I'm trying to find out any information about Brockley Primary School, now called Beecroft Garden and previously called Brockley Road School. I've found information about it being bombed in WW2 but can't find information about when the school originally opened. Can anyone help?
I've found a photograph dated c1936 which may help. The school is not on the Ordnance Survey map for 1870 but there are two buildings shown on the map as schools by 1894. I think I may have to post the two imag s separately
I'd be happy to pull any documents I can find it n the archive and see if we can find anything which tells us more of the story. The reference that you've found is to some school registers.
Have you actually talked to the school ...I think they did some research on the history when the new school was being built so may well have some stuff that is lf an interest?
The original question was from the school staff. We've now found out quite a bit from the London Metropolitan Archive the school was opened in 1894 as Brockley Road school. It was built on land bought by the London School Board from Christ's hospital. (Christ's Hospital owned a substantial amount of land in the Brockley Area which was given to them some centuries ago by one Roger Knott.) We know that the building was badly damaged during the Second World War and it was demolished and rebuilt as part of a contract let by the London County Council for work on 16 schools. The school officially reopened as Brockley Primary School in 1951.
The LMA have a large number of microfilm copies of school registers. It is not possible to easily photograph these and they would only be of particular interest in tracing individual pupils. There are also quite a number of original documents which are described in the following paragraphs. The numbers are the LMA catalogue numbers should you wish to look at them for yourself.
LC/AR/CON/02/02/6025
This is a contract let by the London County Council for construction work on 16 schools including Brockley Primary School
SC/PHL/02/Box0305
This is a box of photographs of a number of London schools. There is a bundle of Brockley school mostly dating from the 1951 official reopening and recording various aspects of school life. I've taken photographs of a number of them.
LCC/AR/SCH/161
This is a roll of plans of the school between 1892 and 1948 including plans of war damage for repair. I have taken some photographs.
GLC/AR/BR/07/6128
This is a curiosity, it is a London County Council architects department file which contains some plans and details of periodic surveys of the buildings between November 1943 and November 1958. These seem to have been carried out so that temporary licenses could be given to the school for public music and dancing. The rest of the file consists of temporary licence applications. I've taken photographs of one example which was granted to Edward William Hudson for an event on 24/7/61. It cost him ten shillings and was for dancing and a 'show'. The file also contains a number of plans of the post war school, I've photographed one of them.
CLC/210/G/BKD/06/MS13419
The 1889 and 1892 conveyances to land in Beecroft Rd and Brockley Rd from Christs Hospital to the London School Board. Part of Roger Knott's gift to Christs Hospital