Huyton College
Encyclopedia
Huyton College was an independent day and boarding school for girls founded in England in 1894 as the sister school to Liverpool College with which it merged on 27 July 1993, a few months short of its 100th birthday. The Liverpool College for Girls, Huyton, as it was originally known, was started in 1894 and intended to be parallel to the Liverpool College Boys' Upper School. It catered for girls between the ages of 4 and 18. In its early days, and towards the end of its time based at Huyton Hall before the merger, it also took day boys up to the age of seven. It was an example of a type of elite independent school known in the UK as a 'public' school. The school is mentioned in the book "The Wildcats of St Trinian's" by Frank Launder.
. Huyton Hall and Fernwood http://history.knowsley.gov.uk/show_photo.msql?reference=HU288&search=72 had been originally built by the Beecham
family. Within the grounds there were extensive gardens, playing fields set up as lacrosse pitches, a large sports hall, tennis and netball courts, a swimming pool, extensive laboratories, an art room with kiln, an extensive music suite with practice rooms, a domestic science kitchen, needlework room, secretarial training suite, school bookshop and a large sanatorium. There was also a large school hall with stage, professional lighting and a Bechstein grand piano, a fiction library and a large panelled reference library where older girls would study during free periods. The Orchard was the main access road through the grounds, which was a public right of way and which effectively divided the school site into two. The headmistress lived on site in Greenhill, a house originally inhabited by Lord and Lady Cozens-Hardy, and some other members of staff lived on site from time to time. The main school buildings were predominantly mid-Victorian converted domestic homes (with original bell pulls, claw foot baths and servants' staircases still in place in a lot of cases). Large building programmes had taken place in the 1930s, 1960s and 1980s to extend the school. The school buildings and grounds have now been redeveloped into private residential housing. The four main boarding houses are now residential homes for the elderly.
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coat, jacket and cap specially woven for the school in Scotland, with matching tweed skirt and blue nylon, later cotton, sky blue blouse, a navy tie and a French blue wool sweater. A black full length wool cloak with a cowl hood lined in felt with individual house colours was also part of the uniform (red for St Hilda's, yellow for St Margaret's, green for St. Mary's and blue for St. Clare's), worn by both boarders and day girls to keep them warm whilst running back and forth from houses. The summer uniform was a black wool blazer, cotton Calpreta print dress (again in house colours) and a straw boater with blue trim.
registered choir. Canon Donald Gray was the School Chaplain in the 1970s and early 1980s; he became the Rector of Liverpool and then Chaplain of the House of Commons, Rector of St Margaret's, Westminster Abbey and Chaplain to the Queen, and was well known in the Church of England
for leading the 1980s rewrite of the Order of Communion service, amongst others. The school chapel was used on a daily basis for both morning prayer and until the late 1970s, evensong (for the boarders), as well as Sunday services, baptisms and confirmations, and choral concerts. The chapel choir recorded albums in the late 1970s and late 1980s, and appeared on television during the semi-finals of the National School Choir Competition in 1983.
in the Lake District
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School buildings and grounds
The main school administration was based in Huyton Hall with some classrooms in the adjoining building, which was called FernwoodFernwood
-Places:Canada*Fernwood, Greater Victoria, a neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia*Fernwood, Halifax, a National Historic Gothic Revival-style villaUnited Kingdom*Fernwood, Nottinghamshire, a parish in Newark and Sherwood DistrictUnited States of America...
. Huyton Hall and Fernwood http://history.knowsley.gov.uk/show_photo.msql?reference=HU288&search=72 had been originally built by the Beecham
Thomas Beecham (chemist)
Thomas Beecham was the founder of Beechams, which became one of the United Kingdom's largest pharmaceutical businesses.-Career:...
family. Within the grounds there were extensive gardens, playing fields set up as lacrosse pitches, a large sports hall, tennis and netball courts, a swimming pool, extensive laboratories, an art room with kiln, an extensive music suite with practice rooms, a domestic science kitchen, needlework room, secretarial training suite, school bookshop and a large sanatorium. There was also a large school hall with stage, professional lighting and a Bechstein grand piano, a fiction library and a large panelled reference library where older girls would study during free periods. The Orchard was the main access road through the grounds, which was a public right of way and which effectively divided the school site into two. The headmistress lived on site in Greenhill, a house originally inhabited by Lord and Lady Cozens-Hardy, and some other members of staff lived on site from time to time. The main school buildings were predominantly mid-Victorian converted domestic homes (with original bell pulls, claw foot baths and servants' staircases still in place in a lot of cases). Large building programmes had taken place in the 1930s, 1960s and 1980s to extend the school. The school buildings and grounds have now been redeveloped into private residential housing. The four main boarding houses are now residential homes for the elderly.
Boarding
At the time of its closure, the main boarding house names were St Hilda's (named after Hilda of Whitby), St Mary's (named after the mother of Christ), St Margaret's (named after the devout Scottish queen), and St Clare's (named after the founder of the religious order of the Poor Clares). Previously there had also been other boarding houses, including St. Joan's, St Bride's and the houses for prep school pupils, St Anne's (boarding) and St Catherine's (main preparatory school teaching building). During the mid-20th century there was a further boarding house outside the school compound, at the bottom of the hill, called St Helena's, where, whenever possible, children whose parents lived abroad were housed, so that they felt they were 'going home' at the end of the school day. Sixth formers were housed at The Grange. In the last 20 years or so of the school's presence in Huyton, day girls had access to the boarding houses and their common rooms during their lunch hours, so they could feel fully part of the extended school community. Boarding houses were staffed by a housemistress and a relief housemistress who would provide cover during the main housemistress's 24 hour period off each week. By the late 1970s, approximately 25 boarders belonged to each boarding house, although they did their homework (known as prep) in the main school building and took their meals in the main school dining room in Huyton Hall/FernwoodFernwood
-Places:Canada*Fernwood, Greater Victoria, a neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia*Fernwood, Halifax, a National Historic Gothic Revival-style villaUnited Kingdom*Fernwood, Nottinghamshire, a parish in Newark and Sherwood DistrictUnited States of America...
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Uniform
In the early days of the school, girls wore long dark skirts and white blouses. By the 1960s, the school uniform was divided into two seasons, winter and summer. It was available from George Henry Lee, a branch of John Lewis based in Liverpool. The winter attire was a blue Harris tweedHarris Tweed
Harris Tweed is a cloth that has been handwoven by the islanders on the Isles of Harris, Lewis, Uist and Barra in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, using local wool....
coat, jacket and cap specially woven for the school in Scotland, with matching tweed skirt and blue nylon, later cotton, sky blue blouse, a navy tie and a French blue wool sweater. A black full length wool cloak with a cowl hood lined in felt with individual house colours was also part of the uniform (red for St Hilda's, yellow for St Margaret's, green for St. Mary's and blue for St. Clare's), worn by both boarders and day girls to keep them warm whilst running back and forth from houses. The summer uniform was a black wool blazer, cotton Calpreta print dress (again in house colours) and a straw boater with blue trim.
School chapel and choir
The centre of spiritual life in the school was the chapel, with its Royal School of Church MusicRoyal School of Church Music
The largest church music organisation in Britain, the Royal School of Church Music was founded in 1927 by Sir Sydney Nicholson and has 11,000 members worldwide; it was originally named the School of English Church Music. It seeks to enable church music in the present and invest in its future,...
registered choir. Canon Donald Gray was the School Chaplain in the 1970s and early 1980s; he became the Rector of Liverpool and then Chaplain of the House of Commons, Rector of St Margaret's, Westminster Abbey and Chaplain to the Queen, and was well known in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
for leading the 1980s rewrite of the Order of Communion service, amongst others. The school chapel was used on a daily basis for both morning prayer and until the late 1970s, evensong (for the boarders), as well as Sunday services, baptisms and confirmations, and choral concerts. The chapel choir recorded albums in the late 1970s and late 1980s, and appeared on television during the semi-finals of the National School Choir Competition in 1983.
World War II evacuation
During the Second World War, the girls were relocated to Blackwell HouseBlackwell (historic house)
Blackwell is a large house designed in the Arts and Crafts style by Baillie Scott. It was built 1898–1900, and is listed grade I as an outstanding example of British domestic architecture. The house was built as a holiday home for Sir Edward Holt, a wealthy Manchester brewer...
in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
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Notable alumni
- Mary ArdenMary ArdenMary Shakespeare, née Mary Arden, was the mother of William Shakespeare. She was the daughter of Robert Arden and his first wife Mary Arden née Mary Webb . The Arden family had been prominent in Warwickshire since before the Norman Conquest...
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(b. 1968), TV presenter - Gillian Greenwood, Former series editor of the South Bank Show, former editor of the Literary Review, and novelist Profile
- Rachel Grimshaw (b. 1968) Ceramicist and winner of the 2004 Ivan Massow Ceramic Award Profile
- Rex HarrisonRex HarrisonSir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
(1908–1990), Actor - Hilary Heilbron QC (b.1949) Barrister, Queen's Counsel and daughter of Rose HeilbronRose HeilbronDame Rose Heilbron, DBE, QC was one of the outstanding barristers of the post-war period in the United Kingdom, whose career included many 'firsts' for a woman - she was the first woman to win a scholarship to Gray's Inn, the first woman to be appointed King's Counsel in England, the first to lead...
DBE, the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey Entry in Debrett's - Dr Sandra Leaton Gray (b. 1967) Educationalist Profile
- Anne Morris DL, Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside Merseyside Lieutenancy
- Barbara PymBarbara PymBarbara Mary Crampton Pym was an English novelist. In 1977 her career was revived when two prominent writers, Lord David Cecil and Philip Larkin, nominated her as the most underrated writer of the century...
(1913–1980), Novelist - Deryn Rees-Jones (b. 1968) Poet Profile
- Lady Edith Rifkind, Patron of the Multiple Sclerosis TrustMultiple Sclerosis TrustThe Multiple Sclerosis Trust is an independent, national UK charity that was established in 1993.The MS Trust works to provide information for anyone affected by multiple sclerosis, education programmes for health professionals, funding for practical research and campaigns for specialist MS...
, wife of MP Malcolm RifkindMalcolm RifkindSir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind KCMG QC MP is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Kensington. He served in various roles as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including Secretary of State for Scotland , Defence Secretary and...
and mother of journalist Hugo RifkindHugo RifkindHugo Rifkind is a columnist for The Times and The Spectator and the son of MP and former Conservative and Unionist Cabinet Minister, Sir Malcolm Rifkind.-Early life and education:... - Dr Wendy Slater (b. 1968) Russian scholar and Deputy Editor of The Annual Register
- Catherine Tinker (b. 1912) Chemist and one of the first women members of the Chemical SocietyChemical SocietyThe Chemical Society was formed in 1841 as a result of increased interest in scientific matters....
Profile