Torrington , painted by Gibson , and of his third wifepainted by Kneller . Both portraits were
pre-, sented by the present Earl of Bradford in 1833 . The hall is used both as a chapel and school . Here daily are to be seen the twenty
little white-capped damsels busy with book or needlework , about the glowing stove in winter , around the wide open door in summer ,
the murmur of their voices blending pleasantly with the rustle of the distant leaves . Morning prayers are read in the hall once a
week by the rector of the parish , the Rev . W . T . Birds , who is likewise the kindly friend of many of these good old gentlewomen ,
visiting their rooms , and , when required , advising them as to the disposal of the few relics of better days , or the few pounds husbanded
with jealous care , for , to the great honor of these dear old gentlewomenthe great majority of them are capital managers of the
, privy purse , effecting wonders by means so small . The whole space , from cloister to cloister , is a nicely kept lawn ,
crossed by pavement walks , and this is bounded from end to end of the building by a loffcy palisading and gates of wrought ironwork .
Beyond this is a much larger lawn with a short ' avenue , serving as a carriage drive ; at the end of this are the lodges and the highway ,
and at either side large kitchen gardens belonging to the Hospital . Stepping back to the cloisters , flecked by some shadows , bathed
in much sunny glory on this autumn afternoon , we will visit one of these old gentlewomen , which we may do without any undue
intrusion upon privacy . The cloister floors are very clean , nothing lying on them but perhaps a few russet leaves wafted from the
avenue , but here , about this simple door , is more spotless cleanliness if it be possibleand plants in pots encircle the feet of the cloister
, arch . We will enter gently , for the old gentlewoman may be sleeping , as indeed she is , seated in her easy chair , her hands crossed upon
her breast , her spectacles on , a newspaper dropped to her feet , or her needlework on the table beside her . Her cap is very trim , her dress
neat , the weight of seventy years lies so lightly on her , as to have brought no grey hairsand the fewest possible furrows to once great
, beauty . The sun through the open door streams in , opposite to us is the deep set lofty windowthe ledge full of plants , a moss rose
, tree of many years' growth flecking the panes without , the widow's
little garden-plot lying beyond , and within sweep down airy cur-
228 Charities For Women.
228 CHARITIES FOR WOMEN .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1858, page 228, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121858/page/12/
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