1. The History
First established in 1893, Heanor Grammar School, or Heanor Technical School as it was originally known as, was located on Mundy Street in the Derbyshire town of the same name. The school was completed in 1912 at a cost of £15,000, as a replacement for Heanor Hall. The latter had been built circa 1690 for the Roper family and had been adapted to form the Technical School by 1900. The rebuilt and enlarged School was designed by the Norwich-born architect George H Widdows (1871-1946), who was previously appointed as architect to Derbyshire County Council's Education Committee in. By the time he retired in 1936 he had been responsible for the design of no fewer than 60 elementary schools and 17 secondary schools across the Derbyshire region.
The school most likely pictured shortly after its opening in the early 1900s:
The school’s layout was quite traditional, with a central full-height hall with classrooms off to three sides. Inside there were panelled corridors with parquet floors. The hall was constructed with an arched ceiling, lit by circular dormer windows to the north and south, and by tall windows to the front elevation. The central two windows each contain a stained-glass panel representing respectively, Science and Literature. A latter addition at the far end of the hall was a mural painted as a war memorial in 1925, by Frederick Cayley Robinson (1862-1927). Born in Brentford, Cayley Robinson was the son of a stockbroker, Robinson regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Painters The three-piece or triptych-style mural is, thankfully, now safe and sound and in storage.
The central panel of the mural:
The school in more recent times:
The “Class of 1965”:
Latterly, the school became Heanor Grammar School. The school’s motto was “Amino et Fide” meaning “Courage and Faith”. From 1976, it formed part of South East Derbyshire College. The Mundy Street campus was then Grade II listed in 1988. Derbyshire College then itself merged with Derby College in 2010. The school was due to become a studio college, but dwindling pupil numbers meant the project was abandoned and the building was vacated in 2013 and has been empty since.
Developers Vale Property Limited then bought the school building in 2016 and planned to invest £5 million into its redevelopment. However, in September 2018, Amber Valley Borough Council refused their plans to turn the listed building into 24 apartments, the former science block into a further nine apartments and to build 19 houses in the college grounds, resulting in the site being in limbo. Amber Valley Borough Council offered to buy the building off its owners Derby firm Vale Property Limited in January, 2021, but the asking price was a long way from the council’s valuation as the owner was asking for more than £1 million when they purchased it for between £500,000 and £750,000. Hence the school’s future current hangs in limbo.
For a definitive history of the school see "Follow the Master: A History of Heanor Grammar School, 1893 - 1976" by Rober M. Mee (available HERE)
2. The Explore
Previously reccied this place but couldn’t find a way in as access comes and goes. Second time around it was clear that somebody had been pretty determined to get in with fences cut and boarding ripped off. So, after a bit of climbing up and climbing down we were in. The school is pretty much empty, as you would expect, but still has the majority of its internal architectural features intact. These the most parquet flooring I’ve ever seen, wood paneling and a lot of other wooden fixtures. Architecturally its lovely too. And all very photogenic with the peeling paint and decay. The main hall is the best bit with its 6 circular dormer windows and stunning cupola.
We’d pretty much looked round the place after less than half-an-hour and were just making our way out when we
heard a voice say, “What are you doing here?”. My mate had already climbed out and was off, but I came back down to face the music. As it happened, the security man was very nice and as soon as he had established we were not kids smashing the place up or metal thieves we had a chat and then he very politely walked me out, as I apologised for dragging him away from the gym prior to his call-out. So overall a good explore and nice to have ticked this one off.
3. The Pictures
A few externals to start with:
Spotted on the way in:
The first thing we come to on entry is the main hall:
Looking off out of the gallery:
Entrance door:
Paper plane on the parquet flooring:
Photogenic decay:
Window detail:
Those lovely ceiling roses:
Outside of the main hall, it’s quite dark on the ground floor, due to the majority of windows being boarded up:
Apart from this rather fine classroom:
Up the stairs we go:
It’s all rather photogenic:
Window detail:
One of the lesser decayed parts:
First established in 1893, Heanor Grammar School, or Heanor Technical School as it was originally known as, was located on Mundy Street in the Derbyshire town of the same name. The school was completed in 1912 at a cost of £15,000, as a replacement for Heanor Hall. The latter had been built circa 1690 for the Roper family and had been adapted to form the Technical School by 1900. The rebuilt and enlarged School was designed by the Norwich-born architect George H Widdows (1871-1946), who was previously appointed as architect to Derbyshire County Council's Education Committee in. By the time he retired in 1936 he had been responsible for the design of no fewer than 60 elementary schools and 17 secondary schools across the Derbyshire region.
The school most likely pictured shortly after its opening in the early 1900s:
The school’s layout was quite traditional, with a central full-height hall with classrooms off to three sides. Inside there were panelled corridors with parquet floors. The hall was constructed with an arched ceiling, lit by circular dormer windows to the north and south, and by tall windows to the front elevation. The central two windows each contain a stained-glass panel representing respectively, Science and Literature. A latter addition at the far end of the hall was a mural painted as a war memorial in 1925, by Frederick Cayley Robinson (1862-1927). Born in Brentford, Cayley Robinson was the son of a stockbroker, Robinson regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Painters The three-piece or triptych-style mural is, thankfully, now safe and sound and in storage.
The central panel of the mural:
The school in more recent times:
The “Class of 1965”:
Latterly, the school became Heanor Grammar School. The school’s motto was “Amino et Fide” meaning “Courage and Faith”. From 1976, it formed part of South East Derbyshire College. The Mundy Street campus was then Grade II listed in 1988. Derbyshire College then itself merged with Derby College in 2010. The school was due to become a studio college, but dwindling pupil numbers meant the project was abandoned and the building was vacated in 2013 and has been empty since.
Developers Vale Property Limited then bought the school building in 2016 and planned to invest £5 million into its redevelopment. However, in September 2018, Amber Valley Borough Council refused their plans to turn the listed building into 24 apartments, the former science block into a further nine apartments and to build 19 houses in the college grounds, resulting in the site being in limbo. Amber Valley Borough Council offered to buy the building off its owners Derby firm Vale Property Limited in January, 2021, but the asking price was a long way from the council’s valuation as the owner was asking for more than £1 million when they purchased it for between £500,000 and £750,000. Hence the school’s future current hangs in limbo.
For a definitive history of the school see "Follow the Master: A History of Heanor Grammar School, 1893 - 1976" by Rober M. Mee (available HERE)
2. The Explore
Previously reccied this place but couldn’t find a way in as access comes and goes. Second time around it was clear that somebody had been pretty determined to get in with fences cut and boarding ripped off. So, after a bit of climbing up and climbing down we were in. The school is pretty much empty, as you would expect, but still has the majority of its internal architectural features intact. These the most parquet flooring I’ve ever seen, wood paneling and a lot of other wooden fixtures. Architecturally its lovely too. And all very photogenic with the peeling paint and decay. The main hall is the best bit with its 6 circular dormer windows and stunning cupola.
We’d pretty much looked round the place after less than half-an-hour and were just making our way out when we
heard a voice say, “What are you doing here?”. My mate had already climbed out and was off, but I came back down to face the music. As it happened, the security man was very nice and as soon as he had established we were not kids smashing the place up or metal thieves we had a chat and then he very politely walked me out, as I apologised for dragging him away from the gym prior to his call-out. So overall a good explore and nice to have ticked this one off.
3. The Pictures
A few externals to start with:
Spotted on the way in:
The first thing we come to on entry is the main hall:
Looking off out of the gallery:
Entrance door:
Paper plane on the parquet flooring:
Photogenic decay:
Window detail:
Those lovely ceiling roses:
Outside of the main hall, it’s quite dark on the ground floor, due to the majority of windows being boarded up:
Apart from this rather fine classroom:
Up the stairs we go:
It’s all rather photogenic:
Window detail:
One of the lesser decayed parts:
