Late 19th century school building, Thurrock Adult Community College, Richmond Road (EHER 80895)

Now demolished. A late 19th century brick-built school building, constructed in 1898, with separate buildings for boys and girls. It was extended in 1905 to cater for an increased intake of students, and in 1911-1912 a third school was added to the site, to cater for children considered ‘mentally defective’, though this closed in the 1930s. The rest of the school closed in 1971 and the site subsequently became the Thurrock Adult Community College before closing in 2020. To the NE, beyond the survey boundary is a brick-built building which formed part of the original school and a later timber-clad Scouts hall.

November 2021. Heritage assessment. A late 19th century school building, constructed in 1898, with separate buildings for boys and girls. It was designed for an intake of 600 students in total, 300 in each department and the building was increased in 1905 to cater for 420 students per school. Soon after, in 1911-12 a third school was added to the site, to cater for children considered ‘mentally defective’. Each school included classrooms, practical rooms and a hall, and other facilities on the site such as classrooms for learning cookery and steam baths. The ‘mentally defective’ school also included a kitchen where the girls cooked vegetables grown by the boys at a garden nearby into meals the students ate. Typical lessons included literacy, numeracy and arts, as well as practical skills such as tin smithing, woodwork, sewing, basketry and boot making, and were intended to provide opportunities for work once the children left education. Changes in attitude to education led to the closure of the ‘mentally deficient’ school in the 1930s, when the students were moved into the mainstream education system. The building was taken over by the remaining school on the site, to help alleviate problems which had arisen due to the cramped conditions of the buildings. The school changed names and management a number of times until it finally closed in 1971. The site subsequently became the Thurrock Adult Community College before finally closing in 2020. Of the original school site, three main parts survive: the boys school building to the West and the 'mentally deficient' school to the East; a further building survives to the NE, outside the site boundary. The boys school was originally set out in a U-shaped plan and is built using yellow stock bricks laid in English bond, with orange bricks for decoration. The building has an assortment of roof forms, with half-hipped, gabled and flat elements. The windows and doorways have stone or cast concrete dressings. Most of the exterior elevations of the 1905 additions made to the boys school have been covered by modern additions. Where visible, it is clear that these additions were made in such a way as to carefully match the existing colour and bonding of the brickwork of the original structure. The simple detailing of the buildings generally reflects its institutional nature and the largely working class nature of the area and those who would have attended or worked at the school. The 'mentally deficient' school is approximately rectangular in form, ranging N-S alongside Richmond Road. It was constructed between 1911 and 1912 and follows many of the same design elements as the boys school. It is also built using yellow stock bricks laid in English bond. At the time of the survey the boys school and 'mentally deficient' school were connected as a single structure, as the result of works undertaken in 2003-04 and 2004-06. Other alterations include the partitioning of original classrooms to create smaller office spaces or lavatories. Many of the internal finishes have been modernised. During the survey a large amount of graffiti was noted incised into the external brickwork, particularly the bands of orange bricks, which are a softer fabric and thus easier to mark, but also on the yellow stock bricks. The subject matter of the graffiti was generally names and dates, left by students attending the schools. Topical examples, such as the names of football teams, including Manchester United and West Ham were also noted. To the NE of the site, located outside of the site boundary is a building which formed part of the original school. It comprises two main elements: an original brick building a and later timber-clad Scouts hall to the West side. The brick building is constructed in yellow stock bricks in English bond, with orange brick, brown-grey brick and bull-nosed detailing as seen elsewhere. The Scout hall is timber-clad with a corrugated asbestos cement sheet roof. It has a flat-roofed lean to along its South elevation, with four windows over and a doorway centrally-positioned in its West gable. <1> January 2025. Aerial imagery. Aerial photography provided by Google Earth shows the demolition of the buildings taking place in 2022. The site is clear in imagery from 2025. <2>