Surbiton County Grammar School | |
---|---|
Location | |
Surbiton and subsequently Thames Ditton , England | |
Information | |
Type | Grammar school |
Established | 1920s |
Closed | 1979 (site became a wholly sixth form college) |
Age | 11to 18 |
Houses | Day Houses: 4 |
Former pupils | Old Surbitonians |
Destiny | Original site became Hollyfield School, subsequent site became Esher College |
Surbiton County Grammar was a school in Surbiton on the borders of London and Surrey. Established in the 1920s, the school later moved to Thames Ditton and changed its name to Esher County Grammar School. The last grammar school pupils were admitted in 1974, and by 1979 the site had become a sixth form college. The school was attended by boys from the whole of north Surrey.
The school was established in the mid 1920s. Until 1965 it was located on Surbiton Hill Road in Surbiton. The three main buildings were large Victorian mansions called Braemar (where pupils began their school lives), Aysgarth and Albury (School) houses together with their grounds and outbuildings. A stables block once housed a sixth form classroom. In the early sixties Aysgarth and Braemar were demolished and replaced by purpose-built units. It was known for its rugby, chess and bridge teams.
A new Headmaster, Eric Waller, took over in September 1965, ahead of the move to new premises in Weston Green Road Thames Ditton in the spring of 1966. Boys in all forms throughout the school assisted with the move, packing crates at the Surbiton site and unpacking crates at Thames Ditton, which took about a week. The form registers had to be "adjusted" to show attendance as if school had been running normally. The school at its new location was later renamed as Esher County Grammar.
The school had always admitted boys into its sixth form from other local schools which did not have their own sixth form, and the long-term plan was to evolve the school into a sixth form college. The first major change was in September 1971 when the school started admitting girls into the lower sixth. From September 1974 the external sixth form intake was increased and the final entry of grammar school pupils took place, so that from September 1979 it became a wholly sixth form college. From around 1977, the name had changed again to Esher College, which still exists on the same site in Thames Ditton today.
The old site on Surbiton Hill is now used by Hollyfield School.
All boys were members of one of four day houses which were named after dignitaries in some way associated with Surbiton.:
House | Founded | Colours | Named After | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Coutts | Red | |||
Egmont | Green | |||
Lovelace | Purple | |||
Villiers | Light Blue | |||
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy.(March 2021) |
The club was formed in 1930 as Old Surbitonians RFC by the first group of school leavers from Surbiton County Grammar School for Boys. In 1949, as a memorial to those Old Boys who perished in the Second World War, the grounds at Fairmile Lane, Cobham, were purchased. [3] After the school moved from its original site in Surbiton to Esher as a boys' grammar school, The Braemar Club was created to honour the old school building. The change of name of the school to Esher County Grammar School and more prominently the evolution of the old school into a mixed sixth form college had a significant and detrimental impact on the flow of young players into the Club, which was one of the driving forces behind the club being one of the first in the country to set up a Mini Rugby section, in the Golden Jubilee year of 1980. [3] Mini Rugby spawned a sizeable and flourishing Youth section, which has produced national Champions at various levels. The club was placed in the new 1st division of the new Surrey Leagues when the RFU introduced League Rugby in 1987. Prior to this, the club had enjoyed much success, including a famous unbeaten season of 1963-64, and a Surrey Cup Final appearance in 1976. The club changed its name in 1989 to Cobham Rugby Football Club, to both identify more closely with the immediate surrounding area, and to signify the change to an open membership club. Recent years have seen the clubs' steady progress through the leagues, with four promotions in six seasons in the Leagues since 1987, and success elsewhere in winning the Surrey Shield in 1999. The 1sts now play in London South Division 2 following successive promotions under the stewardship of Head Coach, Billy Davison. Despite its name change, it still recognises its heritage and association with the old school. [3]
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has been in Greater London. Surbiton comprises four of the RBK's wards: Alexandra, Berrylands, St. Mark's, and Surbiton Hill.
Cobham is a large village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred 17 miles (27 km) south-west of London and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Guildford on the River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of primary and private schools and the Painshill landscape park.
Esher is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole.
Elmbridge is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its principal towns and villages are Esher, Cobham, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Molesey. It directly borders the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the London Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Some areas of the borough form a continuation of the Greater London Built-up Area, formerly falling into the Metropolitan Police District.
Long Ditton is a residential suburb in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England on the boundary with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. In medieval times it was a village, occupying a narrow strip of land. Neighbouring settlements include Hinchley Wood, Thames Ditton and Surbiton.
Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross in central London. Thames Ditton is just outside Greater London but within the Greater London Urban Area as defined by the Office for National Statistics. Its clustered village centre and shopping area on a winding High Street is surrounded by housing, schools and sports areas. Its riverside faces the Thames Path and Hampton Court Palace Gardens and golf course in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its most commercial area is spread throughout its conservation area and contains restaurants, cafés, shops and businesses.
Claygate is an affluent suburban village in Surrey, England, 14 miles southwest of central London. It is the only civil parish in the borough of Elmbridge. Surrounded by green belt, it lies inside the Greater London Built-up Area.
Esher Sixth Form College is an open access, non-selective 16-19 Academy located in Thames Ditton, Surrey, England.
Esher Urban District was an urban district in Surrey, England created by merging two urban districts and adding two parishes to the south-west. It existed from 1933 to 1974 and was governed by the elected Esher Urban District Council which shared local government functions with Surrey County Council. Its main building was the large town hall in Esher.
Esher was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In the general elections during its 47-year lifetime it was won by three Conservatives successively. In area it shrank in 1974, then regrew in 1983 taking in four sparsely inhabited wards which proved to be temporary, as omitted from the successor seat, Esher and Walton.
The A307 road runs 13.2 miles (21.2 km) through SW London and NW Surrey. It is primary at the north-east end; the remainder is non-primary, generally superseded in the mid-twentieth century in two stages by newer alignments of the Portsmouth Road, the Kingston bypass and Esher bypass of the A3, which runs along a slightly oblique axis.
The Hundred of Elmbridge or Elmbridge/Emley Hundred was a geographic subdivision in the north of the county of Surrey, England. The majority of its area forms the modern Borough of Elmbridge, with the remainder forming part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London.
Richmond Park Academy is a secondary school with an academy status in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The school is part of the Academies Enterprise Trust academy chain.
Hinchley Wood School is a secondary school with academy status in Hinchley Wood Surrey, England.
The Rythe is a river or stream in north Surrey, England which is generally open and which is a natural woodland feature for approximately half of its course before being variously culverted and a suburban garden feature, passing between Thames Ditton and Long Ditton, then discharging into the Thames. Its longest branch is the Arbrook which drains Arbrook Common, a woodland of the mainly wooded Esher Commons.
Cobham Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club, located in the village of Cobham, Surrey, who play in the London Division of the RFU. Cobham RFC is based at the Old Surbitonians Memorial Ground in Cobham and is affiliated to the English RFU via the Surrey RFU. The club was founded in 1930 by the first leavers of the Surbiton County Grammar. They currently play in London 1 South, following the club's promotion from London 2 South West at the end of the 2015-2016 season.
Lower Green is a residential and commercial area within Esher, in Surrey, England, on the banks of the River Ember and River Mole. The area has many businesses, most of them in the commercial complex comprising Sandown Industrial Complex and Royal Mills.