History of the site
The manor of Wimbledon was presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury by Edward the Confessor in the 12th century. The property remained in the possession of his successors until the reign of Henry VIII when it was re-possessed by the crown. It was sold again by Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Christopher Hatton, and from him in turn to Sir Thomas Cecil. Queen Elizabeth was not interested in the property whilst it was in her possession but was later entertained there on several occasions.
A new manor house was built in 1588, where today's Arthur Road and Home Park Road meet. The manor was purchased by Sir Theodore Janssen in 1717.
Sir Theodore Janssen was unfortunate enough to be made the scapegoat of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole's relief plan and hence stripped of his properties.
Following the confiscation of Janssen's estates, Wimbledon Manor was purchased in 1725 by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. The Duchess decided to build herself a new manor house with a northward view. To achieve this, she cleared away completely the remains of the old Cecil manor house. The Duchess died in 1744 and left the estate to the 1st Earl Spencer. John Spencer died in 1783 and was succeeded by his only son, George John. At Easter 1785, the house was burnt down. A new Wimbledon Park House was commissioned from Henry Holland, built between 1795 and 1801 and demolished in 1949.
Both the Marlborough house and the Spencer house stood within the current school playing fields, with the Cecil house just beyond that, at the top of Home Park Road. An underground brick-lined tunnel, which had linked the Duchess' house to her servants' quarters, still exists.
History of the school
The Wimbledon Day Commercial School for girls opened in 1924 and was originally housed in the technical college in Gladstone Road. Girls entered at 14, which was then the minimum school leaving age, followed by a two-year course in business studies and general subjects.
The numbers were limited to 120 girls and under the enthusiastic leadership of the first mistress, Humphrey, the school became so well known all over Surrey that the competition for places became keen.
Humphrey died suddenly in 1930 and the following year Turnbull was appointed in her place and became the youngest headmistress in Surrey, with the smallest school.
In 1934 a one-year course in secretarial work for girls was started along with plans to provide the school with better accommodation. The plans were thwarted by the coming of war. The school was forced to move to limited accommodations in Morden Farm School, then to Morden Junior School, and finally to rooms in the new arts school in Merton Hall Road.
The war years were difficult ones for the school. Some girls left for safer areas, lessons often had to be given in the air raid shelters, and some girls walked miles to get to school. The head girl walked six miles daily. At the end of the war, efforts were made to relocate the school, and Ricards Lodge was found.
Alterations to the school uniform were made and the girls started navy blue jumpers, white shirts, black trousers. This had been the school's colour from the beginning. A red polo shirt, navy blue shorts with initials sowed on. knee high red socks PE shirt was worn until a recent uniform update.
In 1965, the year of the first CSE examinations, Wimbledon became part of the new London borough of Merton, and Surrey County Council ceased to be responsible for education in the area.
In 1975 the school moved into what is now the old part of the current school building, which includes the lodge, the current gym, the manor house and the language department.
The current technology department was added after 1975 but before the "park" block, which is joined by a link and contains the current art, music, drama, and humanities departments.
The new block is composed of two floors, while the old contains four. The two buildings are linked, and two pedestrian walkways one is a sheltered walkway that you go through to the 2 storey building on the ground floor as well as a bridge that joins the second floor corridor.
The school also has a sports hall extended from the old gym as well as joins the main hall and the special needs department continues through to the dining hall but you have to exit the gym building then turn right up the path to the canteen, seven tennis courts, Astroturf and an open field with a huge tree in the middle where sports days were held. The construction of the sixth form meant that two of the tennis courts had to be removed.
Ricards Lodge is a comprehensive arts school, teaching drama, dance and music. The school hosted the regional performances of "Stand up for Shakespeare" in 2009. The cast of "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" went on to perform at the Courtyard Theatre in May 2009. The school has four values: Trust, Equality, Resilience and Aspiration.
Until a few years ago, the (on average) 1200 pupils in the school were split into tutor classes: R, C, A, D, S, L, G and E within different years. However now the tutor groups are called by their year group, the letters spell out the schools name (Ricards Lodge). They are put on sets (R, C, A, D, S, L, G and E) according to their levels.
In their inspection by Ofsted in November 2017, Ricards Lodge was judged to be an Outstanding school.
Co-educational sixth form provision is provided in partnership with Rutlish School for boys, known as RR6. Facilities are split and located at the premises of both schools; students are expected to have a schedule at both schools, with a variation of both courses. This aims to combine both the arts award at Ricards and the specialist maths and ICT skills of Rutlish to give the students a better opportunity at all subjects.
Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in Southwest London, England. It is centred 7.2 miles (11.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It has been a settlement throughout recorded history.
Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester Park to the west, and is around 8 miles (13 km) south-southwest of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, for local government purposes, Morden was in the administrative and historic county of Surrey.
Wimbledon is a district and town of Southwest London, England, 7.0 miles (11.3 km) southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimbledon Town and Dundonald, Hillside, Wandle, Village, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Park.
The London Borough of Merton is a borough in Southwest London, England.
Merton Park is a suburb in the London Borough of Merton. It is situated in Wimbledon and the nearest town centre is Wimbledon. Bordering areas are Colliers Wood, Morden, South Wimbledon and Raynes Park. It is 7.25 miles (11.7 km) southwest of Charing Cross. The area is part of the historic parish of Merton in West Surrey.
Rutlish School is a state comprehensive school for boys, formerly a grammar school with the same name originally located on Rutlish Road, Merton Park, and relocated in 1957 on nearby Watery Lane, Merton Park, in southwest London.
Morden Hall Park is a National Trust park on the banks of the Wandle in Morden, south London. Its several buildings and associated parking included, it is 51 acres (21 ha) of predominantly parkland. Hinting at the former mill leats the river here splits into channels, generally, through it spanned by numerous footbridges. The estate contains Morden Hall itself, Morden Cottage, two well-preserved snuff watermills, a restored stableyard, a dog-friendly café, exhibition space and second-hand bookshop. A western part, separately accessed, hosts the National Trust's only Garden Centre.
Wimbledon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2005, the seat has been represented by Stephen Hammond of the Conservatives.
Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London specialising in theatre, screen and performance art. It is located in Wimbledon and Merton Park, South West London.
Sir Richard Hotham was an East India merchant, property developer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1780 to 1784. He is especially noted for his development of the Sussex village of Bognor into a seaside resort. He was also sometimes called Hotham the Hatter, to mark his original trade.
Wimbledon was a local government district in north-east Surrey from 1866 to 1965 covering the town of Wimbledon and its surrounding area. It was part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District.
Merton is an ancient parish historically in Surrey, but which has since 1965 been part of Greater London. It is bounded by Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Morden, Cheam and Cuddington to the south and (New) Malden to the west. The 1871 Ordnance Survey map records its area as 1,764.7 acres (7.1 km2).
John Innes JP was a British property developer and philanthropist. From the 1860s he developed Merton Park as a garden suburb in Merton, Surrey. In his will, he left funds and part of his estate at Merton for the establishment of a horticultural institute. This institute, the John Innes Centre, continues to bear his name today, as does John Innes compost, formulated at the institute.
The Wimbledon and Sutton Railway (W&SR) was a railway company established by an Act of Parliament in 1910 to build a railway line in Surrey from Wimbledon to Sutton via Merton and Morden in the United Kingdom. The railway was promoted by local landowners hoping to increase the value of their land through its development for housing. It was initially planned that services on the railway would be operated by the London Underground's District Railway (DR) by an extension of its existing service from Wimbledon.
Sir Joseph Hood, 1st Baronet was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician.
Merton Park railway station was a railway station in Merton, Surrey, serving both the West Croydon to Wimbledon Line and the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway. Closed in 1997, part of the site now serves as a tram stop on the Wimbledon branch of the Tramlink network.
Edward John May (1853–1941) was an English architect.
Crooked Billet, also known as Shepherd's Hatch Gate, is a hamlet which forms part of Wimbledon Common and incorporates its own commons. The district encompasses a small area in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Merton. The area is regarded as a popular greenspot and an adjunct to events in Wimbledon.
Wimbledon manor house; the residence of the lord of the manor, was an English country house at Wimbledon, Surrey, now part of Greater London. The manor house was over the centuries exploded, burnt and several times demolished. The first known manor house, The Old Rectory was built around 1500 still stands as a private home, despite very nearly falling into a state beyond repair, in the 19th century. The ambitious later Elizabethan prodigy house, Wimbledon Palace, was "a house of the first importance" according to Sir John Summerson, and is now demolished.
