Deacon's School
| Deacon's School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
Queen's Gardens , , PE1 2UW England | |
| Coordinates | 52°35′15″N 0°14′11″W / 52.58740°N 0.23651°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 |
Deacon's School was located in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, England. In 2007, the school was demolished and replaced by the Thomas Deacon 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
- Ajaz Akhtar (1968–), cricketer[citation needed]
- Adrian Durham, radio presenter[citation needed]
- Matthew Etherington, footballer[6]
- MJ Hibbett, singer-songwriter[7]
- Waseem Mirza, TV Presenter, Reporter, Actor
- Moses Samandar, Poet and Writer [1][permanent dead link] [2]
- Simon Toyne (1968–), novelist[citation needed]
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[citation needed], 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links