The Greenock Academy | |
---|---|
Address | |
Madeira Street , Renfrewshire , PA16 7XE Scotland | |
Coordinates | 55°57′22″N4°46′44″W / 55.956°N 4.779°W Coordinates: 55°57′22″N4°46′44″W / 55.956°N 4.779°W |
Information | |
Type | Secondary School (1855–2011) Secondary and Primary School (1855–1976) |
Motto | 'Hinc Vera Virtus' ('From This Place Comes True Worth') |
Established | 1855 |
Closed | 2011 2015 (demolished) |
Local authority | Inverclyde |
Headteacher | Moira McColl (2001-2011) |
Gender | Coeducational |
Age | 11to 18 |
Colour(s) | Maroon / white (Greenock Academy Colours) Maroon And Yellow (Waterloo Road) |
Website | http://greenockacademy.inverclyde.sch.uk |
The Greenock Academy was a mixed non-denominational school in the west end of Greenock, Scotland, founded in 1855, originally independent, later a grammar school with a primary department, and finally a Comprehensive school only for ages eleven to eighteen. On 24 June 2011, Greenock Academy closed after a history spanning 156 years. Between 2012 and 2015, the school became the filming location of BBC One's school drama Waterloo Road .
The Greenock Academy was opened as a fee paying secondary and primary establishment in September 1855 in Nelson Street, Greenock. The school lay at this central Greenock location for almost a century of its lifetime before the building was demolished and moved to a modern building in Madeira Street of Greenock's west end, on the site of the old Balclutha mansion. The Nelson Street site is now occupied by the Finnart Campus of James Watt College. The new Academy featured both a secondary and primary school with the later named 'south wing' area being the primary school. On 29 December 1968 BBC Scotland's version of Songs of Praise came from the school; the rest of the UK saw it from Holy Trinity Platt Church in Rusholme, Manchester. The school had a yacht club, and competed in the Clark Cup of Mudhook Yacht Club at Helensburgh. [1] Another similar school with a yacht club was Rothesay Academy on the Isle of Bute.
On 4 April 2015, the final stage in the school's history was brought forth as the demolition of the Madeira Street building was announced as being scheduled in September 2015, at an estimated cost of £164,000, following the end of filming use in the then anticipated date of May 2014. [2] Plans for demolition appeared to be brought forward, however, as work began on flattening the former school in February 2015. Future potential use of the Greenock Academy site is currently unknown, but it will be sold off by the council for redevelopment - the Glenpark Early Learning Centre was constructed at the top of the site and completed in 2018. [3]
The primary department was abolished in 1976 and the lower door handles and alphabet tiles still remained into the years as a secondary school. The Madeira Street campus remained open through into the new millennium as Greenock Academy clocked up its 150th year in 2005. Three years later, the school was named as the best non-denominational school in Scotland and still remained within the top 10% of Scottish secondary schools long after the announcement. The disrepair of the ageing building overthrew the academic performance of the academy and in 2011 the school prepared to close after 156 years in service. The Greenock Academy and Gourock High School merged into a new school in the Bayhill area of Gourock. The new school, on the site previously occupied by St Columba's High School, Gourock, [4] is known as Clydeview Academy and opened in 2011. [5]
On 27 October 2011, the BBC announced that they had selected the Madeira Street building of Greenock Academy to film a new series of the TV drama Waterloo Road , following the production's move up north to nearby Glasgow. The site was leased from Inverclyde Council. [6] On 2 April 2014, it was announced that the 10th series of Waterloo Road was to be the last as the BBC "believe it has reached the end of its lifecycle". [7] Filming concluded on the set in August 2014. [8]
The principals of the Greenock Academy always had the title of 'Rector'. As of 2008, Alan McDougall and Moira McColl are the only two surviving individuals to have held the post. Upon the merger of Greenock Academy and Gourock High School, a new principal was appointed, Mr William Todd, who remains the incumbent Rector of Clydeview Academy.
Rector | Start of office | End of office | Duration (years) | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robert Buchanan | 1855 | 1860 | 5 | First rector of Greenock Academy. Resigned from office in 1860. |
Archibald Montgomerie | 1860 | 1872 | 12 | Originally a Mathematics Scholar. |
Edward L. Neilson | 1872 | 1893 | 21 | First Classics Scholar to take up the post. |
Alexander Gemmell | 1893 | 1930 | 37 | Appointed at the age of 28, he was the longest serving Rector of the Academy, serving for 37 years, and was largely responsible for the beginning of formal 'Games' at the Greenock Academy. |
William Baird Taylor | 1930 | 1941 | 11 | Previously the principal teacher of English at the academy and rector of Johnstone High School. |
William Dewar | 1941 | 1947 | 6 | Resigned from the academy in 1947 to become rector of George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. |
James W. Chadwin | 1947 | 1967 | 20 | Rector during the transfer of campuses of the academy. |
Robert K. Campbell | 1967 | 1990 | 23 | At the forefront of banning corporal punishment in schools, he abolished the belt in the academy two years before it was officially banned at the national level. Campbell died in 2008. |
Alan McDougall | 1991 | 1999 | 9 | The last male rector of Greenock Academy, he retired from the post in December 1999. His deputy rector, Patrick Innes, became the acting principal of the Academy until a permanent successor had been decided. |
Moira A. McColl | 2000 | 2011 | 11 | The last rector of Greenock Academy and the only female rector in its history, she was still in office when the school closed in June 2011. |
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy.(October 2012) |
Inverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which currently exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area – located in the west central Lowlands. It borders the North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire council areas, and is otherwise surrounded by the Firth of Clyde.
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles. The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula, which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. Within the Firth of Clyde is another major island – the Isle of Bute. Given its strategic location at the entrance to the middle and upper Clyde, Bute played a vital naval military role during World War II.
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.
Kilmarnock is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council. With a population of 46,770, Kilmarnock is the 14th most populated settlement in Scotland and the largest town in Ayrshire. The town is continuous to nearby neighbouring villages Crookedholm and Hurlford to the east, and Kilmaurs to the west of the town. It includes former villages subsumed by the expansion of the town such as Bonnyton and new purpose built suburbs such as New Farm Loch.
Gourock is a town falling within the Inverclyde council area and formerly forming a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It has in the past functioned as a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its principal function today, however, is as a popular residential area, extending contiguously from Greenock, with a railway terminus and ferry services across the Clyde.
Bishopton (/bɪʃəptən/) is a village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is located around 2 miles (3 km) west of Erskine.
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Greenock West railway station is a station in Greenock, Scotland, located on the Inverclyde Line which runs from Gourock to Glasgow Central. The route is currently operated by ScotRail under the auspices of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. Each service to and from Glasgow on the Inverclyde Line stops at this station.
Gourock railway station is a terminus of the Inverclyde Line, located at Gourock pierhead, Scotland, and serves the town as well as the ferry services it was originally provided for.
Lyle Hill stands at the West End of Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland. It has scenic viewpoints accessible from Lyle Road, which was constructed in 1879–1880 and named after Provost Abram Lyle, well known as a sugar refiner. The hill's highest point is Craigs Top at 426 feet above sea level, and before the road was constructed the hill was known as the Craigs, or as the Bingens.
Kilmarnock Academy, formerly Kilmarnock Burgh School, is a state-funded secondary school situated in Kilmarnock, Scotland, currently located on Sutherland Drive in the New Farm Loch area of the town. The former original building in Elmbank Drive was erected in 1807. The school can be traced back to the 1630s when it was known as 'Kilmarnock Burgh School'. The school's operations are overseen by East Ayrshire Council.
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St Columba's High School is a co-educational six-year Roman Catholic, comprehensive secondary school, located next to Tower Hill Gourock, Inverclyde, Scotland. The school serves south west Greenock, Gourock, Inverkip and Wemyss Bay. The current enrolment (2018) is 682 pupils.
Gourock High School was a non-denominational comprehensive school catering for boys and girls, 11–18 years of age, in Gourock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The school taught around 630 pupils. The school motto was Honor Diligentiae Praemium, which means "The reward for hard work is renown". Willie Todd had been headteacher since February 2008.
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