Hadleigh Farm

Hadleigh Farm

One of the longest serving Salvation Army social centres is Hadleigh Farm in Essex; a 900-acre farm which opened in 1891 as an agricultural training centre for men. Accommodation and training facilities were built for men who had passed through the Salvation Army’s shelters and elevators. Brick-fields were opened, with a railway moving bricks to a wharf, where barges were loaded with bricks bound to be shipped to London. Known as Hadleigh Farm Colony, it was home to sheep, pigs and cattle as well as several hundred ‘colonists’ at a time. 

Salvation Army brick
A Salvation Army brick, inscribed with the initials of William Booth, made at the Hadleigh Farm brickworks [M44], early-mid twentieth century.

Photo credit: Lauren Forster

In the 1920s Hadleigh was used as the primary training centre for teenage boys wishing to participate in The Salvation Army’s migration scheme. Boys would undergo agricultural training at Hadleigh Farm before catching a boat overseas to begin their new lives as farmers in Australia, New Zealand or Canada. 

A black and white image from the archives of men working the farm
Boys working at Hadleigh Farm Colony, early twentieth century

Hadleigh Farm still operates today as an Employment Training Centre, providing skills development for adults with additional support needs.

Opposition

Find out about opposition to The Salvation Army’s expansion in the Victorian era.

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A global army

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