All the following illustrations were taken during a visit to the School in November 1995, one month before it was closed.
This wall contains the stones which used to be situated above the main entrance to the original Grocers’ Company’s School.
The school had been extended in the early years of the 20th Century and this block was saved after the 1963 fire. This view shows the scar where it was once attached to the main building.
Another View of "The Extension"
This view, from the rear, shows the windows of what were once Room Z, the Library, and the Physics Laboratory.
When seen from the rear of the building the Biology Laboratory stood to the left of the "Extension Block". The Laboratory was, sadly, shorn of its conservatory. The Second World War air raid shelter can be seen to the left.
The Extension Block – Front View
Peeking above the trees the window of what used to be Room A presents a lonely reminder of the original Grocers’ building. The foliage hides room X and the Lecture Theatre hides in the shadows beneath. The Lecture Theatre had been stripped of its benches but the stepped pattern of the tiling had been retained, giving the room a very high ceiling. (Do you remember the small flight of steps by room L – these were inserted to allow for the high ceiling.
The Grocers’ Company provided a Fives Court. In the early years of the 20th Century this was used as a Bike Shed. It was converted into a garage for the School Mini Bus during the Comprehensive Years and later the object of an arson attack. The floodlight column on the right is for the sunken ball court; an amenity unknown to those from the Grammar School years.
The photograph is taken from beneath the "mezzanine" playground area which linked the new small gymnasium and the technology block.
Two new Fives Courts, conforming to RFA dimensions, were provided when the School was rebuilt after the 1963 fire.
Once the territory of Harry Warburton and "Percy" Pressnell (and earlier and later incarnations of craft teachers) the workshops had been extended to provide additional facilities and storage.
Shades of R.S.M. Marley, Leslie Mitchell, Tom Abbott, Stan Gunter, Peter Chatwin et al.
The roof of the Gymnasium, coloured red in a misguided attempt to seal the porous brickwork, peers forlornly above and through the legs of one of the walkways which linked the various blocks on the site.
The Advanced Chemistry Laboratory
The windows of the former Advanced "Chemi" Lab. The Laboratories were in a shocking state at the time of closure. Not only had their original purpose been overtaken they were showing their age having been denied proper maintenance.
This photograph of The school, repaired after the Fire but minus, of course, the Theatre and the top corridor, appeared in The Review, in December, 1965. It lasted in this truncated form for a number of years until the new buildings were finally completed.
The Theatre, as pictured in 'The Review' in 1934. The General School Examination is taking place.
Note the portrait of the Reverend Gull, surveying the scene. The portrait was later to be found in the middle corridor but the scene hardly changed over the years apart from the gas lighting (top right, and the double fitment suspended over the stage).
This one comes from 'The Review', December, 1968.
It includes Malcolm Jacobs at the very back of the room.
The laying of the Foundation School of the New School Buildings.
The School (by John Larter) one of the very last taken before the fire in 1963.
The rear of the School; this picture was taken by David Ogilvie.
From Brian Harding (1953-1960) showing the School after the Fire
Two views of The Theatre following the 1963 fire. Picture 2 also shows the damage to Room G. The remains of the Tower are evident.
VIEW of the interior of the old School Theatre - taken and joined up by Albert Calland.
VIEW of the interior of the old School Theatre - taken and joined up by Albert Calland.
The completed "New" School taken from the area of the backgate. In the foreground the sunken basketball court, on the left the wall of the Standard Fives Courts, on the right the old covered Fives Court. Peeking over the back the roof of the old Gymnasium, now converted permanently into a Swimming Pool - it smaller replacement as Gymnasium stand in front of the Grocers' building. The horizontal bridge created both a covered space and a raised playing area, to its left is the Technology Block.
The interior of the old Gym/Swimming Pool looking towards the Stage end. This was the scene for the end of the 19th Century school Productions of Gilbert & Sullivan operas. The building was demolished in November, 2002. (© Hackney Archives Department and The Clove Club by arrangement with the Borough Archivist)
A view of the front of the Grocers building, demolished circa 1970 following heavy damage in the 1963, its temporary reinstatement and its final replacement by the 1960/1970's "new" school Buildings, themselves demolished in November, 2002. (© Hackney Archives Department and The Clove Club by arrangement with the Borough Archivist)
An aerial view of the entire range of the Grocers' Company's School buildings at Hackney Downs. The date is unknown but will be between 1945 and 1963. A better print is being sought.(© Hackney Archives Department and The Clove Club by arrangement with the Borough Archivist)
A view across the rear wall of the Theatre showing the Organ Manual.
A fine 19th Century view of The Grocers' Company's School in Downs Park Road (from a postcard in the collection of Dr. Melvyn Brooks in Israel). Old Boys from the 20th Century will note that the School lacks the extension on the right hand end. How young the trees look
These four pictures, sent by courtesy of Melvyn Brooks, were taken by Sam Wiseman, a passing taxi driver who was witness to the disastrous fire of 1963 which led to the destruction of the Grocers school buildings
