St David's School was an independent girls' school in Ashford (historically in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, but from 1965 in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Spelthorne in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

), England. The school was originally established in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1716 as the British

Charity School Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

or Welsh Charity School. It was located in a purpose-built home on Clerkenwell Green from 1738, before moving to

Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in Central London, located in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at its junction with Holborn at the City of London boundary, passes north through the Holborn and King's Cross ...

in 1772, and eventually to Ashford in 1857. It was at first a boys' school, and then from 1758

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

, but from 1882 it began to admit girls only and became known as the Welsh Girls' School. It changed its name to St David's School in 1967, and closed in 2009.

History

Patronage

The school's patron was

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

London

The school was originally established by the Honourable and Loyal Society of Antient Britons (founded 1715), a

-based Welsh society, as a charitable institution to assist impoverished Welsh children in London. In the later 18th century it was also supported by the

Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (), often called simply the Cymmrodorion, is a London-based Wales, Welsh learned society, with membership open to all. It was first established in 1751 as a Social club, social, cultural, literary society, l ...

(founded 1751), another London Welsh society. The school opened informally (with 10 boys and a master) in 1716 in a house in Sheer Lane, London (probably located near Temple Bar), and was more formally instituted in 1718. In 1719 it moved into one of the buildings of Ailesbury Chapel,

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

, the former chapel of the medieval

Clerkenwell Priory Clerkenwell Priory was a priory of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, in present Clerkenwell, London. Run according to the Augustinian rule, it was the residence of the Hospitallers' Grand Prior in England, ...

, but at this date in use as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

meeting-house. The chapel was reconstructed as an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church ( St John Clerkenwell) in 1721–3, when the school appears to have moved to nearby Jerusalem Passage. The numbers of pupils fluctuated through this period, though there were at times up to 50 boys. In 1738 the school moved into a new purpose-built home on Clerkenwell Green. The construction of this building, designed by James Steer, was funded by subscriptions. The building (greatly altered and restored) survives, and is now the

Marx Memorial Library The Marx Memorial Library in London, United Kingdom is a library, archive, educational, and community outreach charity focused on Marxist and wider socialist bodies of work. The library opened in 1933, and is located at 37a Clerkenwell Green, fo ...

. The first girls were admitted to the school in 1758. In 1768, a decision was taken to admit a small number of residential pupils: the first were six girls.

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (16 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he had ...

's ''British Zoology'' (1766) was published "under the auspices of the Cymmrodorion Society", and "sold for the benefit of the British Charity-School on Clerkenwell Green". Pennant in fact lost heavily on the publication, and so the school derived no direct benefit from it. Independently of this work, however, he did give the school a donation of £100. Conditions at Clerkenwell Green became increasingly cramped, and in 1772 the school moved into a new building in Gray's Inn Lane (now

). (Coincidentally, the site was almost exactly opposite that on which the

London Welsh Centre The London Welsh Centre () (founded as the Young Wales Association in 1920) is a community and arts centre on Gray's Inn Road, in the London Borough of Camden. The centre is owned and run by the London Welsh Trust. The centre is a base for thre ...

would open in 1930.) The school now became predominantly residential.

Ashford

Entrance to St James School for Senior Boys - geograph

In 1857 the school moved out of London to a new site at Ashford, Middlesex. It began to have difficulty attracting charitable pupils, and in 1882 was reconstituted to admit a higher proportion of fee-paying pupils, and as a school exclusively for girls (although those boys already admitted were able to stay for the remainder of their education). It now became known as the Welsh Girls' School. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the school was evacuated to the

Powis Castle Powis Castle () is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former ...

estate in

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

, but returned to its Ashford site in 1946. In the post-war period its connections with Wales became more tenuous, and in 1967 the name was changed to St David's School. The school closed in 2009 because of falling numbers caused by the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. In 2010, the Ashford buildings were taken over by

St James Independent Schools St James Independent Schools are three fee-paying schools in England for children aged 2 to 18. The Nursery, Preparatory and Senior Girls' Schools are in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and the Senior Boys' School in Ashford, Sur ...

and opened as St James Senior Boys' School.St James Senior Boys' School

History

Patronage

London

Ashford

See also

References

Further reading