Peter's Schools

Peter's Schools - 2

Norfolk House

Downham Market Norfolk

United Kingdom

I am indebted to Brian Thomas for allowing me to use his photographs of the Royal Masonic Schools.

Royal Masonic Junior School for Boys

The Royal Masonic Junior School for Boys was in London Road, in Bushey, near Watford in Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is now the Grange School. The Royal Masonic Junior School was built to accommodate some 400 boys in eight houses of fifty boys each.

The architecture of the School is rather unimaginative. All the buildings are of dark red brick, roofed with dark red tiles. The main buildings are built alongside a long covered walkway that runs from one end of the School (where the Headmaster's House was) to the other (where the Infirmary was).

The clock tower in the centre of the School
Photograph by courtesy of Brian Thomas
© Brian Thomas, 2000

Midway along the walkway is a rather apologetic clock tower which looks over the central quadrangle. Around the other three sides of the quadrangle are the Dining Hall, the main hall (called "Big School") and the main classroom block. The photograph on the left shows the covered walkway and Houses E, F, G and H in the background.

Below are photographs (left) of the Dining Hall - the clock is out of sight to our left; and (centre) Big School - the clock is behind us; and (right) the classroom block (viewed from the "outside" - the quadrangle is on the far side of the building).

The Dining Hall	The Big School	The Classroom Block
Photographs by courtesy of Brian Thomas © Brian Thomas, 2000

On the other side of the central walkway are the Houses where the boys lived. These buildings looked out over the large rectangular playground. The Houses were originally called "A" House to "H" House. Later, they acquired the names of famous Freemasons:

A/B	(unoccupied)	E	Sullivan
C	Kipling	F	Wren
D	Newton	G/H	Garrick

"A" and "B" Houses had been unoccupied for some time before I went to the School, and Houses "G" and "H" were combined in (I think) 1966, as a result of the roll continuing to fall - a sign of things to come: the Junior School closed in July 1970. Despite this, work to improve the boys' accommodation was going on virtually all the time I was at the Junior School. During 1965 and 1966 a Housemaster's office and a quiet reading room were added to all the houses that were in use.

I was a member of "F" (Wren) House, and my Housemaster was Mr Ron Eastman. This man was the most kind and understanding person. This was the first time that I had ever been away from home for more than a short time: I felt devastated when my mother said goodbye and turned to go, leaving me at the School. It was Ron's innate kindness and understanding that made me, a small vulnerable boy, very quickly feel safe and secure in his care.

"F" House (left) and "E" House, viewed from the playground. The incongruous fire escapes (and the litter bins!) were added after the School was closed in 1970.	Boys' entrance to "F" House
Photographs by courtesy of Brian Thomas © Brian Thomas, 2000

I soon got used the School routine which, on the whole, was pretty ordinary and rather dull. There was a religious School Assembly each day from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday we took part in two religious services.

After the Sunday morning service, the School music teacher, Mr Mike Hilton, used to play organ works by Bach, Mozart, Widor, Saint-Saens and others. Mike played wonderfully and thanks to him, today I still love listening to organ music. One day, Mike took me and a friend to Watford Town Hall, and we sat with him at the organ there as he put it through its paces. It was a wonderful, awe-inspiring afternoon.

There were lessons on Monday to Saturday, with morning sessions only on Wednesday and Saturday. Part of Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and most of the day on Sunday were our own time, but there was not much to do. I spent quite a bit of time feeling rather bored, and the time passed incredibly slowly.

I also remember feeling cold for most of the time in the Winter, and I recall that the food was generally of a rather poor standard.

We were not allowed to go home during term time, but the school holidays were four weeks long at Christmas and Easter, and eight weeks long in the Summer. After the Summer holidays, I often felt glad to get back to my friends at School, where each others' companionship was very important.

In September 1967, I progressed to the Royal Masonic Senior School.

Go to Page 3

At present, this is just a start - an overview of some of the aspects of life at the Royal Masonic Junior School: I will add more from time to time. If you would like to comment on what I have written so far, or add anything to it, please contact me.

Page updated: 10 July 2003 23:12