Quarriers Village

On my way back from Alloway, I detoured just slightly to visit Quarriers Village.

I have been interested in British Home Children since discovering that Doug’s great aunt relinquished all four of her sons to children’s homes in Birmingham and all four were sent off, at various times, to farms in Canada.

I was taken aback at the size of the “cottages” in Quarriers Village. They are actually large Georgian mansions. One can only imagine the culture shock for the children who, for the most part, would have come from the tenements of the cities. 

Cottage 10

                                                              Mr Quarrier's Home

The Village is situated on a former 40 acre farm, which was known as Nittingshill and, once completed as a village, was completely self contained. The village had a church, a school, a hospital, a store and even a fire hall. 

                                                          View of part of the village

                                                             Bethesda was the hospital

                                                                    The fire hall

                                                                          The School

                                                                        The Village Store

There is a cemetery behind the church. The tombstones of the Quarrier family are quite opulent compared to the rather humble granite slabs memorializing the children. The layout of the children’s memorial graves are reminiscent of the Titanic graves in Halifax. 

I spent about an hour walking through the village. Most of the cottages are now privately owned homes.