Crowthorn School

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Damon

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Bury, Lancs
Stumbled on this place quite by accident whilst on an errand for work today. Set on a winding country road on Tonge Moor, in the Bolton area, Crowthorn School is actually a cluster of buildings which, quite uniquely, were built by the children who were resident there using stone mined from a local quarry.

The School's heart-warming motto was "To Seek and To Save That Which is Lost"

Currently the site is undergoing redevelopment, however the majority of the buildings remain untouched.

Hopefully I can find the time to pay an educational visit this weekend.

Further info can be found in this excellent article, from the Bolton Evening News, first published Monday 16th Jun 2003.

IN 1872 Edgworth Children's Home was the first National Children's Home (NCH) to be established outside London.

Today it is about to be sold as an entire village. Karen Stephen visited the moorside residence that once gave hundreds of deprived youngsters a place to call home.

IT'S the silence. The silence is deafening. No more the sound of children laughing and running along the corridors, bouncing on beds, squabbling over toys in the playrooms and arguing who has the last piece of cake in the kitchens.

Today the place is deserted, save for the odd bits and pieces left by the last residents of Crowthorn School.

But its history is almost tangible.

The original children's home was founded in 1872 and became Crowthorn School in 1952, a school for children with special educational needs. Crowthorn finally closed its doors on July 27, 2002 due to increasing financial and staffing pressures.

The original home's founder was Rev Dr Thomas Bowman Stephenson whose vision was a place in the countryside that would provide the children who lived there with fresh air, a healthy lifestyle and -- perhaps most importantly in the Victorian era -- a stable home and sound education.

The home became a self-contained village with its own butcher's shop, bakery, herd of cattle, stonemason, hospital, chapel -- even its very own quarry. The youngsters lived in surrounding houses -- all built with money donated by local benefactors.

The first children arrived at the moorland site with nothing but their admission papers. Many of these files are still housed in the office of the main school building, Wheatsheaf -- originally an inn used for cockfighting and Sunday drinking.

Penny Dickinson, the housekeeper at Crowthorn for 10 years, had the job of clearing all 19 buildings.

"Some of the things we have found have been incredible," says Penny. "We've discovered building plans from the 1920s, old photos and the children's personal files -- many dating from the very first intake."

And those early files reveal the pathetic existence of the children before they arrived at their new home.

One boy arrived at just 15 months old -- records showed he had already been in the workhouse for the first seven months of his life -- because his mother had died in childbirth and his father, who lived on one room, couldn't look after him and his brothers and sisters.

Tracing his progress through his file, we discover he thrives at the moorside home and eventually, in his teens, lands a job as an office clerk in Hull. He kept in touch with the home by letter for some years.

A considerable number of the children emigrated to Canada between 1873 and 1931 where the NCH had a home in Hamilton, Ontario. But for those children who remained at Edgworth, especially the first intakes, their main task -- for the older ones of course -- was to build their school.

Together with the first governor, Alfred Mager and his wife, who was matron, they drained the land, quarried stone and prepared the site for the addition of further buildings. All without machinery.

Other activities the children learned included clog-making, baking and dairying. Many of these skills served them well in later life.

Both wars had a massive effect on the school with the post war years seeing an increase in intakes -- fathers had been killed in action, mothers had died and children, including babies, were left at the workhouses. In 1952, the children's home became Crowthorn School and provided education for children with special needs.

The school continued to provide the same kind of lifestyle as the the children's home always had -- the children lived on site and the "village" was self sufficient.

New classrooms were constructed -- metalwork, woodwork and art rooms, there were rooms for domestic science and a swimming pool was added in 1971. A sports hall came soon after.

The children were encouraged to take part in a wide variety of outdoor sports , which for the majority would be their first taste of being able to run free amid rolling hills instead of smog-ridden inner city housing estates.

In 2002, Crowthorn finally closed its doors. Financial and staffing difficulties were growing, and the remaining children were relocated to similar establishments around the country.

Today, in the kitchen of Howarth residence, once home to a dozen or so youngsters, mugs, plates and glasses sit on the draining board.

The cupboards are empty but were left full of food when the children left en masse one day in July last year. The playroom's pool table is home to a host of abandoned toys, perhaps once much-loved and cuddled by tiny hands and a walk upstairs to the bedrooms reveals the artwork of the last residents -- a childish scribble on the wall, just above the Coca Cola border.

A couple of football posters adorn one wall, a tiny t-shirt thrown in the corner of the room -- forgotten by its owner.

The whole place has an eerie, almost Marie Celeste feel to it. Look out of a bedroom window onto a glorious summer's day, and you gaze at the desolate playground, its swings -- once flying high with excited youngsters -- now sway forlornly in the summer sunshine.

Yards away, the graves of 48 children from the home -- some who died more than 100 years ago -- lie in Edgworth Methodist Church.

The children, aged from four months to 21 years old -- were laid to rest in two unmarked graves and forgotten for 61 years.

But last year, John Cartwright who died in 1875 aged nine, Henry James, aged 11, Charles William McGovern aged four months and 45 others were remembered in a memorial service and a headstone placed on their last resting place.

The Crowthorn site is a sad place. Sad because this was a home and a school that offered and gave hope to hundreds of children over the years.

Children who have gone on to make better lives for themselves, here and abroad, and who return to the school year after year for reunions.

Perhaps for them there is no sadness. Just happy memories.

As Penny Dickinson says: "This place was unique and has touched the lives of many. My hope now is that, whoever buys it, treats it with respect."

Sale attracts £7m offer

CROWTHORN School is currently for sale. The complex covers 24.4 acres and includes19 properties. Blackburn and Darwen council have drawn up a development brief and Manchester-based Matthew and Goodman are acting for the sellers.

For Matthew and Goodman, Andrew Aherne says: "We currently have 12 offers for Crowthorn -- all between £3 and £7m. Two of those offers have come from very local parties.

"The ultimate decision will be made by the trustees of NCH and we expect a decision in the autumn of this year.

"The village will be sold as a whole and, while I am not in a position to say what the outcome will be, some of the offers have expressed an interest in constructing a residential development."

Reply on Chat thread here​
 
Apologies for digging out a old thread, but went up here in the wee small hours, during a quiet spell at work, and by the look of things - ITS STILL EMPTY. plenty of for sale signs on show. i may be wrong of course, but surely it will be worth another nosey?
 
I think i will!!!! like i said, lots of for sale signs about, but can get a couple of pics from the out side at least?!?

Carlito did you ever check out this place? Sounds like it is defo worth checking out, drop me a PM if you interested :mrgreen:
 
It was no-go 2 years ago, I doubt it's going to be doable now. Most likely completely converted.

The main school building however may have been opened up a little if that's what you mean Carlito?

As when we went there was a few houses still untouched and an accomodation block empty aswell as the school. Whats left now?
 
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Will take a trip up in the next few days. Think the main building is still empty, although there is a house to the left that is occupied, so stealth will be a must.

one of the lads at work told me a while ago he was looking to buy a house up there and was looking around the school, he could hear running water and found a tap left on. so he went in and turned the mains off. doubt it will be that easy now though, but will have a nosey.
 
any news on this one as gf lives just down the road, may be worth a quick visit.
 
its still here

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