Hendon: Education

EDUCATION.

It is doubtful whether a schoolmaster recorded in 1586 (fn. 1) was connected with Hendon charity school, which existed by 1685. A second charity school, with branches at Church End and Mill Hill, was founded by John Bennett in 1766 and merged with the older school in 1788. (fn. 2) The poor in 1819 were said to be without the means of education: (fn. 3) the branch at Mill Hill had been closed after 1802 (fn. 4) and up to 100 children there had needed instruction in 1816. (fn. 5) An infants' school was established opposite the King's Head by 1828 (fn. 6) but it was not until 1835 that complaints led to the opening of a permanent, National, school at Mill Hill. (fn. 7) The southern part of the parish was served c. 1830 by a dame school at Childs Hill, which moved to a building at Cowhouse Green, said to form part of the later no. 17 Cricklewood Lane. (fn. 8) In 1856 the pupils were transferred to the new National school at Childs Hill. (fn. 9)

Methodists began a night school in 1827, (fn. 10) Congregationalists opened New Brent Street British school in 1856, and another British school followed at Childs Hill in 1870. The first Roman Catholic elementary school was opened at Mill Hill in 1873 and the second at the Burroughs in 1896. Anglican opposition delayed until 1897 the establishment of a school board; (fn. 11) in 1884 the vicar wrote that Hendon was the only parish in the area without a board and that it hoped to remain so. (fn. 12) Areas of expanding population suffered from lack of funds for building. At West Hendon nonconformists contributed to the Anglican school built in 1889, after seeing shoeless children walking the 1½ mile to Church End, (fn. 13) and in 1889 the Hendon schools emergency committee was set up to give grants to elementary schools, regardless of their affiliations. (fn. 14)

By 1898 parliamentary grants were received by 12 schools, six of them Anglican, three Roman Catholic and three, all formerly nonconformist, run by the school board. (fn. 15) Four new schools were built by the board in 1901 before its supersession by Hendon U.D., a Part III authority under the Education Act of 1902. (fn. 16) The U.D.C. provided several central, secondary modern, and primary schools between the two World Wars to cater for the new housing estates, until in 1938 it controlled 28 schools, two of them in the old parish of Edgware. (fn. 17) Under the 1944 Education Act Hendon became an excepted district under the supreme control of the education committee of Middlesex C.C. (fn. 18) In 1965 responsibility for education passed to Barnet L.B.; in 1969 there were 25 primary, 3 secondary modern, 3 bilateral, and 5 grammar schools, as well as one special school, within the old parish. (fn. 19) Woodcroft, St. David's, Copthall, and Hendon grammar schools were reorganized under comprehensive plans in 1970. (fn. 20)

Elementary schools founded before 1903. (fn. 21)

Hendon charity school in 1685 was being managed by trustees, who held half a house and half an orchard at the Burroughs. (fn. 22) A house at the Burroughs was purchased by the parish in 1707 (fn. 23) and in 1709 the vestry ordered that the school dames be paid for giving the children religious instruction, as well as for teaching them in their horn books and primers. (fn. 24) Twenty boys and 10 girls attended in 1710, when the school was supported by voluntary subscriptions which amounted to £20 a year, by gifts worth £100, and by offertory collections. (fn. 25) In 1727 it was endowed under the will of Nicholas Bradshaw with the interest on £300. (fn. 26)

A second charity school was founded in 1766 by John Bennett, who built a school-house on waste ground given by David Garrick at Church End, adjoining Daniel's alms-houses. (fn. 27) Bennett left the school £100 and in 1772 John Crosse endowed it with £250 stock; it was also supported by voluntary subscriptions, gifts, and annual charity sermons, a treasurer and sub-treasurer being appointed annually by the subscribers. (fn. 28) In 1788 65 boys and girls were educated under the charity, 30 of them at Hendon and the rest at a branch at Mill Hill, the date of whose foundation is not known. There was one schoolmaster at each school and 20 children received free clothing. (fn. 29)

Bennett's schools and the charity school merged in 1788 as Hendon charity school, which took over Bennett's building at Church End, where another schoolroom was added. The teachers were examined annually by the subscribers and in 1789 the schoolmaster and his wife, 'too imbecile and full of engagements', were dismissed. (fn. 30) Bell's monitorial system was being used in 1816. (fn. 31) By 1819 the number of pupils had risen to 109 and the yearly income was £160, of which £60 came from endowments. (fn. 32) The school was united with the National Society in 1828 and was later called St. Mary's National school. (fn. 33) In 1851 accommodation was too small for the 175 pupils (fn. 34) and in 1857 they moved to a red-brick building in Church Walk, paid for by Lord Tenterden. (fn. 35) The buildings at Church End, which had acquired a neo-Tudor facade in the early 19th century, were later used by Hendon Baptist church (fn. 36) and as a working mens' club; (fn. 37) they were demolished in 1937. (fn. 38) The new school buildings were extended in 1860, (fn. 39) 1881, (fn. 40) and 1915, (fn. 41) and in 1938 they contained 221 senior boys and girls and 249 juniors. The seniors moved to the new St. Mary's secondary modern school in 1960, (fn. 42) leaving the juniors to form St. Mary's primary school, whose pupils in 1973 moved to Prothero Gardens.

St. Paul's school, Mill Hill, opened in 1835 in a stuccoed building adjoining the church, on land given by Sir James Flower. (fn. 43) It began as a branch of St. Mary's National school but from 1849 it was managed independently, although still assisted by subscribers to the school at Church End. (fn. 44) There were 105 pupils in 1836 (fn. 45) and 143 in 1893. (fn. 46) Extensions were carried out in 1874 (fn. 47) and again in 1969. St. Paul's, a Voluntary Aided school, had 185 juniors and infants in 1974.

All Saints' school, Childs Hill, opened in 1856 in a new building with three rooms in Childs Walk. (fn. 48) There were 54 pupils in the first year (fn. 49) and 485 by 1906. Extensions were carried out between 1870 and 1890 (fn. 50) and again, after an adverse report, in 1922. A new building was erected in 1962 and extended in 1968. (fn. 51) The school was Voluntary Aided in 1974, when there were 226 pupils on the roll.

New Brent Street British school opened for girls in 1856 and for boys in 1858 in a building leased from Thomas Spalding and others and consisting of separate rooms for boys, girls, and infants. (fn. 52) It was financed at first by Spalding and other local Congregationalists. (fn. 53) There were 111 pupils in 1868 (fn. 54) but rising numbers necessitated rebuilding in the 1880s, (fn. 55) and in 1893 there were 249 pupils. (fn. 56) The school was placed under Hendon school board in 1898 (fn. 57) and closed in 1901, when pupils were transferred to the central board school.

Childs Hill British school opened in 1870 in a new building adjoining the Baptist chapel in the Mead, containing two schoolrooms and a classroom. (fn. 58) In its first year the school had an average attendance of 26 girls and 40 infants, taught by one mistress, (fn. 59) but by 1898, when it was transferred to the school board, attendance had risen to 242. (fn. 60) The school was closed in 1901, when pupils moved to Childs Hill board school.

St. Michael's Roman Catholic school, Mill Hill, was founded by the Franciscan nuns of St. Mary's abbey in 1873 and superseded by St. Vincent's school in 1896. The cottage occupied by St. Michael's was later used as a science room by St. Mary's Abbey school. (fn. 61)

St. Peter's school, Cricklewood, opened in 1883 in a two-roomed building which was also used for Sunday evening services. (fn. 62) There was an average attendance of 25 infants in the first year and of 108 in 1893. (fn. 63) The school closed in 1917. (fn. 64)

Burnt Oak Church of England school opened in 1884 in a corrugated-iron building, provided by the vicar of Hendon and also used for Sunday services. (fn. 65) At first there was an average attendance of 34 girls, who were taught in one schoolroom. (fn. 66) In 1901 the school was replaced by Burnt Oak board school. The buildings thereafter served as a mission church, (fn. 67) although in 1927 and 1928 they housed some pupils from Burnt Oak council school. (fn. 68)

West Hendon Free Church school opened in 1885 on a site in Edgware Road belonging to Hendon Baptist chapel. It was supported by voluntary contributions and in 1897 had 77 children taught in one schoolroom. (fn. 69) The school passed to Hendon school board in 1898 (fn. 70) and was closed in 1901, when its pupils moved to Algernon Road.

St. John's school, West Hendon, opened in 1889 in Milton Road, on a site purchased out of the Bishop of London's Fund, and at first accommodated only girls and infants in a schoolroom and a classroom. (fn. 71) In 1893 there were 126 pupils, when the building was enlarged; (fn. 72) and in 1896, with the completion of St. John's church, a separate boys' department was opened in the old temporary church, to cater for the children of workers at the new Schweppes's factory. (fn. 73) There were 359 pupils in 1906. In 1974 St. John's, a Voluntary Aided school, had 157 infants and 260 juniors in adjoining buildings in Prothero Gardens.

Hendon Roman Catholic school, later known as St. Mary's and, from 1967, as St. Joseph's R.C. primary school, opened in 1889. During the first year an average of 65 boys and girls attended a schoolroom and classroom in Chapel Walk, off Egerton Gardens, where they were taught by sisters from St. Joseph's convent. (fn. 74) There were 125 pupils in 1938. In 1967 the school moved to new premises with accommodation for 500 children in Watford Way, whereupon the old buildings were turned into a social centre for the parish of Our Lady of Dolours. (fn. 75) There were 234 infants and 305 juniors on the roll in 1974.

St. Vincent's Roman Catholic school was opened in 1896 by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul on a site adjoining Littleberries, replacing St. Michael's school. (fn. 76) St. Vincent's contained one room for junior boys and girls and another for infants. (fn. 77) There were 62 pupils in 1898 (fn. 78) and 137 by 1938. In 1969 the school contained junior mixed and infants' departments, and was separate from the adjoining boarding school, which was founded by the sisters as an orphanage in 1887 and catered in 1969 for 80 deprived boys and girls. (fn. 79) There were 242 juniors and infants on the roll in 1974.

The Good Shepherd Roman Catholic school, from 1906 St. Agnes's Roman Catholic primary school, opened in Gillingham Road, Childs Hill, in 1895. It consisted of a single schoolroom, where an average of 25 boys and girls was taught in the first year. A new building was erected in 1906 (fn. 80) and greatly extended in 1939. There were 400 children on the roll in 1970. (fn. 81)

Childs Hill board school opened in Granville Road in 1899 and moved to a permanent building in Dersingham Road in 1901, when it replaced Childs Hill British school. (fn. 82) There was accommodation for 1,007 in 1906, when the attendance was 918, and for 800 in 1938. In 1974 the premises were occupied by Childs Hill junior mixed and infants' school, which had 348 children on the roll.

Hendon central board school, Bell Lane, opened in 1901. (fn. 83) There was accommodation for 684 in 1906, when the attendance was 466, for 948 in 1919, and for 710 in 1938. In 1974 Bell Lane junior mixed and infants' school, on the same site, had 386 children on the roll.

Algernon Road board school, opened in 1901, (fn. 84) had accommodation for 1,010 in 1906 and 1919 and for 816 in 1938. In 1974 there were adjoining schools, with 286 juniors and 206 infants on their respective rolls.

Burnt Oak board school opened in 1901. (fn. 85) There was accommodation for 296 in 1906 and 1919 and for 360 in 1938. The school closed between 1937 and 1957. (fn. 86)

Elementary schools founded between 1903 and 1945. (fn. 87)

The Hyde school, opened in 1909, accommodated 848 pupils in 1919 and 860 in 1938. Separate schools occupied the site in 1974, with 226 juniors and 219 infants on their respective rolls.

Garden Suburb school opened in 1909 and moved from the institute to a new building in Childs Way in 1913. There was accommodation for 990 in 1919, when the attendance was 599, and for 870 in 1938. In 1974 there was a junior school, with 388 children enrolled, and an infants', with 298.

Wessex Gardens school, Golders Green, opened in 1920 and accommodated 940 in 1938. In 1970 there were 300 children in the junior school and 184 in the infants'.

Colindale infants' school opened in Colindeep Lane in 1921 and moved to a new building for juniors and infants in Woodfield Avenue in 1933, when it was attended by 236 children. In 1938 there was accommodation for 500 and the attendance was 482. In 1970 it had 490 children on the roll.

Woodcroft school, Goldbeaters Grove, opened in 1928. There was accommodation for 1,304 in 1938, when the attendance was 1,042. In 1968 a separate senior school was erected in Page Street, which in 1970 was attended by 520 girls. Woodcroft junior school in 1970 had 590 children on the roll.

Barnfield school, Silkstream Road, opened in 1928. There was accommodation for 1,264 in 1938, when the attendance was 902. In 1964 the secondary boys moved to extended premises at St. David's Place, Park Road. In 1970 Barnfield junior mixed and infants' school had 240 children on the roll.

The Meads school, Burnt Oak, opened in 1930. There was accommodation for 360 in 1938, when it was attended by 228 children. It closed between 1964 and 1969.

Deansbrook school, Hale Drive, opened in 1931. There was accommodation for 800 in 1938, when the attendance was 624. In 1974 there was a junior school, with 376 children, and an infants', with 286.

Goldbeaters school, Thirleby Road, opened in 1931. There was accommodation for 1,512 in 1938, when attendance was only 1,017. In 1974 it was a junior mixed and infants' school, with 273 children on the roll.

The Annunciation Roman Catholic school, Thirleby Road, opened in 1931. There was accommodation for 336 in 1938, when it was attended by 268 children. In 1974 the school was Voluntary Aided. It has an annexe in North Road and 525 juniors and infants on the roll.

Clitterhouse school, Claremont Road, opened in 1934 and accommodated 400 in 1938. In 1974 there was a junior school, with 238 children enrolled, and an infants', with 166.

Sunnyfields school, Sunningfields Road, existed by 1938, when it accommodated 300 infants. Juniors were admitted from 1971 and there were 204 children on the roll in 1974.

Dollis school, Pursley Road, opened in 1939. In 1974 there was a junior school, with 400 children enrolled, and an infants', with 338.

Frith Manor school, Lullington Garth, opened in 1939 and in 1970 was attended by 149 infants and 244 juniors.

Primary schools founded after 1945.

The Fairway school, Mill Hill, opened in 1952. Hutted classrooms were added in 1955 and there were 180 juniors and infants on the roll in 1970.

Courtland school, Courtland Avenue, Mill Hill, opened in 1954 and had 330 juniors and infants on the roll in 1970.

Secondary and senior schools.

Henrietta Barnett school was founded as a girls' grammar school in 1909 in the Garden Suburb institute. In 1969, when the school was Voluntary Aided, there were 600 pupils.

Hendon county, later Hendon grammar, school opened in Golders Rise in 1914. A gymnasium and new wing were added in 1930 and further extensions were carried out in 1960. There were 636 boys and girls on the roll in 1970. After comprehensive reorganization, the premises in Golders Rise housed Hendon senior high school, while St. David's Place in Park Road housed Hendon junior high school.

Orange Hill central schools opened in 1932 in Abbots Road, accommodating 720 boys and girls in 1938. The schools became grammar schools in 1948, when they were extended. In 1970 there were 478 girls in Hamonde Close, whither they had moved in 1965, and 550 boys at Abbots Road. In 1974 the former girls' premises were occupied by Orange Hill junior high school and the boys' by Orange Hill senior high school.

St. James's Roman Catholic, later St. James's bilateral, school opened in 1934 in the grounds of St. Rose's convent and afterwards took over the convent's school. There was accommodation for 320 boys and girls in 1938. St. James's was Voluntary Aided in 1974, when there were 1,452 children enrolled.

Copthall grammar school for girls opened in Page Street in 1936. A science block was later added and in 1970 there were 566 children enrolled.

Brent secondary modern school opened in Sturgess Avenue in 1936 and accommodated 400 pupils in 1938. They moved to a new building in St. David's Place in 1964, together with senior boys from Barnfield school, to form St. David's secondary school. There were 500 boys enrolled in 1970, before the premises were taken over for Hendon junior high school.

The Hasmonean grammar school was founded in 1945 as a co-educational school in the Drive, Golders Green, by Rabbi S. Schonfeld, principal of the Jewish Secondary Schools Movement. In 1947 the boys moved to Ravensfield, which was later extended and had 465 pupils in 1969, when the school was Voluntary Aided. In 1952 the girls left Golders Green for Downhurst, a former private school in Parson Street, which was later extended and had 289 pupils in 1974.

Moat Mount secondary modern, later bilateral, school opened in Worcester Crescent in 1957. It was extended in 1969 and had 730 boys and girls on the roll in 1970.

St. Mary's Church of England secondary modern school was built in Downage on land bought by the diocesan authorities. Senior boys and girls from the old National school moved there in 1960. St. Mary's, which was Voluntary Aided, had 580 pupils in 1974.

Whitefield bilateral school, Claremont Road, was opened in 1964 and extended in 1969. There were 1,000 boys and girls on the roll in 1970.

Secondary departments also existed at Barnfield (boys), Woodcroft (girls), Goldbeaters, and the Hyde (mixed) schools.

Special school.

Northway school, the Fairway, opened in 1967 for slow-learning boys and girls from the northern and western parts of Barnet L.B. There were 83 pupils, aged from 5 to 14, in 1970.

Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute, (fn. 88) the first centre of adult and further education in Hendon, opened in a neo-Georgian building designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1909. It was at first used for lectures and meetings on social problems but later housed the Henrietta Barnett school, as well as adult-education classes. The original building, the Old Institute hall, has become the north wing; the Queen Mary hall was opened as a south wing in 1918 and the connecting block, Crewe hall, in 1935. A temporary annexe was built in 1955. In 1970 the institute housed, besides the school, an arts establishment, a department of English for foreign students, and a local centre for the ExtraMural Department of London University. There were 2,934 students on the roll.

Hendon College of Technology, (fn. 89) in the Burroughs, was designed in the neo-Georgian style by H. W. Burchett and opened in 1939. In 1955 there were minor extensions and in 1969 a new refectory block and an engineering block were being built. By 1969 there were 1,700 evening students, 1,380 students taking short full-time or part-time day courses, and 1,350 on full-time or sandwich courses. From 1973 the college formed part of Middlesex Polytechnic. (fn. 90)

Private schools.

In 1660 Richard Swift (d. 1701), the ejected curate of Edgware, started a small but short-lived boarding academy, possibly for Quakers, at Mill Hill. (fn. 91) In 1788 the old charity school premises at the Burroughs was taken over by the vestry clerk as a private school for day-boys and boarders which lasted until 1819, when the building was turned into cottages. (fn. 92) By 1835 there were 12 private schools in the parish, (fn. 93) where many more were later established in large houses: Brent Bridge House was a boys' preparatory school in 1872, (fn. 94) Hendon Hall served as a school for 'daughters of gentlemen' in 1902, (fn. 95) Belmont House became a boys' preparatory school in 1912, (fn. 96) and Tenterden Hall, formerly Hendon Place, was a boys' school in 1930. (fn. 97) Some schools were established as a result of the opening of Mill Hill school in 1807, while others followed the building of large Roman Catholic convents. In the 20th century several private schools, including the Hasmonean boys' and girls' grammar schools, have catered for Jewish immigrants. The more notable surviving private and Voluntary Aided schools are described below.

St. George's school, a small and select boarding establishment for girls, was opened by the Franciscan nuns at Holcombe House (fn. 98) in 1879. In 1902 it took over a building to the south, which from 1876 had been the home of St. Margaret's industrial school for 100 pauper girls, and was renamed St. Mary's Abbey school. There were 48 boarders, many of them foreign, and 69 day girls in 1969. A preparatory department, St. Anthony's school, opened in 1911 and later moved to Hale Lane, Mill Hill, where in 1969 it was run on Montessori lines.

La Sagesse Convent school originated in classes held by the Daughters of Wisdom at Woodstock House, Golders Green, soon after their move there in 1909. Later they opened an independent day and boarding school for girls of all ages, extending the premises in 1926-7 and 1932. From 1965 the school catered for backward children, of whom there were 86 on the roll in 1969. (fn. 99)

Belmont school was founded in 1912 in Belmont House by Rooker Roberts, a master at Mill Hill school. It opened as a junior house of Mill Hill but became a separate preparatory school after the First World War, when it was extended. In 1969 there were 190 pupils, 80 of them day boys, aged between 7 and 13. (fn. 100)

King Alfred school, a 'rational school' founded in Hampstead in 1898, moved in 1919 to Manor Wood, North End Road. Alterations at the rear of the school were carried out in a modernistic style in 1934-6 to the designs of F. C. Kaufmann. (fn. 101) In 1969 there were 350 boys and girls aged between 4 and 20. (fn. 102)

The Mount school, (fn. 103) a girls' boarding school founded by Mary Macgregor in Highgate in 1925, moved in 1935 to the Mount, Milespit Hill. Extensions were carried out in 1946 and in the 1950s. There were 200 girls aged 8 to 18 on the roll in 1969. (fn. 104)