Wymondham College

Wymondham College is a state boarding school, located in Norfolk, England, that was the largest in Europe when it opened in 1951. It is a specialist Technology College (Mathematics, Science, ICT & DT) and Modern Foreign Languages college.

History

The School is built on the site of the World War II USAAF 231st Station Hospital, and when the school first opened in 1951 the hospital's Nissen huts were used as classrooms and dormitories. Brick-built accommodation began to appear in the late 1950s but Nissen huts continued to stay in use, principally as classrooms, through to end of the 1990s. The only Nissen hut that remains is the College chapel (there were two others used for storage, but they have been demolished). A memorial garden has been created on the site of the former mortuary (which for many years was used as the technical drawing classroom).

In 1951 there were two separate schools, Grammar and Technical, each with separate Heads. The two merged in the mid-1950s after an uneasy co-existence. The school remained exclusively 'boarding' until the early 1970s, when there was a merger with the County Grammar School, which had been hosted at Wymondham on a 'temporary' basis for the best part of ten years. Grammar School status was lost with the advent of Comprehensive education.

House system

A House system was first established in 1953, using the titles North, South, East and West. As the College expanded and brick-built accommodation was brought into use, the system was revised in the early 1960s and Houses were given names of Cathedral towns and cities:

• Boys: York, Gloucester, Canterbury, Norwich, Durham, Salisbury
• Girls: Wells, Westminster, Worcester, Winchester (with Wakefield and Washington added later)

When mixed boarding Houses were introduced in the early 1970s, the Cathedral House names were scrapped and the Houses adopted the names of the Halls themselves. Peel Hall and Lincoln Hall were converted to a Sixth Form boarding houses in 1978. Subsequently Peel Hall was later converted into a boarding house for year sevens in 1995.

Premises

The accommodation blocks (in order of building) are:

• Peel Hall -(after Sam Peel - previous Chairman of Norfolk Education Committee)
• Lincoln Hall - (after Abraham Lincoln, in honour of the servicemen who were hospitalised there before it became a school - (opened by the US secretary of state Dean Acheson))
• Fry Hall - (after Elizabeth Fry)
• Kett Hall - (after Robert Kett)
• Cavell Hall -(after Edith Cavell)
• New Hall -

A major development is underway and the cost will be in the region of £9.6 million. The work includes a football AstroTurf pitch with floodlights, 9 new classrooms, 2 new science labs (linking the old part of the science block with the newer part), and a stables. There also is a dining room extension which will include the admin block and new staff room. Peel house will be able to expand as there will be room once the staffroom and admin has moved into the new building. The new 6th Form centre will be added to the current boarding house (Lincoln).

The refectory extension/admin block and new classrooms have been completed. The new en-suite bedroom block is scheduled for July 2008.

Notable alumni

• Nicholas Crane, explorer and writer

Mark Strong , actor

References

External links

• Official site
• Wymondham College Association (alumni)
• My Wymondham College Remembered
• Wymondham College Trust