Richmond County School for Girls (sometimes referred to as ''Richmond Grammar School for Girls'') was a school at Richmond in London that was once noted for having

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in its curriculum; which resulted in the emergence from the school of a number of female cricketers, some of whom went on to play for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The school had its origins in the ''Ladies' Establishment'' established in 1861 on Kew Foot Road in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

(although now in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

).Norman Radley, ''Borough Secondary Schools Richmond Upon Thames Ex Surrey Side'', (1991) In 1865 the school moved to ''Matson House'' in the Marshgate area of Richmond and thus became Matson College. Matson College was referred to as a college ''For Gentlemen's Daughters''. In 1886 the Church Schools' Company became the owners and the school became Richmond High School for Girls. After the 1902 Education Act, the responsibility for the school passed to

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

in conjunction with Richmond Borough Council, Richmond still being in

at that time. A new school building was then constructed on a road named Parkshot in Richmond and this was opened in 1909 as Richmond County School for Girls. When the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Government passed the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

Tripartite System The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the ...

was established dividing Secondary schools into three categories,

Grammar schools A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...

Technical schools In the United States, a technical school is a type of two-year college that covers specialized fields such as business, finance, hospitality, tourism, construction, engineering, visual arts, information technology and community work. Associa ...

and Modern Schools. The grammar school was deemed the place of education for the academically gifted (as determined by the

11-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a Test (assessment), standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools ...

exam) and Richmond County School for Girls became a grammar school. This led to the

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

name of Richmond Grammar School for Girls. In the early 1970s, the Borough of Richmond reorganised its education with the setting up of a number of comprehensive schools and, as a result, Richmond County School for Girls was closed in 1974., the remainder of the school joining with similarly placed Shene Grammar at the Shene site.

Buildings

After its closure as a school the building was used almost immediately by a lending and reference service. In January 1978 the building was closed for just over three months in order to eradicate extensive

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

. The Parkshot site is now occupied by

Richmond Adult Community College Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College is a further education college located in Richmond and Surbiton in Greater London. It was established in 2017 by a merger between Richmond Adult Community College and the specialist Hillcroft Co ...

. Among its facilities are the Queen Charlotte Hall and Studio Theatre. The Richmond Business School is also within the grounds of the site.St Margarets Community website
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Houses

All girls were members of one of four day houses, each house being named after an animal that had some connection with Richmond, be that its heraldry or its history:

Sport

The school was unusual in its promotion of

as the school sport for the girls. A number of girls went on to play at a senior level and some played for their country including

Shirley Driscoll Shirley Driscoll (born 25 October 1935) is an English former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter. She appeared in seven Test matches for England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land border ...

who played cricket for

. The school was also visited by cricketer

Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, ( Heyhoe; 11 June 1939 – 18 January 2017) was an English cricketer, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was best known for being captain of England from 1966 to 1978, and was unbeaten in six T ...

Notable alumnae

- played cricket for

Janet Ellis Janet Ellis, (born 16 September 1955) is an English television presenter, actress and writer, who is best known for presenting the children's television programmes ''Blue Peter'' and ''Jigsaw'' between 1979 and 1987. She has published two novel ...

- Television presenter (presented

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

), and mother of

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

Patricia Hornsby-Smith Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith, (17 March 1914 – 3 July 1985) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. Early life and education Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith was born 17 March 1914 in East Sheen ...

- Conservative politician *

Gee Langdon Gee Langdon (1907–1993) was a British writer, lyricist and composer. Early life and education Langdon was born Gladys Annie Joel in Richmond, Surrey, and was educated at the Richmond County School for GirlsRidler, Anne & Clapinson, Mary (2011) ...

- writer, lyricist and composer *

Shan Lloyd Shan Lloyd ( née Shan Davies; 1 July 1953 – 13 December 2008) was a British journalist, writer and reporter. She was the fifth wife and widow of actor Hugh Lloyd. Biography She grew up in Sheen in London, the second daughter of Margaret ...

- journalist *

Manuela Sykes Audrey Manuela Penelope Heather Sykes (24 January 1925 – 19 September 2017) was a British Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. Background and early life Born to Arthur Darrel Sykes and Baroness Manuela Ottilie Von Hunde ...

- politician

External links

School history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond County School For Girls Defunct grammar schools in England Defunct schools in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Educational institutions established in 1861 Educational institutions disestablished in 1974 Girls' schools in London 1861 establishments in England 1974 disestablishments in England Richmond, London Defunct girls' schools in the United Kingdom