Report - The Abbey School, Tewkesbury Oct '11

[mookster]

After finding the Malvern College buildings well and truly sealed me and the pair of non-members did some head scratching and one of us remembered a school in Tewkesbury - hastily digging out Happyshopper's report we still had no idea where it is, until we spotted the rooftop shots and managed to work it out!

History shamelessly pinched from his February report as well

Tewkesbury High School for Girls was founded in 1882 by the vicar, Hemming Robeson, as a Church of England day and boarding school. In 1969 the decision was made to unite all schools in Tewkesbury under one roof, and in 1972 Tewkesbury School was founded.

In 1973 the old girls school was taken over by the local Abbey and re-opened with just 5 pupils. Pupils sung evensong at the Abbey four nights a week - Monday to Thursday, as well as their regular schooling.

After numerous fund-raising attempts, the school finally went into administration and closed in 2006, with 85 pupils in the final year.

This was another peculiar one - it is clear work had started to strip it out, all the carpets are up and most of the fixtures have been ripped out but work doesn't seem, to have progressed for a long time if the 2008 dates found on the whiteboards in the builder's HQ next to the sports hall were correct. While some rooms are in an extreme state of dereliction others have been replastered and have new paint, new lights, and new wiring installed - there was the sound of a fire alarm battery beep so it would probably be advisable to stay away from the electrics as some of it is obviously live somewhere.

All in all a decent wander if you're in the area. The older building is very pretty and reminded all of us of Lillesden in areas.

Thanks for looking, more photos here