This is a photograph of the new school which was built for Manchester High School in 1881.
Estimates for building the school
Manchester High School was founded in 1874. Within a few years it was so popular that it was full. It was decided to build a bigger school. Preparations for building school began in the late 1870s. A meeting of the school governors was held on 16th December 1879 to decide who should build the new school. Several builders submitted these estimates about how much they would charge. This list is taken from the minutes [a record of what was said] of that meeting.
Look at the glossary to find the meanings of some of the words.
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ARCHITECTS' MEMORANDA RESPECTING TENDERS
Fifteen tenders have been received in response to the advertisements and for the following amounts:
Darnborough - £16,551
Union Land Building Co - £16,070
Campbell and Co. - £15,670
Parnell [of Rugby] - £14,994
J Ward - £14,500
Brown - £14,460
Wilson, Toft and Huntley - £14,224
J Herd - £14,054
Meadows - £14,037
R Neill and Sons - £13,990
Elms and Evans - £13,786
Davis and Mawdsley - £13,613
G Napier - £13,445
W Southern - £13,435
L Webster - £13,075
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Tasks
How many estimates of the cost of building the school did the governors of the school receive?
What was the largest estimate in the list?
What was the lowest estimate in the list?
How much was the difference between the largest and the lowest estimates in the list?
Choosing the builder
The minutes of that meeting also record what was said about two of the builders who had submitted tenders to build the school.
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Mr Southern is well known and his sub - contractors, we have ascertained, would all be good tradesmen whom we know and who have worked for us before.
Mr Webster has not executed any works for us though he has been anxious to do so for some time. His sub - contractors would almost all be the same as Mr Southern's and the exceptions would be equally good. He has just built a chapel, is building Board Schools in Manchester and has executed works for Mr Houldsworth to a large amount and much work for the Union Bank of Manchester. He has good testimonials and we have made personal enquiries at the Union Bank and elsewhere and find him highly spoken of.
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Tasks
The governors chose Mr Southern to build the school even though his estimate was bigger than that of Mr Webster. Why did they choose him?
Look at the style of the language of the extract. It is written in language which is typical of the Victorian period. Explain in your own words what the following phrases mean:
we have ascertained
has not executed any works for us
find him highly spoken of
A modern school would be much more expensive to build because it would contain many things which did not exist in Victorian times. What would these things be? Think about your own school to answer this.