PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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ERNESETTLE HUTMENTS
The Ernesettle Hutments were the former Ernesettle Camp that was erected in about 1915 for the War Department. They stood adjacent to the Ernesettle Fort, in the parish of Saint Budeaux, which was then outside the City boundary in the Plympton Saint Mary Rural District. However, an acute shortage of housing in Plymouth following the Great War forced many people to seek shelter in the old army huts. There were 41 huts and in October 1920 these were made available by the army as dwellings for ex-service men with large families. A Captain E J Ward was the local representative. Captain Ward had arranged to provide the site with gas and water but he asked for the support of the Rural District Council to deal with sanitary arrangements. [1] A reporter from the "Western Evening Herald" visited the site on Tuesday November 9th 1920 and afterwards recorded that there were 41, one-storey huts, each 60 feet long by 20 feet in width and looking rather drab externally. 38 huts were currently being occupied. They were all numbered and stood about 40 feet apart in neat rows. They were all identical except one that was raised above the damp ground. [2] He described the situation of the Hutments as: 'on very high ground, accessible to the pure winds and health-giving sunshine' but then remarked that 'perhaps, indeed, a little too open to the keen winds of winter'. The site had a spectacular view up the Tamar Valley and across to Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. [2] The Huts had only been occupied for four to five weeks and they were let to men with large families. One occupant had twelve children and many had six or more. All the occupants had previously been crammed into one-room tenements in Plymouth or Devonport. One man had paid £1 5s a week for such accommodation but was now paying only 7s 6d per week (£1 10s a month) for his much larger hut. However, that did not take into account the initial outlay that each tenant was required to make: 15 shillings for the gas fittings; 7s 6d for fire insurance; and a staggering 13s 6d for the dustbin, the total being £1 16s. That covered the first six months and afterwards, if his lease was continued, he would pay the monthly rent. [2] Each hut had six large windows in both sides and this enabled each hut to be subdivided inside into six rooms, each 10 feet by 20. Most were divided into four rooms of unequal size. The walls were covered with three-ply wood and distempered although they could be painted or papered. Each hut had gas lighting and a gas stove with ring, along with a small stove with its long iron chimney sticking through the roof. One hut is used as a communal wash-house. This had a long line of ovens in the centre with four coppers (boilers) at each end. Just inside the entrance was a large board upon which was painted the numbers of the huts in four columns of eight, with one number over. Eight women do their washing per day and to avoid dispute the hut numbers are painted onto the coppers that each one uses. The caretaker was responsible for ensuring the rule was observed. Outside the huts was plenty of ground for turning into a garden or vegetable plot. [2] Although the site was quite isolated, the hut formerly used as the soldiers' recreation room has been taken over by the Saint Budeaux Social Society and was used for concerts, whist drives, and dances. The nearest tram stop was down in Saint Budeaux Square and there were no motor bus services at first. [2] Ernesettle Hutments were still there in March 1927, when 200 people were said to be housed there. They were all under formal notice to quit. The corrugated iron roofs were rotting and the badly constructed window frames were also letting in water. Rafters were covered with newspapers, canvas and broken match-boarding in an effort to keep out the rain and wind. [3] Sources:
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