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16. MISCELLANEOUS.
(a) Maternity Outfits.—A set was selected at random in
January, 1934, and was sent away for bacteriological tests to be
carried out for sterility. The laboratory reported that the outfits
could be regarded as reasonably sterile for practical purposes.
(b) Provision of Artificial Dentures.—Towards the end of
1933 your Council approved a scheme for the supply of artificial
dentures for necessitous expectant and nursing mothers attending
the Municipal Ante-Natal Clinics.
The scale of recovery is based on the scale approved with regard
to the Maternity Home fees.
I. THORPE COOMBE MATERNITY HOME.
Historical.—"Thorpe Coombe" and the adjoining lodge, with
about four acres of land, was bought by the Council in June, 1929,
for the purpose of erecting a maternity home.
Some reference to the former history of Thorpe Coombe will
not be without interest and the following is taken from the
Walthamstow Antiquarian Society's Official Publication No. 20
(1928), "MoreWalthamstow Houses," by George F. Bosworth.
"'Thorpe Coombe' or 'North Bank,' as it was called till about
forty years ago, was the home of one of the sons of Sir Robert
Wigram, of Walthamstow House. The original building of the
mid-eighteenth century is of reddish-brown stocks which are as
good to-day as when they were first laid. The house was nearly
square in plan, three storeys high, with a lead and tile roof, and
underground kitchens. It has a handsome panelled and decorated
porch with columns on either side. Two wings were built later to
match the original work but they are only two storeys high. These
two wings balanced each other in outside appearance on either side
of the mansion, but only one was an addition to the house accommodation,
the other being a coach-house with rooms over for the
coachman. This coach-house has windows facing front, matching
the other wing, but they are blocked up, owing presumably to the
window tax of those days. At a later date the underground
kitchens were disused and another addition was built on the east
end for domestic offices, which are paved with York stone. There
is a verandah at the back of the house, over the area which lighted
the underground offices.