The Ministry of Works was a department of the

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

formed in 1940, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, to organise the requisitioning of property for wartime use. After the war, the ministry retained responsibility for government building projects. In 1962 it was renamed the Ministry of Public Building and Works, and acquired the extra responsibility of monitoring the building industry as well as taking over the works departments from the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

and Admiralty. The chief architect of the ministry from 1951 to 1970 was Eric Bedford. In 1970 the ministry was absorbed into the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(DoE), although from 1972 most former works functions were transferred to the largely autonomous Property Services Agency (PSA). Subsequent reorganisation of PSA into Property Holdings was followed by abolition in 1996 when individual government departments took on responsibility for managing their own estate portfolios.

History

The tradition of building specific structures for military or governmental use began to break down at the time of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when the unprecedented need for armaments prompted the rapid construction of factories in English locations where a skilled workforce was not easily recruited.

Precedents

The department originally derived from the Office of Works (the King's Works) responsible only for royal properties (1378–1832) which became the Office of Woods, Forest, Land Revenues and Works (1832–1852). The Office of Works was founded in 1851 and became the Ministry of Works in 1940. This became the Ministry of Works & Planning (1942–43), the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHLG) 1951–62, and the Ministry of Public Building and Works (1962–70) before being subsumed in the Department of the Environment in 1970 and

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

in 1984.

Housing

Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Frank Baines (1877–1933) guided the rapid development of estates of houses, mainly in a terraced style, for workers and their families in places close to the required factories and depots. Examples included the Well Hall garden suburb south of the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

(between

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

and Shooters Hill), Aeroville near the Grahame-White aeroplane factory at

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, and the Roe Green estate at Stag Lane in the

London Borough of Brent Brent () is a London boroughs, borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Brent Reservoir, W ...

. Considering the pace of their construction, these estates were surprisingly picturesque and were subsequently considered superior in scenic terms to many estates of municipal housing that followed in the peacetime of the 1920s, guided by the

Tudor Walters Sir John Tudor Walters PC (25 February 1866 – 16 July 1933) was a Welsh architect, surveyor and Liberal Party politician. He served as Paymaster General under David Lloyd George from 1919 to 1922 and once again briefly in 1931 under Ramsay ...

Committee report of 1919 and the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919. Their styling owed much to the English garden suburb tradition (seen at

Bournville Bournville () is a 19th century model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alc ...

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

Saltaire Saltaire is a Victorian model village near Shipley, West Yorkshire, England, situated between the River Aire, the railway, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Salts Mill and the houses were built by Titus Salt between 1851 and 1871 to allo ...

Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in ...

and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

) and garden areas and front boundaries were generally more varied than on contemporary estates within military bases where state ownership endured over a longer period. More modern examples include a large estate near central Malvern built 1952–1953 for the scientists and personnel of TRE. The styling, though more upmarket, resembled the typical council estates of semi-detached houses being built around the UK during the

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

years. By the late 20th century the Well Hall example had become known as the Progress Estate.

Monuments

From the 1880s the Office of Works was also responsible for the upkeep of ancient monuments, a role later taken on by the Department of the Environment and later, when responsibility for heritage matters was devolved, in 1977, by

and the other home country heritage organisations. As such it forms the basis for any research into official or historic structures ranging from post offices to palaces and all archaeological sites in state care, including Stonehenge. In conjunction with the Foreign Office it also was responsible for the fabric of British embassies and consulates across the world. Apart from English Heritage,

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

and

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

, its vast archive is dispersed throughout many other organisations including national museums and galleries, other government departments including the

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...

and the now hived-off agencies covering royal parks and palaces. Virtually every record office, every museum and every town council in the British Isles will hold files relating to the MOW who in 1947 enabled the first 'lists' defining and protecting historic buildings which now forms the heritage protection of over 400,000 sites. A detailed history of offices and staff remains to be written: the work of the almost completely anonymous civil servants who worked for this very large government department is largely absent from published or online sources unless these manifold official activities impinge on current specialised research on the military, archaeological or architectural links.

Origins

The Ministry of Works descended from a long line of offices with responsibilities for managing royal and then governmental property. These are summarised below. *1378–1832 Office of Works. This office was established to oversee the building and maintenance of Crown property such as royal castles and residences. *1832–1851 Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings. The Office of Works continued to operate as the Works Department within the larger office. *1851–1940 Office of Works. The office was given a separate identity in order to bring it under the direct control of Parliament. *1940–1942 Ministry of Works and Buildings. The ministry was formed during the Second World War as the government's need for new buildings and the conversion of existing buildings became more urgent. *1942–1943 Ministry of Works and Planning. *1943–1962 Ministry of Works. *1962–1970 Ministry of Public Building and Works.

Buildings constructed by the ministry

BT Tower The BT Communications Tower, also known simply as the BT Tower, is a Listed building, grade II listed Radio masts and towers, communications tower in Fitzrovia, London, England, owned by BT Group. It has also been known as the GPO Tower, the P ...

, London *

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

head office, Southampton

References

External links

Parliamentary Archives, Records of the Ministry of Works, 1940-1970
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Works (United Kingdom)

Works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pi ...

1940 establishments in the United Kingdom 20th century in the United Kingdom United Kingdom, Works 1970 disestablishments in the United Kingdom