Spelthorne College

Further education college in Ashford, Surrey , England

Spelthorne College

The building after an attempt to demolish it without planning permission.

Address

Church Road

Ashford

Surrey (Middlesex)

TW15 2XD

England

Coordinates| 51°26′06″N 0°27′47″W﻿ / ﻿51.435°N 0.463°W﻿ / 51.435; -0.463
Information
Type| further education college
Established| 1911
Founder| Middlesex County Council
Closed| 2007
Local authority| Surrey
Gender| Mixed
Age| 16+
Former name| Ashford Sixth Form College 1975
Ashford County Grammar School (1911–75)

Spelthorne College was a single-campus sixth form college on Church Road, Ashford, Surrey, England. It was formed in 1975 as a successor to Ashford Sixth Form College and Sunbury Sixth Form College. Its campus was founded in 1911 as Ashford County Grammar School, which became a sixth form college in 1975. In 2007 Spelthorne College merged with Brooklands College in Weybridge.

## Former school

[edit]

Middlesex County Council founded the school in 1911 as Ashford County Grammar School, funded by the combined county and district local rates collected by Staines Rural District Council (RDC). It taught children of secondary school age from 11 to 18.

In 1965 Middlesex County Council was dissolved and Ashford was made part of Surrey. The school continued as a grammar school until 1975 when Surrey County Council made it into Ashford Sixth Form College. In 1974 Staines RDC was dissolved and its area became part of the new Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC). In 1975 the college absorbed pupils and staff from Sunbury Sixth Form College and was renamed Spelthorne College.

Spelthorne College's archive is lodged with Spelthorne Museum.

The "V for Victory" tiled into the roof of the original building (top), and replicated on the new development (bottom).

## Merger

[edit]

As the college provided education in England and Wales to children more than 16 years old, in 1992 its funding passed to the Further Education Funding Council for England, later replaced by the Learning and Skills Council. The college performed well in external reviews, for instance gaining 23–24 points in the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education's (QAA) review of its higher education provision in business studies.[citation needed]

## Brooklands College

[edit]

Main article: Brooklands College

A Strategic Area Review in 2004 by the Learning Skills Council recommended that to expand and modernise the college's premises it merge with a larger institution. On 1 August 2007 the merger with Brooklands College was completed, to operate as the Ashford Campus, the other campus being the Brooklands College's Weybridge campus.

## Redevelopment

[edit]

After Spelthorne College was dissolved in 2007, Inland Homes plc acquired its campus of 10 acres (4 ha) and sought planning permission to redevelop it. On 8 February 2017 Spelthorne Borough Council refused planning permission to redevelop the site as shops, a public square and 366 homes in buildings ranging from one to six storeys high.[1] Inland Homes disregarded the decision and on 20 February started demolishing the buildings. The council issued an order to stop, and demolition ceased on 21 February.[2] The demolition later went ahead after receiving planning permission to build 357 new homes on the site.[3]

The north-west corner of the original buildings included a "V for Victory" symbol which was tiled into the south-facing roof by workers repairing bomb damage during the Second World War.[4] This has been replicated on the east-facing roof at the front of the new development.

## Alumni

[edit]

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (September 2014)

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Ashford County Grammar School, Sunbury and Ashford Sixth Form Colleges and Spelthorne College:

* Don Bennett, who played cricket for Middlesex 1950–68
* Nicholas Bond-Owen, child actor of the 1970s and '80s who played Tristram Fourmile in the sitcom George and Mildred
* Brian Capron, actor in Coronation Street from the Sunbury Sixth Form College
* Susannah Clapp, theatre critic of The Observer since 1997
* Robert Evans, MEP for London North West 1994–99 and one of the MEPs for London 1999–2009
* Richard Johnson, who played cricket for Middlesex and England 1992–2007
* Gary Numan, musician
* Arthur Palmer, MP for Wimbledon 1945–50, Cleveland 1952–59, Bristol Central 1964–74, and Bristol North East 1974–83[5]
* Sid Russell (1937–94), who played cricket for Middlesex (1960–64) and Gloucestershire (1965–68) and football for Brentford F.C. 1956–61
* Wendy Smith-Sly, Olympic athlete who competed mainly in 3000 metres running events
* Irene Thomas, radio quiz show personality[6]
* Norman Willis, TUC General Secretary 1984–93[7]

## References

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1. ^ Eyres, Zosia (14 February 2017). "Developer blasts 'shambolic' council after former Brooklands College homes application rejection". Surrey Herald. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
2. ^ Eyres, Zosia (21 February 2017). "Brooklands College demolition: Developer starts demolishing building despite letter insisting it 'stops work immediately'". Surrey Herald. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
3. ^ Eyres, Zosia. "Brooklands College demolition: Controversial housing plan approved after developer cuts proposed number of new homes... by nine". Surrey Live. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
4. ^ Scripps, Jenny. History of Ashford. Staines-upon-Thames: Spelthorne Museum.
5. ^ Times Guide to the House of Commons 1951, 1966 and May 1979 (London, Times Books)
6. ^ "Irene Thomas". The Daily Telegraph. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
7. ^ "Norman Willis". The Times. No. 71233\. London. 26 June 2014. p. 56.

## External links

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* Spelthorne Museum
* Capital Bid Minutes
* "Explanatory Memorandum to the Spelthorne College, Ashford, Middlesex (Dissolution) Order 2007" (PDF). The National Archives.
* Lee, Joseph (18 September 2009). "FE: 3,000 sixth form places at risk as college goes 'bust'". TES.
* Lee, Joseph (13 November 2009). "Capital funding fiasco brings campus closure". TES.
* Lee, Joseph (29 January 2010). "'Closure' campus to stay open despite debt". TES.
* Thomson, Alan (4 December 2009). "Second chance for condemned campus". TES.

* v
* t
* e

Borough of Spelthorne

Towns, villages and localities|

* Ashford
* Ashford Common
* Charlton
* Laleham
* Littleton
* Lower Halliford
* Lower Sunbury
* Shepperton
* Staines-upon-Thames
* Stanwell
* Stanwell Moor
* Sunbury-on-Thames
* Sunbury Common
* Upper Halliford

Key parks|

* Ashford Park Rec. Ground
* Beechwood Rec. Ground
* Bishop Duppas Park
* Knowle Green
* Laleham Park
* Spelthorne Sports Ground
* Long Lane Rec. Ground
* Shortwood Common
* Staines Moor
* (Staines) Lammas
* Staines Park
* Sunbury Park
* Town Lane Rec. Ground
* Walled Garden, Sunbury

Large listed buildings|

| Churches|

* All Saints', Laleham
* St Hilda's, Ashford
* St Mary's, Staines
* St Matthew's, Ashford
* St Mary's, Stanwell
* St Mary Magdalene's, Littleton
* St Nicholas', Shepperton

|

Other|

* Halliford School
* Laleham Abbey
* Littleton Manor
* The Old Manor House, Shepperton
* Shepperton Manor
* St Paul's College
* St James Senior Boys School
* Sunbury Court

Education|

* The Bishop Wand Church of England School
* Halliford School
* Matthew Arnold School
* St James Senior Boys School
* St. Paul's College, Sunbury-on-Thames
* Spelthorne College
* Sunbury Manor School
* Thamesmead School

Railway stations|

* Ashford
* Kempton Park
* Shepperton
* Staines
* Sunbury
* Upper Halliford

Buildings and structures|

* Kempton Park Racecourse
* Kempton Park Reservoirs
* Kempton Park Steam Engines
* King George VI Reservoir
* Queen Mary Reservoir
* Shepperton Studios
* Staines Reservoirs
* Wraysbury Reservoir
* Thames Water Ring Main
* M3 motorway and Thames Crossing
* Staines Bridge
* Chertsey Bridge
* Walton Bridge

Sport|

| Football|

* Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C.
* Spelthorne Sports F.C.
* Staines & Lammas (Middlesex) F.C.
* Staines Town F.C.

|

Rugby|

* London Irish RFC
* London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club
* Staines Rugby Football Club

Other|

* Staines Boat Club
* Sunbury Cricket Club
* West Surrey Racing

Destroyed landmarks|

* Ashford Manor
* Astleham Church
* Stanwell Place
* Kempton Manor
* Sunbury Manor

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