Deacon's School
Deacon's School was located in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, England. In 2007, the school was demolished and replaced by the Thomas Deacon Academy.
| Deacon's School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
Queen's Gardens , , PE1 2UW England | |
| Coordinates | 52°35′15″N 0°14′11″W |
| Information | |
| Type | Foundation school |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1721 |
| Founder | Thomas Deacon |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Local authority | Peterborough |
| Department for Education URN | 110901 Tables |
| Headteacher | Michael Griffiths |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 1059 |
| Fate | Closed and rebuilt in 2007 to become an academy |
History
The school opened in 1721 as Mr. Deacon's Charity School in Cowgate. In his will, Thomas Deacon, a successful wool merchant, provided for the creation of a school for 20 poor boys. In the 1830s, Deacon's School merged with The Island School for Girls, which had been established by a Mrs Island in her will.[1]
New accommodation for the school was built on Queen's Gardens in Dogsthorpe, opened in 1960 as Deacon's Grammar School. It was a voluntary aided school with about 450 boys in the 1960s.
It became a voluntary controlled co-educational comprehensive school in 1976. It became a grant maintained school in the 1990s and applied to become a Technology College, becoming a specialist school in 1994. The building remained in Dogsthorpe for 47 years until the Academy was built on the same site.[2] Administration moved from Cambridgeshire to Peterborough in 1998.
The Deacon's School Trust (now known as Thomas Deacon Foundation), created by Thomas Deacon's will, partially funds the Academy[3] with Perkins Engines. The school merged with John Mansfield School on Western Avenue and the Hereward Community College[4] (a former secondary modern school on Reeves Way[5] in Eastfield) to form a £46m Academy. Plans were approved on 11 August 2004, and it was originally due to open in 2006 and cost £34m. Construction began in July 2005.
Notable alumni
- Malcolm Turnbull Forensic Odontologist, Author
- Ajaz Akhtar (1968–), cricketer
- Adrian Durham, radio presenter
- Matthew Etherington, footballer[6]
- MJ Hibbett, singer-songwriter[7]
- Waseem Mirza, TV Presenter, Reporter, Actor
- Moses Samandar, Poet and Writer
- Simon Toyne (1968–), novelist
Deacon's School (boy's grammar school)
- John Challens CBE, Director of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) from 1976–78, designed the electrical circuits for Britain's first nuclear bomb test (at 8am on 3 October 1952 on HMS Plym in the Montebello Islands), and recognised by the John Challens Medal[8]
- Michael Day, medical physicist[9]
- Ian Gray, former presenter with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire[10]
- Ron Jacobs, rugby player, later President of the Rugby Football Union (RFU)
- Richard Littlejohn, columnist with the Daily Mail[11]
- Don Lusher OBE, jazz trombonist
- Leonard Rosoman OBE, artist
- Prof Roy Severn CBE FREng, Professor of Civil Engineering from 1968–95 at the University of Bristol, President from 1991–92 of the Institution of Civil Engineers
- Lloyd Watson, blues guitarist
- Mark Wildman, snooker player, made the first televised century break in November 1960 on ATV
References
- "Joe Heppel's Search for the soul of Deacon's School".
- "Deacon's School 1722–2007". Peterborough Council. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
- "Thomas Deacon Academy".
- https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/82185
- https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/82186
- http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/the_young_ones_the_youngest_players_ever_to_wear_a_peterborough_united_shirt_1_3214930
- http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/lifestyle/the-guide/peterborough_is_the_star_of_new_album_from_mj_hibbett_the_validators_1_3487111
- "OBITUARY: City man who helped develop A-bomb dies". The Evening Telegraph. Peterborough. 17 April 2002.
- "Lives in Brief". The Times. London. 22 November 2004.
- Ian Gray
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)