Monument record 7971 - Heathside Hostel, Alsager

<1> WSP Environmental, 2009, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment of the Manchester Metropolitan University, Alsager Campus (Client Report). SCH5248.

A desk-based assessment was undertaken in 2009 in advance of development of the former Manchester Metropolitan University Campus at Alsager. It identified that in the 1940's the site, then farmland, was requisitioned for the construction of a hostel, 'Heathside Hostel', for the workers at the Royal Ordnance Factory at Radway Green to the south. The hostel consisted of a central brick built communal block with sleeping quarters of Laing huts radiating around it in an oval arrangement. The communal block offered communal services for the workers. The Laing huts were built of timber, hollow tile and roofing felt. They were heated by coke-fired boilers in winter and had brick built bathrooms attached. Each bedroom was shared by two women and a week's board cost 26d and 6 pence, which included three meals a day and laundry services. Heathside Hostel also played an important part in maintaining the morale the community, providing entertainment including performances by popular celebreties and hosting regular dances attended by hostel dwellers, villagers and Royal Marines from nearby H.M.S Excalibur.

At the end of the war the hostel became an Emergency Teacher Training College (May 1947) and between 1947 and 1949 trained ex-servicemen. This special 'emergency' one year course soon gave way to the traditional two year course with stabilisation of the country following the war years. In 1950 the college became a member or the Liverpool Institute of Education with site re-development planned for 1961. When the campus was opened in 1969, several original 1940s buildings were still in place, including the central brick built communal block, also some surviving Laing buildings. By 1974 the college was known as the Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education, and by 1992, it had been incorporated into Manchester Metropolitan University.

<2> Wardell Armstrong Archaeology, 2017, Former Manchester Metropolitan Campus, Alsager, Cheshire: Historic Building Survey, R4043 (Client Report). SCH8281.

In 2017, an historic building survey was undertaken for the three surviving 1940s buildings of Heathside Hostel in advance of their demolition and subsequent re-development of the site, the former Manchester Metropolitan University Campus. These buildings are the Central Communal Block, a small outbuilding close to the Communal block, and the Hollinshead Building. Due to health and safety issues, access inside the buildings was not possible, obviously limiting the scope of the survey; additionally, the Central Communal Block was partly obscured by overgrown vegetation. All three buildings are constructed of brick laid in English Garden Wall bond, and contain the same form of elements such as windows, brick parapet, concrete string course and concrete sills and lintels, indicating that they are contemporary. The survival and re-use of these buildings is largely due to their more sturdy construction, none of the timber Laing huts survive.

The Central Communal Block survives essentially as it was constructed, and is orientated east to west. Rather than being simply rectangular in shape, it is linear but has projections to its north and south sides (although the northern part of the Eastern Projection has been removed). It is mainly single storey, apart from the east end which may have housed a boiler. This single storey arrangement may have been the result of a requirement to build the structures at the hostel relatively quickly. As no access to the interior was possible, it is unknown if any original features survive. Documentary sources indicate that this building provided a variety of communal functions such as canteen, library, post office and shop. The Hollinshead Building, located to the north-west of the Central Communal Block, appears to have served a relatively utilitarian function as a laundry and possibly stores.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1928-1954, Ordnance Survey Third Revision County Series (Epoch 4) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, 1951 (Maps and Plans). SCH4533.

The Ordnance Survey Map of 1951 clearly depicts Heathside Hostel with the central communal block providing a focus for the surrounded Laing huts.