Over the summer holidays, while our pupils have been away, the Estates team has been busy working on some of our ageing school buildings.
The ground staff worked to remove the holly that had blocked this beautiful view of School House as one drives through the car park. This is the first time since the 1960s that such a view has been possible.
Last summer, to celebrate its centenary, the windows on the Quad side of the Barrow Building were replaced. This summer, the windows on the other side have been replaced and the tree removed to open up the quad outside the Drama Studio.
The biggest work, however, has been done on the Quad side of the 1852 building. A considerable amount of work was done to the front of the building in 1994 prior to the Quincentenary but nothing had been done to the Quad side since 1852. A significant amount of scaffolding was put up and a considerable amount of the wearing stone work replaced.
The hardest part of the restoration was the repairs around the school shield above the entrance. This was not part of the 1852 building as the earliest school photos showed.
This was 1896.
It was probably altered in 1925 when the Barrow Building, with its shield, was built. It had to be carefully removed and stored during the restoration and the stonemason explained that concrete had been put over the likely original stone and the shield then added.
It was then replaced.
In addition to the complete refurbishment of the Hodson Hall Extension, which will be covered next month, 12 buildings have had solar panels placed on their roofs. In total nearly 2,000 panels have been placed across the campus, which will provide about a quarter of the Foundation’s electricity.
