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The
History of St David's Home |
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The
history of St. David’s Home takes us back to 1819 when the Duke
of Kent, on the birth of his daughter – the future Queen Victoria
– attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to sell Castle Hill Lodge,
his country house near the village of Ealing. One hundred years
later the property was again on the market but this time it
was the purchasers who were experiencing the difficulties. However,
after some extraordinary occurrences, these difficulties were
overcome and Kent House became St. David’s Home. Situated at
Castlebar, formerly known as Castle Bear Hill, the long house,
with a four-columned central portico, commanded a fine view
over pastures and woods towards the distance outline of Harrow. |
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| In
1914, Lady Anne Kerr’s youngest son, David, aged 21, was
killed while serving with the Royal Scots. In the ensuing
years the thought was always in her mind of finding some
way to alleviate the sufferings of those who, though having
survived the ward, were wounded and maimed.
The
first and most urgent need was money. Lady Anne pursued
an active campaign, writing to friends, acquaintances
and the Press. A concert raised £500 and donations
started to come in.
Thus
it was that in September 1920, six Sisters of Charity,
together with Ma Soeur Howard, (Lady Anne’s sister, Lady
Etheldreda), took over the very primitive conditions then
prevailing. |
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The ground floor rooms of the house became make-shift wards
and so were the original stables, where above each bed was an
iron ring to which the horses had been tied. The old hay lofts
above, reached only by an outside ladder, served as the Orderlies’
quarters and the coach-house, divided in two, was used half
for the laundry and half as a mortuary. A short flight of steps
at one end of the ‘stable ward’ led down to a small furnace
which heated water for baths and washing-up. The cobblestones
in the stable yard were far from ideal for wheelchairs. |
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A
number of changes took place over the ensuing years and gradually
the Sisters of Charity handed over the running of the Home to
the Board of Trustees. In 2002, the Order decided to close the
convent and the remaining sisters left to minister elsewhere.
As a result, the convent area was eventually transformed into
the present unit for rehabilitation purposes. Now known as the
John Poland Rehab Unit, it comprises of seven flatlets with
facilities for cooking, washing etc. Situated on the ground
floor is a well equipped Physiotherapy room available for all
the residents at St. David’s. |
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| The
Chapel
Initially
a small room on the first floor of the Victorian mansion
was used as a Chapel. However, by 1920, through the efforts
of the Catholic Women’s League, who ran the canteens at
Home and in France during the 1914-1918 war, sufficient
funds had been collected to build the present Chapel.
The chapel is dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant David
Kerr, son of Major General Lord Ralph and Lady Anne Kerr,
founder of the Home. |
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