Building record 1561100000 - Aylesbury Grammar School, Walton Road

Under the 1902 Education Act, the County Council was able to help the old endowed grammar schools to build new premises and to offer scholarships to those who passed an examination. The new Grammar School in Walton Road was built in 1906-7 to accommodate 150 children. After the building of a new wing in 1931 the school had places for 350 boys and girls, of which about 40 were scholarship places (B1).
In 1904 Lord Rothschild of Tring sold the land adjoining Turnfurlong Lane to the school trustees for £1,406 10s. The cost of building the school was £6,000, the headmaster's house cost £1,500, with an additional £250 for the Walton Road frontage and fencing. In 1907 the school accommodated 75 boys and 75 girls. In October 1914 the school premises were requisitioned by the War Office for a military hospital and the school moved to temporary accommodation in the town centre. In September 1919, 220 pupils were readmitted to the school. In 1922 there was a sixth form of 20 pupils and by 1939 the number of grammar school pupils had grown to 346. During the Second World War, Ealing County Boy's School was evacuated to Aylesbury and shared the grammar school premises; Aylesbury pupils attended classes in the morning and Ealing pupils in the afternoon. In 1956 the county council decided to create two single-sex schools, with the boys retaining the Grammar School and a new school being built for the girls [CAS 15612]. Further extensions to the Grammar School buildings included the tower block in 1963, 6 laborartories in 1964 and the hall was extended in 1965 (B2).
The school buildings were designed by architect Fred Taylor of Aylesbury, built by Hacksley Bros of Wellingborough and were officially opened by Lord Rothschild on 23rd May 1907. The neo-Georgian style single-storey building had separate facilities for boys and girls and comprised a central hall, 6 classrooms, cloakrooms, a lecture room, art room, science laboratory, 2 staff rooms, headmaster's office, 2 dining rooms, and play sheds, playgrounds and tennis courts (B3).