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REPORT
The very great increase in the population and wealth of the
District, since the constitution of the Board, of which full
particulars were given in their last Annual Report, has necessarily
imposed corresponding duties upon them, and rendered essential
so considerable an increase in their working staff, as to
make their present Offices, at all times inconvenient, altogether
inadequate any longer for the purposes of the Board.
It was therefore, after very full consideration, determined
early in the present year, to erect New Offices, and having regard
to the extensive area of the District, and the distances by which
its more densely populated parts are separated, the choice of a
site was a question upon which there was considerable conflict of
opinion; the Board, however, ultimately decided upon obtaining
the most central site practicable, and succeeded in securing the
piece of land near the Catford Bridge Railway Station, belonging
to the Guardians of the Poor of the Parish of Lewisham, and held
by them for charitable purposes ; thus the purchase-money £1,010
accrues to the advantage of the Poor of the Parish. The next
points for consideration were the size and nature of the accommodation
to be provided, and the style of the building to be
adopted. In order to benefit as far as practicable from the
experience of other Metropolitan parish authorities, a Committee
of the Board made a personal inspection of many of the buildings
in and about London erected for similar purposes. As to style
the Board were almost unanimous in their preference for one
essentially English in character, to either the ancient classic or
modern Italian.
The selection of an Architect was a question upon which
the Board were by no means unanimous, but they ultimately
decided upon Mr. George Elkington, with whose qualifications
many Members had the advantage of long experience.
These points being settled, the conveyance of the land
was completed, and the working drawings of the building
approved before the close of the financial year, at Lady-day, 1874.
Various circumstances have, in the course of the past year,
conspired to render necessary material alterations in the official
staff of the Board, and they confidently anticipate that a higher