Southend Timeline
Bringing Your Memories Back to Life
The Southend School Timeline
A Good Place to Start - In 1634 a timber-framed messuage called Glynds was built on the east side of North Street, immediately south of Prittlewell Bridge. In 1727 the parishioners, headed by the vicar, the Revd T. 
Case persuaded Daniel Scratton, lord of the manor of Prittlewell, to endow a school. Glynds became the schoolhouse, and free instruction in reading, writing, the catechism and 'principles of the Christian religion according to the usage of the Church of England' was given to ten boys of poor Prittlewell parishioners. The endowment was enlarged by Scratton in 1739 to provide instruction for 16 poor boys.
In 1817, in order to accommodate more children and to include girls, a brick extension to the rear was constructed for the exclusive use of boys. The old schoolhouse was therefore appropriated to girls. In 1836 it was reported that there about 80 children in the school. The minimum age for admission ws seven years and all children except the 16 boys admitted under the 1739 endowment paid one penny a week.
Southend School Timeline - 1835-1899
1855 St John's CofE School on Eastern Esplanade opened 1857 Southchurch National School opened
1868 St Mary's school moved to the East Street site. In March new large premises were opened in East Street. 1875 Orphanage and school opens in Milton Road, on 2nd June by the sisters of Notre Dame, a German order who purchased a hotel (the Mitre) for £1,000. They renamed it St Mary's Convent, later to become St Bernard's. | 1882 The Science and Art department was formed in 1867, to provide technical and secondary education by means od Science and Art classes, principally held for young artisans in the evening time, but it was not until 1882 that the movement reached Southend. Two classes were then opened at London Road School for instruction in art subjects and animal (human) physiology. !883 magnetism and electrisity took the place of physiology. 1883 To form a new educational effort a new b uilding was erected in Clarence Road, later to become Town Council Offices. 1886 Hinguar Street Junior School opened
1890 Leigh Board School opened 29 September 1891 Lindisfarne College Founded in Valkyrie Road 1892 Brewery Road school opens, later to become Porters Grange. Alexandra College for girls opened. 1895 Day Science School for Boys & Girls, Clarence Road 1897 Leigh Road School opened (later to become Hamlet Court Road School) 1899 Day Art School, Clarence Road |
1835 Herschell's School on Leigh Hill opened by Lady Sparrow (Right)
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Southend School Timeline 1900-1915
1900 Shoeburyness, Richmond Ave, Junior opened 1902 Science & Art School Transfers to Victoria Circus (Technical School) 1903 Hinguar School extended to accept juniors Leigh Board School, renamed Leigh North Street School 1904 Southchurch Hall Scho Alleyn Court School opened in September 1905 Technical School opens new wing for Higher Education Leigh Road (Hamlet Court Road) infants School opened 1907 Leigh Infants School opened on 13th Dec Bournemouth Park Infants and Junior Schools were built.
1908 Chalkwell Hall Schools Opened (Right) | 1910 St Bernard's became established and opened with a compliment of 120 day girls and five lay teachers on 29th September 1910. 1912 Westborough School MacDonald Ave, opened and was divided into three sections Infants, Senior Boys, Senior Girls 1913 High School for Girls in Boston Avenue Technical School Victoria Circus becomes boys only Leigh-on-Sea joins the borough, bringing with it 3 schools: Herschell's School (Old Leigh) Closed 1913 West Leigh School. Opened 1913 Leigh School Opened 1914 Southend became a County Borough in April, and an autonomous local education authority. Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School, Windermere Road, opened in January. Education Department move (Oct) to 14 Nelson Street Hamstel School All Age 1915 St John's CofE School closed on Eastern Esplanade
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ol opened (Right)
Southend School Timeline 1916-1945
1917 Bomb dropped in front of the boys' school building Victoria Circus. Causing substantial structural damage. 1918 In December 1918 the Medical Officer for Southend published a report advocating the need for an open-air school. Six years later the Board of Education agreed to pursue this idea and a site on Fairfax Drive was reserved for a school for Physically delicate children. 1919 School of Art opens to the rear of the High School for Boys in Victoria Circus as a temporary structure but stayed in use until 1966. 1920 Commercial Secondary School opened, (Belsfield, 110 Victoria Avenue) 1925 Thorpe Hall School founded in Thorpe Hall Avenue 1926 Westcliff High for Boys opened. 1928-29 Junior Day department of the Municipal College built and opened off Fairfax Drive, specialising in technical and commercial subjects. 1928: The McLeod House School opened in 1928, the school was located at 222 Southchurch Road A large semi-detached house was chosen as the school building and closed in 1955 upon the death of Mr Mcleod. During the Second World War the school with the two pupils who boarded at it moved to Leighton Buzzard. The school returned to Southend shortly before the end of the war. Over the schools 27 years 100 pupils passed through its doors being taught by five teachers. With thanks to John Foster for the details and photo.
1929 Opened: The Open Air School; Fairfax Senior School 1931 Westcliff High School for Girls | 1932 Opened: Wentworth School for Boys; Wentworth School for Girls Leigh North Street School - the Boys and Girls Schools were amalgamated to form a junior Mixed School. 1934 Opened: Thorpe Junior School; Thorpe Infant School Junior Day Department of the Municipal College moved from Fairfax Drive to the main college in Victoria Circus. The school reopened as Fairfax Senior Mixed School. 1938 Opened: Southend High School for Boys; Earls Hall Junior School; Earls Hall Infant School; Municpal College established in Victoria Circus 1939 Eastwood Senior School, Shoeburyness Senior School Opened 1944 Hamstel School split into Infants and Juniors 1945 Senior departments of Westborough School became known as Westborough Senior Mixed School.
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Southend School Timeline 1946-1959
1948 Southchurch National School closed Leigh North Street School renamed Leigh Primary School, later to become Leigh County Junior school. 1949 Opened: Prince Avenue Infant School; Temple Sutton Primary School 1950 Leigh Community Centre (purchased) 1951 Prince Avenue Infant School 1952 Blenheim Infant School 1953 Junior Day Department at the Municipal College closed Westborough High became a single-sex secondary modern SCHOOL. The boys from Westborough transferred to Fairfax and Westborough received the Fairfax girls. Renamed Fairfax High School for Boys The school became a single sex secondary modern school and received the Boys Department of Westborough High School Opened: Blenheim Junior School; Temple Sutton Junior School; Fairways Infant School; Belfairs High School for Boys*;Belfairs High School for Girls* *First Stage | 1954 Opened: Fairways Junior School 1955 Opened: Belfairs High School for Boys*; Belfairs High School for Girls*; St Christopher (Special) School;*Second Stage 1956 Southend High School for Girls moved from Boston Avenue to new premises in Southchurch Boulevard Girls move from Southchurch Hall, to Boston Avenue premises, school renamed Dowsett High School for Girls 1958 Eastwood High School for Girls 1959 Edwards Hall Junior School |
Southend School Timeline 1960-2010
1960 Opened: Thorpedene Infant School; Edwards Hall Infant School; Thorpdene Junior School; Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School 1963 Opened: Eastwood Junior School; Leigh Youth Centre; Municipal College renamed College of Technology 1966 Opened: Eastwood Infant School; Priory (Special) School from a unit at Chalkwell; April: Dowsett High School opened in Southchurch Boulevard; Westborough High School for Girls moved to Boston Avenue premises Nov 1966 - Priory Special School Open - Mr H P Hayton the new Head for a school designed for 50 emotionally disturbed children and opened in November in Burr Hill Chase. Built to design and to provide easy use and movement between areas for staff and students, always designed for small family sized groupings of students rather than full sized classes.1967 Bournes Green Junior School New Schools - After years of building, planning and upheaval the town formally welcomed 10 Schools and Youth facilities to the fold. The Right Honourable Patrick Walker, PC, MP Secretary of State for Education and Science performed the Opening of the Schools on Friday 29th March. The joint opening involved: Barons Court Infant School, Bournes Green Junior School, Dowsett High School for Girls, Eastwood Infant School, Eastwood Junior School, Priory Special School, St Nicholas Special School, Southend Youth Centre, Youth Sports Hall, Youth Theatre. 1968 Opened: Darlinghurst Primary School 1969 Opened: Heycroft Primary School; Cecil Jones High School 1970 Opened: ; St George's RC Primary School; Southend Youth Centre, Shoeburyness High School Changed its name 1971 Opened: Milton Hall Junior School; Friars Junior School; Shoeburyness Youth Centre Lancaster (Special) became a school in Southchurch Road 1972 Opened: Eastwood High School for Boys 2nd Stage; Bournes Green Infant School; Teachers' Centre 1973 Opened: St Helen's RC Primary School opened replacing the old school in St Helen's Road, Westcliff; Eastwood High School for Girls 2nd Stage; Belfairs High Schools - 3rd Stage; St Thomas More High School for Boys - 2nd Stage; Central Library opened. 1977-1978 Kingsdown School was moved to its present site in Snakes Lane, Eastwood, and the old site was taken over by Lancaster School. 1981 Southchurch Hall School for boys and Dowsett High School for girls join together to form Thorpe Bay High School moving to Southchurch Boulevard. Southchurch Adult Community College is formed on Ambleside Drive 1987 Fairfax and Westborough amalgamated to form Prittlewell High School. 1988 Alleyn Court School moved to its current premises in Thorpe Bay 1989 Thorpe Hall School moves to its current premises in Wakering Road
| 1992 Prittlewell High School moved from Boston Avenue to the Fairfax High School site 1999 St Mary's School moves from East Street to Boston Avenue in the March, formerly Dowsett High School 2003 A successful amalgamation on 1st September of Bournemouth Park Infant School and the Junior School, gave forth a new Bournemouth Park Primary School.
2004 South East Essex College opens its doors in Elmer Square, closing down the Caernarvon Road site. 2006 Chase High School threw open its doors for the first time this year. Previously known as Prittlewell High School Heycroft Primary expands a £1,250,000, a joint government and local authority funded major project was completed - with five new main building classrooms; a new library; new offices and entrance way Headteacher Awarded OBE - Frank Keenan, formerly headteacher of St Thomas More High School was awarded an OBE for services to education. 2007 University opens in the Campus area just off the High Street 2009 Belfairs High School embarks on huge rebuilding scheme, as well as Chase High School in Prittlewell Chase embarking on a new Sixth Form building 2010 South Essex College is the name from 1st Jan Oct 2010 A new college opened this month after 5 years of planning and building combing the Prospects College and the forme Thorpe Bay School on Southchurch Boulevard, now called Future's College
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