Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
voluntary aided school
A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...
based on two sites in
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
in the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...
, England.
It was situated in the north of Bethnal Green, just to the east of ''Cambridge Heath Road'' ( A107) and half a mile south of the
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...
and not far from the
Cambridge Heath railway station
Cambridge Heath is a railway station operated by London Overground in Bethnal Green, East London. The station is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and on the Lea Valley lines to and . Its three-letter station ...
. It was opposite the
London Chest Hospital
The London Chest Hospital, located in Bethnal Green in London, adjacent to Victoria Park, London, Victoria Park, was a hospital with a national reputation for treatment of Heart, cardiac and Lung, pulmonary disease. Since 1999 it had been run by ...
, just off the
Old Ford
Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea.
History Administration and boundaries
Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, aroun ...
Road and in the parish of
St James-the-Less, Bethnal Green
St James-the-Less is a church in Bethnal Green, London, England. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of London.
Built as a commissioners' church in 1840–2, its architect was Lewis Vulliamy.
Notable clergy
* From 1906 to 1908, Frank Buttle ...
.
Henry Raine, a very rich man who lived in Wapping, decided to create a school where poor children could get an education for free, so that they could go into skilled labour when they left. In 1719, the Lower School opened. It has moved many times and before closure the school had two separate buildings, one for Years 7 and 8, and one for Year 9 and above. From September 2010, due to works associated with the
Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. The programme was ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicia ...
(BSF) scheme, the Lower School site accommodated Years 7 to 8, with Years 9 to 13 remaining at the Upper School. The school closed in 2020 due to low pupil numbers.
History
Henry Raine had made a good sum of money from selling
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
. However he was a devout
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, and he knew that he should use his wealth for good. He decided to found a school where poor children could get a free education. He built it in
Wapping
Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...
, where he lived and named it "the Lower School". The site still exists and is called Raine's House It opened in 1719.
"The Lower School", was designed to provide an education for fifty boys and fifty girls between the ages of 8 and 18 years. They would learn "the three Rs", which were reading, writing and arithmetic. Girls however were also taught to sew and to cook, and boys were also made to shovel coal underground for the school's heating, and to scrub the floors. This was done in between periods.
Boarding school
In 1736 Henry built and set aside money for a
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
which would take on forty girls from the Lower School. It was known as "Raine's Hospital" and later "Asylum"(this did not have the connotations it has today). It would have been quite pleasant, with clothes being provided along with frequent meals.
The boys and the girls were separated at first and the boys would be beaten if caught talking to a girl. Because of this a fence was put up between the boarding and lower school.
In 1820, a new boys' school was opened as there was a large increase in boys at the lower school which was only a boys' school, the girls had the boarding school but were soon to move to the Lower School. It was opened in Silver Street by the Duke of Clarence who was later
King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
.
In 1883, the boarding school closed and a new boys' and girls' school opened in Cannon Street Road. Not all places were free anymore, it was 3d a week for the preparatory school and 6d for the senior school.
Former site
In 1913, the school moved to
Arbour Square
Arbour Square is a late Georgian square in Stepney, in the borough of Tower Hamlets, east London, England.
It is located just off the Commercial Road (A13) approximately one mile (1.6 km) east of the City of London. The square is currently ...
in Stepney; the building still stands today and is part of
Tower Hamlets College
New City College (NCC) is a large college of further education with campuses in East London and Essex. The college was formed in 2016 with the amalgamation of separate colleges, beginning with the merger between Tower Hamlets College and Hackney C ...
. It was state of the art with its gymnasium, science laboratories, a girls' cookery room and in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
a rifle range was built on the open rooftop for boys who could prepare for the army which they would fight in against the
. The separation for boys and girls continued until 1964; even the hall was separated by a hinged folding wooden dividing wall.
Comprehensive
In 1977, Raine's merged with St Jude's Secondary School and became a comprehensive school.
In 1985, the school moved to Old Bethnal Green Road (the lower school for years 7 and 8), and the old Parmiter's building in Approach Road. Both are in Bethnal Green and remain there until closure. The Upper School site is being redeveloped from Summer 2010 as part of the Building Schools for the Future project. This resulted in Year 9 being based in the Lower School building.
In January 2020
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, curr ...
made the decision to close the school due to low pupil numbers. The school formally closed in August 2020.
Notable former pupils
Notable past pupils include:
*
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008).
He has feature ...
(born 1968), actor
*
Simone Callender
Simone Callender (born 11 November 1978) is a British judoka.
Judo career
Callender, who attended Raine's Foundation School in Bethnal Green is a times seven times champion of Great Britain, winning the heavyweight division at the British Judo ...
(born 1978), judoka
*
Franz Drameh
Franz Alhusaine Drameh (born 5 January 1993) is an English actor. His film debut was in Clint Eastwood's fantasy drama, ''Hereafter'' (2010). He also appeared in British film '' Attack the Block'' (2011) and the 2014 blockbuster ''Edge of Tomor ...
, actor
*
Jocelyn Jee Esien
Jocelyn Jee Esien (born 2 March 1979) is a British comedian, actress and writer of Nigerian origin. She stars in the hidden-camera show '' 3 Non-Blondes'', and her own comedy sketch show, ''Little Miss Jocelyn''.Laura Barnett"Jocelyn Jee Esien: ...
, comedian
*
Phillips Idowu
Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu, (born 30 December 1978) is a British athlete who specialises in the triple jump. He is a former World Outdoor and Indoor, European Outdoor and Indoor, and Commonwealth triple jump champion. He was also a silver meda ...
(born 1978), world champion triple jumper,
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...
gold and
2008 Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...
silver
*
Leon Knight
Leon Leroy Knight (born 16 September 1982) is an English Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. A journeyman player, he has played for fifteen different clubs spanning five countries; Eng ...
(born 1982), professional footballer
*
Anwar Uddin
Anwar Uddin ( bn, আনোয়ার উদ্দিন; born 1 November 1981) is an English ´ football manager and former player who works as assistant manager at National League side Aldershot Town. During a career which began at West H ...
, footballer
*
Terry Skiverton
Terence John Skiverton (born 26 June 1975) is an English former footballer who enjoyed a long playing career at Yeovil Town for 11 years, appearing 382 times in all competitions, before becoming their manager and subsequently, assistant manager ...
footballer
Raine's Foundation Grammar School
*
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director.
As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style eponymously k ...
(born 1937), actor, writer and director
* Georgia Brown, actor and singer
* Sidney Bloom, restaurant proprietor, founder of
Bloom's restaurant
Bloom's restaurant was a kosher Jewish deli restaurant in London. Until its last branch closed in summer 2010, it was the longest-standing kosher restaurant in England, and was well-known beyond the Jewish community. Blooms was under the supervi ...
* Prof
Gerald Dworkin Gerald Dworkin (born 1937) is a professor of moral, political and legal philosophy. He is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of California, Davis. In 2016–17, he was Brady Distinguished Visiting Professor of Ethics a ...
, Herbert Smith Professor of European Law from 1993–7 at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
*
Leonard Fenton
Leonard Fenton (''né'' Finestein; 29 April 1926 – 29 January 2022) was a British actor, director and painter, best known for his role as Harold Legg, Dr. Harold Legg in ''EastEnders''.
Early life
Fenton was born Leonard FinesteinNorman Giller (born 1940), sports historian and television scriptwriter
* Prof
David Glass David Glass may refer to:
*David Glass (businessman) (1935–2020), American executive
*David Glass (Canadian politician) (1829–1906), Canadian lawyer and political figure
* David Glass (Israeli politician) (1936–2014), Israeli politician
*Davi ...
, Professor of Sociology at the
LSE LSE may refer to:
Computing
* LSE (programming language), a computer programming language
* LSE, Latent sector error, a media assessment measure related to the hard disk drive storage technology
* Language-Sensitive Editor, a text editor used on ...
from 1948–78, and former President of the British Society for Population Studies
* Sir Samuel Goldman CB
* Mildred Gordon, Labour MP from 1987–97 for Bow and Poplar
* Prof
Cyril Hilsum
Cyril Hilsum (born 17 May 1925) is a British physicist and academic.
Hilsum was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1983 for the inventiveness and leadership in introducing III-V semiconductors into electronic technology ...
CBE (born 1925), physicist and academic, President from 1988–90 of the
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...
who developed the
semiconductor laser
The laser diode chip removed and placed on the eye of a needle for scale
A laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD, or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode pumped directly with e ...
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
era
*
Ralph Leigh
Ralph Alexander Leigh (6 January 1915 – 22 December 1987) was a modern languages scholar, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Professor of French in the University of Cambridge from 1973 to 1982, later Sandars Reader in Bibliography, in 1 ...
, Rousseau scholar, Professor of French at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
from 1973–82
* Prof
Nathaniel Lichfield
Nathaniel Lichfield (29 February 1916 – 27 February 2009) was a British urban and environmental planner who played a key role in the development of the 1960s new towns. In 1962 he founded the planning consultancy, Nathaniel Lichfield Associates ...
, town planner notably involved with
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
and
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
, and Professor of Environmental Planning from 1966–79 at UCL
*
Ivor Mairants
Ivor Mairants (18 July 1908 – 20 February 1998) was a Polish jazz and classical guitarist, teacher and composer. With his wife Lily in 1958 he created the Ivor Mairants Musicentre, a specialist guitar store in London.
Biography
Ivor Mairan ...
(1908–1998), jazz and classical guitarist, teacher and composer
* Alfred Maizels, economist
*
Ann Mitchell
Ann Mitchell (born 22 April 1939) is a British stage and television actress. She came to prominence in the 1980s when she starred as Dolly Rawlins in the crime series ''Widows'' as well as the sequels '' Widows 2'' and ''She's Out'', all writte ...
immunochemistry
Immunochemistry is the study of the chemistry of the immune system. This involves the study of the properties, functions, interactions and production of the chemical components (antibodies/immunoglobulins, toxin, epitopes of proteins like CD4, a ...
, Professor of Biochemistry from 1951–69 at the University of London and Director from 1972–5 of
The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, u ...
*
Tony Rivers
Tony Rivers (born Douglas Anthony Thompson, 21 December 1940, Shildon, County Durham, England) is an English singer, best known for singing with the groups Tony Rivers and the Castaways and Harmony Grass. Additionally, Rivers sang on albums by St ...
(born 1940), singer
* Dr
Arthur Seldon
Arthur Seldon, (29 May 1916 – 11 October 2005) was joint founder president, with Ralph Harris, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, where he directed editorial affairs and publishing for more than thirty years. He is the father of po ...
Chad Varah
Edward Chad Varah (12 November 1911 – 8 November 2007) was a British Anglican priest and social activist from England. In 1953, he founded the Samaritans, the world's first crisis hotline, to provide telephone support to those contemplati ...
, who competed in the
1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...
* Barry Cranfield (born 1943) singer/musician/band leader/actor (including in Hollywood & London’s West End) played Jesus Christ in Academy Award winning film/director and composer/ author & journalist (with thanks to his beloved Raine’s teacher/mentor: Mr Richard Sinton.)