Raine's Foundation School was a Church of England voluntary aided school based on two sites in Bethnal Green 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 and not far from the Cambridge Heath railway 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 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 Raine's House, sometimes called Raine House, is a Grade II* listed house in Raine Street, Wapping, London E1. This listing recognises the building's special architectural or historic interest. History This structure was built in 1719, and fo ...

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, 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. 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. It was state of the art with its gymnasium, science laboratories, a girls' cookery room and in World War I a rifle range was built on the open rooftop for boys who could prepare for the army which they would fight in against the Germans. 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 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 (born 1968), actor * Simone Callender (born 1978), judoka * Franz Drameh, actor *

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, comedian *

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(born 1978), world champion triple jumper,

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gold and

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silver * Leon Knight (born 1982), professional footballer * Anwar Uddin, footballer * Terry Skiverton footballer

Raine's Foundation Grammar School

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(born 1937), actor, writer and director * Georgia Brown, actor and singer * Sidney Bloom, restaurant proprietor, founder of Bloom's restaurant * Prof

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, Herbert Smith Professor of European Law from 1993–7 at

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* Leonard Fenton, actor *

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(born 1940), sports historian and television scriptwriter * Prof David Glass, Professor of Sociology at the LSE 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

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CBE (born 1925), physicist and academic, President from 1988–90 of the Institute of Physics who developed the semiconductor laser * Rt Rev

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, Bishop of Newcastle, Australia from 1978–92 * Prof David Keen, geologist and expert on the

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era *

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, Rousseau scholar, Professor of French at the University of Cambridge from 1973–82 * Prof

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, town planner notably involved with

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and Peterborough, and Professor of Environmental Planning from 1966–79 at UCL *

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(1908–1998), jazz and classical guitarist, teacher and composer * Alfred Maizels, economist *

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(born 1939), actress * Prof

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CBE (1900–2003), pioneer of immunochemistry, Professor of Biochemistry from 1951–69 at the University of London and Director from 1972–5 of

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* Tony Rivers (born 1940), singer * Dr Arthur Seldon CBE, economist *

Michael Varah George Peter Michael Varah (19 October 1944 – 2 April 2007) was a British international middle-distance runner and later a Chief Probation Officer. Biography Varah was eldest of Multiple birth, triplet boys born in the vicarage of Holy Trinit ...

(1944–2007),

800m The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

runner, son of

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, who competed in the

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* 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.)

References

External links

Raine's Foundation School online, the official site.

The Maths Challenge (EPGY) with Stanford University

Website of the Old Raineians' Association

EduBase
{{authority control 1719 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1719 Defunct schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Defunct Church of England schools Bethnal Green 2020 disestablishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2020