College slide show ag pdf

Slideshow of the History of Leamington College, aka Binswood Hall

1. Leamington College
A local historian looks back at the
chequered history of a well-loved institution
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2. 2
The college buildings were designed by a local
architect David Squirhill and built in 1847 as
Leamington’s first purpose-built school.
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3. 3
Dr Jephson the eminent local
physician laid the foundation stone
on April 7th 1847 and he was the
school’s principal benefactor
throughout his life
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4. The college is at the centre of a
crescent of terraced houses
only half of which were built
A section of the 1852 Board of Health map
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5. 5
1848 view from the open space that is now Beauchamp Rd
The terraced properties were demolished about 1910
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6. 6
The aims of the school were to
provide ‘for the sons of the nobility,
clergy and gentry, a sound classical
and mathematical education in
accordance with the principles
of the established church’.
The school arms were those
of the Bishop of Worcester
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7. 7
In 1851 crowds
flocked to London
for the Great Exhibition
But the big news locally
was that Leamington College
was insolvent and had closed
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8. 8
In the summer of 1851 the College
is resurrected as a Public School
with a dress code similar to other
such institutions.
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9. 9
College pupils
from the 1860’s
Photographs taken
in Leamington
studios
J R Benbow
H F Pryor
A L M Campbell
A W Wise
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10. 10
College cricket match in progress on the open ground
in front of the school where Beauchamp Road is now.
The large houses were purchased as boarding houses
but later demolished in about 1910.
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11. 11
Teachers and boys photographed in the 1860‘s. The
headwear varies from straw boaters to mortar
boards and bowler hats.
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12. 12
Paper Chases were a regular
feature of College life
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13. 13
In 1865 the College was again
in severe financial difficulties
and closed its doors for the
second time in fifteen years
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14. 14
In 1867 Sam Wackrill Leamington Mayor set up a
Limited Company and purchased the property for
£3,500. Lord Leigh was a major shareholder.
Lord Leigh
Samuel Wackrill
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15. 15
In 1870 The governing
Council of the new
school appointed the
Revd Dr Joseph Wood
as the fifth Headmaster
of Leamington College.
Wood came from
Cheltenham College
and during his headship
Leamington College
was transformed and
entered its most
successful era.
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16. 16
Education in Victorian
times was accompanied by
the liberal application of
corporal punishment.
When Wood was
caricatured in Vanity Fair
magazine, their artist made
a point of adding his birch
to the illustration. Both
the College and Wood
himself gained
considerable reputations
during the 20 years of his
Headship.
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17. 17
Text
The school Cadet Corps was officered by NCO’s of the
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
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18. 18
This group
photograph has a
pencilled note on
the print which
says ‘Leamington
College XI circa
1873’. One of the
boys carries a
cane, a privilege
accorded only to
the Heads of
House.
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19. 19
The additions
to the
buildings
during Dr
Wood’s
Headship
included the
chapel,
gymnasium,
fives courts, a
cricket ground
and
sanatorium.
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20. 20
Dr JosephWood left
the school in good
shape in 1890 with
130 pupils but the
underlying financial
problems were not
resolved when
Revd R Arnold Edgell
became Head in 1893.
His problems were
compounded by the
fact that many of his
pupils had followed
Dr Wood to
Tonbridge School
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Edgell decided to turn the school into a Preparatory
School in a vain effort to increase income. By 1902 the
property was mortgaged for £15,000 and the number
of pupils had declined.The school was closed for the
third time and its buildings were put up for sale.
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The successful bidder was an order of French Catholic
nuns the Society of the Sacred Heart who in 1903 re-
opened the building as a convent and training centre for
their nuns.
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24. 24
The order had many such schools in all
parts of the world. The nun’s habit was a
black dress with a cape and veil worn over
a white cap as seen here.
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25. 25The nuns made substantial additions to the College buildings
but vacated the premises in September 1916.
In September 1917 Dover College in Kent took over the empty
school and moved up from Kent due to the bombardment of
coastal resorts in the Great War.
They were able to move back to Dover in 1919.
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26. 26
It was entirely due to the 1902 Education Act that
the empty buildings in Binswood Avenue were
purchased by Warwickshire County Council in
May 1920 for the sum of £37,000.
The new Act gave local authorities the ability
to set up grant aided grammar schools and in April
1922 the old buildings became home to the latest
incarnation of Leamington College.
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27. 27
Typical form room circa 1940‘s in the
teaching block erected by the Sacred
Heart nuns
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28. 28
The chapel (left) became a dining hall
and later the school library
The original chapel (right)
became a physics laboratory
The great hall (left)
remained unchanged
The Jephson arms were
adopted as the arms of the
new Leamington College
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29. 29
School cap and tie circa
1953
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30. 30
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31. 31
Lytton Strachey
writer/reviewer
Sir Bernard Spilsbury ‘father’
of forensic pathology
Sir Frank Whittle
inventor of the jet
engine
Some
eminent former
pupils
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32. 32
Dennis Enright
poet/anthologist
Keith Savage
International
Rugby player
Jim Shekhdar
solo Pacific rower
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33. 33
Father Thomas Byles
prayed with fellow passengers
as theTitanic sank in 1912
Archie Ledbrooke Daily Mirror
sports writer died in the
Munich air crash in 1958
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34. 34
Norman Painting (right) seated next to Headmaster Fred Williamson
became one of the most recognisable voices on radio playing Phil
Archer in the daily serial for almost fifty years
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35. 35
S.Mellows W. E.Richards
A. Thornton
F.W.Onslow
F.Williamson
College
Headmasters
1902 - 1977
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36. 36
Fred Williamson the Headmaster and his staff in 1951
when there were 300 boys in the school. When the
school closed in 1977 a staff of 40 taught 650 boys.
The lady is Mrs Eilleen Bunney who was the Head’s secretary and unofficial
School Matron for most of his 26 years as College Headmaster
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37. 37
The Frank Whittle
commemorative plaque
was formerly on the wall
in the Great Hall
The College War Memorial
tablets were outside the
library (the old chapel)
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38. 38
The girls of Binswood Hall Sixth Form College
dressed for their Leaving Ball
What would Joe Wood make of it? - I wonder
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39. 39
Old Leamingtonians group at the ‘topping out’ 2013
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Two hard back
books have been
published which
cover the school’s
history - these are
available in the local
history section of
Leamington library
and original copies
can sometimes be
purchased through
the Leamington
History Group
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41. 41
This slide show in the Leamington Discovered series
was compiled by Alan Griffin
for the Leamington History group website
www.leamingtonhistory.co.uk
Acknowledgements
Hodder & Stoughton Leamington Spa Courier newspaper
Leamington Spa Library Leamington Spa Museum & Art Gallery
Mirror Group newspapers Rugby World magazine
Science & Society Library Dominique Enright
The late Norman Painting Bob Shakespeare
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End of Slideshow
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