The Royal Masonic School for Boys was an English

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

for boys at

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

History

The origins of the school lie in the charities established in the late 18th century to clothe and educate the sons of

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

s near their homes. These charities amalgamated in 1852 and established a boys' school at

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a m ...

in North London in 1857. The foundation stone for a new school in

was laid by the

Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...

. It was designed by Gordon & Gunton and completed in 1903. A Junior School was added on the other side of The Avenue in 1929 and by 1939 there were 800 boys at the school. Following a decline in pupil numbers the junior school closed in 1970, with the senior school closing in 1977. The site of the junior school is now occupied by The Grange Academy. The Royal Masonic School for Girls, based at

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and th ...

, Hertfordshire, was unaffected by the closure. The site was acquired by Comer Homes in 1998; the buildings were rented out to the United States International University (Europe) (later

Alliant International University Alliant International University, often called Alliant, is a private for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego and other campuses in California. It offers programs in six California campuses – in San Francisco, San Diego, L ...

) until 2009 when Comer Homes began redeveloping the site as Royal Connaught Park.

Notable alumni

Anthony Andrews Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for ...

– Actor * Percy Jack Clayson – First World War Fighter Ace *

David Davies (football administrator) David Davies (born 1948) is a British broadcaster and consultant, formerly the Executive Director of the Football Association in England. He is a regular contributor to BBC News television and radio programmes and other networks. Since retiring ...

–

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

Director, Broadcaster and Author * Richard Evans – Businessman * Robin Gibson – Art Historian * Gavin Hamilton (British Army officer) – Military Cross (Posthumously Awarded) *

Sir Stuart Hampson Sir Stuart Hampson (born 7 January 1947) is a British businessman. He was formerly chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. He was the fourth person to be appointed and held the position since 1993. Biography Hampson joined the Partnership in ...

– Chairman,

John Lewis Partnership The John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The privately-held pub ...

* Richard Holme – British Liberal Democrat Politician *

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

Frederick Charles Hurrell Air Vice Marshal Frederick "Freddie" Charles Hurrell, (24 April 1928 – 3 October 2008) was a senior medical officer in the Royal Air Force who spent his 35-year military career in aviation medicine and served as Director-General of the RAF Med ...

– Director-General Of The

RAF Medical Services The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed operations to RAF service personnel. Medical officers are the doctors of the RAF and have specialist expertise in avia ...

From 1986 to 1988 * Richard Lewis –

Dean of Wells The Dean of Wells is the head of the Chapter of Wells Cathedral in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The dean's residence is The Dean's Lodging, 25 The Liberty, Wells. List of deans High Medieval *1140–1164: Ivo *1164–1189: Ric ...

From 1990 To 2003 * Paul Pickering – Writer * Charles Phillips - Archaeologist in charge of the excavation of

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two early medieval cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near the English town of Woodbridge. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing ...

burial ship. * Harvey Postlethwaite –

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Designer * Brent Sadler – CNN News Reporter in the Middle East * Harry Leonard Shorto – British linguist * D. R. Thorpe – Political Biographer * Ernest Warburton – Musicologist * Simon Roderick Warr - BBC radio broadcaster, television personality, writer and former teacher. *

Brian Wenham Brian George Wenham (9 February 1937 – 8 May 1997) was the controller of BBC2 from 1978 until 1982. He was known for having nurtured ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'', and coverage of snooker and opera. He had been a senior producer for ITN on '' ...

– Television and Radio Administration

In popular culture

Both the senior and junior school were commonly used for films such as '' Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'', ''

Lucky Jim ''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the exploits of the eponymous James (Jim) Dixon, a reluctan ...

'', ''

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action- adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and a s ...

'' from the 1950s until recently. The opening scenes of the children's series, '' Thunderbirds'' was filmed in the old science block. The senior school and its grounds were used throughout the long running series of ''

Judge John Deed ''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real ...

'' starring Martin Shaw employing the teaching block as the judges's chambers and other parts of the senior school for the in-court scenes. The interior was used for the 1990 comedy '' Nuns on the Run''.

References

External links

Memoirs of a student at the junior school 1949–1953Blog about life at the junior school 1961–1965
{{Authority control Defunct schools in Hertfordshire Boys' schools in Hertfordshire Boarding schools in Hertfordshire Freemasonry in England Masonic educational institutions in the United Kingdom People educated at the Royal Masonic School for Boys Educational institutions established in 1903 1903 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 1977 1977 disestablishments in England