Preston Catholic College

Preston Catholic College
Address
Winckley Square Preston , Lancashire England
Coordinates	53°45′22″N2°42′11″W / 53.7562°N 2.7030°W / 53.7562; -2.7030
Information
Type	Direct grant grammar school
Motto	Latin: Fides (Faith)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1865 (1865)
Closed	1978 (1978)
Local authority	Lancashire County Council
Oversight	Society of Jesus
Gender	Boys
Age range	11-19
Enrolment	915

Preston Catholic College was a Jesuit grammar school for boys in Winckley Square, Preston, Lancashire, England. It opened in 1865 and closed in 1978, when its sixth form merged with two other schools to form Cardinal Newman College.

History

Entrance to the former college, pictured in 2007.

The college began in 1865 in a house in Mount Pleasant (a narrow passage between Winckley Square and Mount Street). In 1879 it moved to 29 Winckley Square and expanded over the next century until, at its peak of 915 pupils in 1970, ^[1] it occupied the whole of the west side of the square from the northwest corner (number 34) as far south as Garden Street (number 25), with the exception of number 25a and numbers 29 to 32. Classrooms, science laboratories and a swimming pool were built along neighbouring Mount Street in the 1930s. A gymnasium in Garden Street opened in 1970. The college also possessed extensive playing fields one mile (1½ km) south of the college, to which boys walked via the Old Tram Road, a disused tramway.

The introduction of comprehensive schools in Lancashire forced the school, which had become a direct grant grammar school, to stop admitting under-16 pupils from 1978. In that year, its sixth form merged with the sixth forms of the other two Catholic direct grant grammar schools in Preston, namely Winckley Square Convent School and Larkhill Convent Grammar School, to form Newman College. Initially both Winckley Square sites continued to be used, but by 1986 the new college was concentrated at the Larkhill site. ^{[2] [3]}

Some of the Mount Street buildings have been demolished, most recently the gymnasium in 2021 after a decade of disuse. ^[4] The buildings on Winckley Square are used as offices. However the playing fields are still used by Newman College. A blue plaque commemorates the college at its original entrance, number 34. Another blue plaque outside number 28 records its former use as the home of the suffragette Edith Rigby. ^[5]

In 2010, the school was sued by a former pupil over allegations of abuse. ^[6] The Jesuits were held liable for the abuse by Fr Michael Spencer and the claimant was awarded £55,000 damages. ^[7] Other contemporaries have also brought sex abuse claims against the Jesuits.^{[ citation needed ]}

Notable alumni

• Mark Lawrenson, television football pundit; ^{[8] [9]}
• Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company 2012–2022; ^{[10] [11]}
• Joseph Delaney, author of the Spook's series; ^[12]
• Leo Baxendale, cartoonist, creator of The Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx ; ^[13]
• Patrick Kelly, archbishop of Liverpool 1996–2013; ^[14]
• Michael Carr, Liberal Democrat MP for Ribble Valley 1991–92. ^[15]
• George Robinson, a former first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University in 1970 and 1971. ^[16]

Notable staff

• 1950s footballer Eddy Brown, after his retirement from the game ^[17]
• Jesuit hymnwriter James Quinn, Classics Master, 1944–1948 ^[18]
• Mersey poet Adrian Henri, who taught art 1956–57 ^{[19] [20]}
• Fred Dewhurst, footballer who played for Preston North End (1882–1890) and England (1886–1889) ^[21]

References

Notes

1. Preston Catholic College Magazine, 143, January 1973, p.15
2. Garlington, pp.76–77
3. Sartin, p.42
4. Faulkner, Paul (9 July 2020). "Preston city apartment block approved amid conservation area concerns". Lancashire Evening Post. JPIMedia Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
5. Sherlock, Gemma; O'Gorman, Paul (28 June 2024). "Campaign to restore Edith Rigby's former home". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
6. Riazat Butt (27 August 2010). "Catholic church using time limit to suppress child abuse cases, says lawyer". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 August 2010.
7. "Patrick Raggett -v- the Society of Jesus Trust 1929 for Roman Catholic Purposes and Governors of Preston Catholic College".
8. Ross, D. (2002) "Mark Lawrenson; Confessions of a soccer", The Independent, London, 27 May 2002, accessed online 27 November 2007
9. Jones, M. (2004), "Exclusive: My Catholic School Hell by Lawro", Sunday Mirror, London, 23 May 2004, accessed online 27 November 2007
10. "Gregory Doran" Archived 18 September 2004 at Bibliotheca Alexandrina in A Dictionary of the RSC by Simon Trowbridge, accessed 27 November 2007
11. "Othello: The Director" Archived 2007-09-04 at the Wayback Machine on the RSC website, accessed 27 November 2007
12. "Joseph Delaney" Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine , Preston City Council website, accessed 24 October 2009
13. Baxendale, Leo (1989), On Comedy: The "Beano" and Ideology, Reaper Books, ISBN   978-0951327715 extract on line Archived 2014-10-15 at the Wayback Machine accessed 10 June 2012
14. Elson, P (2009), "Archbishop Patrick Kelly reflects on 25 years of sweeping change", Liverpool Daily Post, retrieved 6 May 2009
15. The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983, revised and updated edition, Times Books, 1984, p. 191.
16. Wisden 1972, p. 353.
17. "The Big Interview: Eddy Brown" ^{[ permanent dead link ]}, Lancashire Evening Post, Preston, 14 July 2003, accessed 13 July 2007
18. James Quinn, The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, Canterbury Press, accessed 15 August 2015
19. Adrian Henri Biography Chronology 1932–1959 Archived 10 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine , accessed 2 August 2016
20. Bowen, Phil (2008), A Gallery to Play to: The Story of the Mersey Poets, Oxford University Press, ISBN   9781781386620, p.30
21. Lamming, Douglas (1990). An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Hutton Press. p. 87. ISBN   9780907033936.

Sources

• Garlington, J. (1995, new edition 2006), Images of England: Preston, Nonsuch Publishing, Stroud, ISBN   1-84588-307-1
• Sartin, S. (2002), Preston in Focus, Landy Publishing, Blackpool, ISBN   1-872895-59-X