St Marylebone Grammar School

St Marylebone Grammar School (SMGS) was a grammar school in London from 1792 to 1981.

History

Philological School

Founded as the Philological School by Thomas Collingwood, under the patronage of the Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, its object was to help "the heads of families, who by unexpected misfortune, have been reduced from a station of comfort and respectability." Originally founded in Mary Street (later renamed Stanhope Street, N.W. 1), it moved to Marylebone Road in 1827. Its fortunes then improved largely because of headmaster Edwin Abbott. After Abbott, the school's financial position deteriorated.

Grammar school

In 1908 it was accepted in trust by the London County Council and renamed St Marylebone Grammar School. After World War I it recovered and under headmaster Philip Wayne it developed artistic activities, acquired shared use of playing fields in Sudbury Hill (reached by rail from nearby Marylebone Station), and established a country base near Leith Hill.

After Philip Wayne, SMGS was led by Harry Llewellyn-Smith as headmaster until 1970. During his period a new and separate science block was built a short walk away from the school's main site. Roy Mansell led the science team and was for a short period the last headmaster after Patrick Hutton.

Closure

Soon after headmaster Patrick Hutton (former surmaster at St Paul's School) arrived in 1970, the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) proposed to merge SMGS with the local secondary modern school, Rutherford School, later part of North Westminster School. ILEA itself came into conflict with the new Conservative government, whose secretary of state for education Margaret Thatcher took an interest in SMGS. By 1981, however, SMGS had closed.

Current use of buildings

The former science block continues in educational use as the Cosway Street Centre, part of City of Westminster College. The main school building (which consisted of the original school building on Marylebone Road and two later wings in Lisson Grove) was largely demolished and replaced with an office block, although the original facade and some rooms of the original building (which was a listed building) still remain.

• 

  The original building in August 2011; the adjacent office building is being rebuilt.

• 

  LCC plaque with the school name; the original name and date of the school is incorporated into the arch below the plaque.

Notable alumni

See also: Category:St Marylebone Grammar School alumni

• Adam Ant (Stuart Goddard), pop singer
• Peter Armstrong, Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at St Bartholomew's Hospital from 1989–2005 and President of the Royal College of Radiologists from 1998–2001
• Sir James Ball, Professor of Economics at the London Business School from 1965–97
• Footballer John Barnes
• Steve Barron, film director
• Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham CBE DFC AFC
• Barry Blue (Barry Green), pop singer and writer
• Anastasios Christodoulou CBE, Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities from 1980–96
• Robert Clark, Professor of Zoology at Newcastle University from 1966–89
• Len Deighton, author
• William Floyd, Head of the Department of Ergonomics and Cybernetics at Loughborough University from 1960 to 1975.
• Benny Green, musician
• Sir Leicester Harmsworth, 1st Baronet, Liberal MP for Caithness from 1900–18 and Caithness and Sutherland from 1918–22
• Robert Hay MBE, Editor of The Gardeners' Chronicle from 1954–64
• Rt Rev Michael Henley CB, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane from 1995–2004
• Sir Charles Solomon Henry, 1st Baronet, Liberal MP for Wellington (Shropshire) from 1906–18 and The Wrekin from 1918-9
• Shaun Hill, chef
• Historian and author Eric Hobsbawm
• Professor Anthony A. Hyman, FRS - Molecular cell biologist and Director of Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics: Dresden, Germany
• Edwardian author Jerome K. Jerome
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones, preacher and evangelical leader
• Sir Vincent Lloyd-Jones, judge
• Rt Rev Francis Paget, Bishop of Oxford from 1901–11
• Sir Michael Pepper, Pender Professor of Nanoelectronics at UCL since 2009
• Sir Landon Ronald, conductor
• E. H. Sothern, actor
• Julien Temple, film director
• Sir Brian Vickers, Professor of English Literature from 1975-2003 at ETH Zurich

• 

  Marylebone Grammar School's original building, August 2011. At this time the adjoining office building was being rebuilt and was covered in scaffolding and plastic sheeting.

• 

  Plaque above the main entrance to the old Marylebone Grammar School building. The school's former name and date is shown on the archway, The Philological School 1792

External links

• Old Phologians Association