A Short History of Our School and Its Buildings

A History of Schooling in St Mary, Northgate

The first school on the site which Kingsmead Primary School now occupies were THE BRITISH BOYS' SCHOOL and THE BRITISH GIRLS' SCHOOL.

From the Canterbury Directory for 1846 it is noted that the Boys' School was built in 1840 and the Girls' School which also took young boys was built in 1846. The Directory states:

'The school were erected for giving instruction to the children of the poor without religious tenets. The children pay 2d a week towards the support of the schools and all the deficiencies are supplied by contributions.'

In 1858 the Master of the Boy' School was Mr. Henry Bristow and the Mistress of the Girls' School was Miss Blunt.

The Canterbury School Board took over the schools in 1872. The Boys' School changed over immediately and had room for 400 boys who paid 2d each week. Unfortunately no records can be found for the Boys' School.

The Girls' School did not re-open as a Board School until January of the following year. It continued to take small boys as well as girls up to the age of 13. The mistress was a Miss S Ford.

In 1876 the building which had been the Primitive Methodist Chapel in St. John's Place was taken over by the Canterbury School Board- indeed, there is a prominent date stone on top of the building which can still be seen today.

It then became the Infant Board School.

Finally, in 1903 the Canterbury City Schools Board opened St. John's School for Girls and Boys in our present building and adjacent Infants' School.

Canterbury Schools Board Date Stone showing 1903 & a selection of school archives

William Joseph Jennings- The Architect

St John's School was designed by an architect called William Joseph Jennings of 4 St Margaret's Street, Canterbury. Jennings designed the Canterbury Lunatic Asylum and was used to dealing with 'difficult' Government civil servants. His final plans for the school were approved in December 1899 but he had to make modifications in order to lower the cost of the buildings.

On September 28th, 1901 Jennings sent his plans to the Canterbury School Board. The Infants' School was to be built in the playground of the 1876 St John's Board School and was to be a single storey building for 300 children in four classrooms of 50 children each. There was also to be a babies' room for 50 babies, as well as a playroom for 50 children.

The large two storey building would accommodate 360 girls in 8 classrooms on the ground floor- 4 containing 40 and four containing 50 children. There were to be central halls, cloakrooms, a teachers' room and a storeroom in the school. The same amount of boys would be accommodated on the second floor.

Early Problems for Jennings

Even before the new St John's School was built Jennings faced a number of problems. Firstly, in 1901 the Chamber of Trade objected to the cost of the new schools as well as how close Jennings wanted to build the school to the River Stour stating,

'The proposed site for the new Board School is unsanitary and liable to flood.'

Jennings wrote back stating,

'With regard to the suggestion of flooding, I am of the opinion that it is such a remote contigency that the Board may disregard the possibility of such an occurrence.'

In fact Jennings was wrong! St John's School (now Kingsmead Primary School) has flooded in the past and during heavy rain the area near to school is often under a large puddle!

Early Days for St. John's School

In April 1902 tenders were received for the new schools.

A new feature of schools of the time was the large central halls (the current Assembly Hall)- older style schools didn't have a space to use for gym, dance, eating and assemblies- and so this added to the cost of the building, which was not popular with a lot of people at the time- in fact, these halls were seen as a waste of money!

It is difficult to imagine how our school today would function without our hall! Where would we have assembly, eat our lunch or do P.E.?

It was decided at last to go ahead with the building, including the costly halls and it was decided that the building cost no more than £16,640.

Work finally began building the new schools on June 9th 1902 and were built by GANN and Co of WHITSTABLE.

Heating and Ventilation

The brand new St John's School was originally heated by coal fires in each of the classrooms and in the large central halls. This would have made the school quite cold in the winter because the heat from the coal fires was not as warming as that from central heating radiators.

It would have also taken the caretaker a very long time each morning to light each fire and make sure that the rooms were warm for the children.

In the summer months the school could become very warm- the red brick absorbing the Sun's heat throughout the day. The sash windows upstairs are only designed to open a little way.

Jennings did plan for the school's ventilation by way of Tobin's Tubes- a simple device that allowed cool air to enter the room from outside.

An example of the Tobin's Tube Ventilation System- note to 'hand' detail on the lever

St John's School During World War Two

By looking at the school Log Book we know that many of the children who came to St. John's School during the Second World War were evacuated with a selection of different teachers to Reading to escape the Blitz of Canterbury known as the Baedecker Raids.

St George's Church which fell victim to a bombing raid

In order to protect the children and the teachers from an air attack, special Air Raid Shelters were built in the playground. When the siren sounded the children and their teachers would walk to the shelters and conduct their lessons in safety.

Pupils Investigating Exterior of Air Raid Shelter

Exterior of Air Raid Shelter showing Ventilation Holes

Unfortunately, during June 1942 the school was hit by bombs and much damage occurred- in fact, according the the school Log Book, the school had to close for a week so that the damage could be repaired.

There is also evidence of what appears to be machine gun damage to the side of the building, possibly caused by enemy aircraft 'dog fighting' in the skies above. The photos show how close the bullets were to the classroom windows.

Machine Gun Damage

Details of Machine Gun Damage

A Selection of Photos From the School Archives

Circa 1950s PE Lesson

Circa 1950s photograph of Sportday on the School Field

A Proud Girls' Team Standing Next to the School Doors

Circa 1950s Country Dancing

Various Classes Circa 1950

The Year Six Visit To Canterbury Cathedral Archives

As part of their History topic, children in Year 6 visited the Canterbury Cathderal Archives to research more about the school's past.

Here they looked at tithe maps detailing the land use of the area before the school was built, they researched the census returns for 1891 as well as 1901 in order to find out who lived in St. John's Place during the formative years of the school, as well as looking at original drainage survey maps detailing Canterbury's trunk sewer which runs near the school into and across the school field.

Pupils Using Microfiche Equipment to View Census Materials

Pupils Handling School Archives-Pencils and Cotton Gloves Compulsory!

If you attended either St. John's Boys or Girls School, or Kingsmead Primary School in the past and you would like to share your memories, both pupils and staff would be pleased to hear from you! Simply pop into the school office and make an appointment to meet a member of staff who would be pleased to spend some time with you!