Great Ayton Friends' School (1841-1997) in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire. It was an independent, co-educational, agricultural boarding school, run by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire on the edge of the North York Moors in England. ... Bolton Abbey North Yorkshire is a Shire county within the region of Yorkshire and the Humber in England. ... A boarding school is a school where some or all students not only study but also live, amongst their peers but away from their home and family. ... The Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as Quakers or Friends) was founded in England in the 17th century by people who were dissatisfied with the existing denominations and sects of Christianity. ...

It was situated on High Green on an estate of around 70 acres in a picturesque setting in the shadow of the Cleveland Hills. The River Leven (a tributary of the River Tees), ran through the school grounds and was bridged in several places. For other rivers of the same name see: River Leven, County Durham River Leven, Cumbria, in the historic county of Lancashire River Leven, North Yorkshire The River Leven is a stretch of water in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, flowing from Loch Lomond in the North to the River Clyde in the... A tributary (or affluent or confluent) is a contributory stream, a river that does not reach the sea, but joins another major river (a parent river), to which it contributes its waters, swelling its discharge. ... The Tees is an English river which rises on the eastward slope of Cross Fell in the Pennine Chain and flows eastwards for about 87 miles (137 km) before emptying into the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar. ...

History

Quakers in County Durham, having concern for children of disowned Friends who were not eligible for Quaker education, were searching for a suitable site to establish an agricultural school on their behalf. Unable to find a site in the preferred area of Bishop Auckland, Durham Friends sought the assistance of Thomas Richardson, a Quaker from Darlington who had come to live in Great Ayton on his retirement in 1830. County Durham is a county in north-east England. ... Location within the British Isles Bishop Auckland is a market town in County Durham in North East England. ... Thomas Richardson can be any one of: Thomas Richardson - Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Tom Richardson - the cricketeer Thomas Richardson - professional wrestler known by his stage name of Tommy Wildfire Rich. ... This article discusses Darlington, England. ...

In 1841 the school was established "for the maintenance of 36 boys and the same number of girls belonging to or connected with the Society of Friends; others are admitted at a charge representing about the average cost of each child per annum. There is now accommodation for 80 boarders. The course of instruction embraces Latin, French, Euclid, Geometry, Algebra, and various scientific subjects - Agriculture, Chemistry, Physiology, Botany, &c. The girls are trained either for domestic work or a higher sphere of life" ^[1].

An estate of nearly 70 acres were purchased for the purposes of the school, and many additions were made to the premises.

Disownment for marrying out’ ended in 1854, and the school changed with the times, becoming the Friends’ School.

The school gradually attracted greater numbers of pupils until in the situation arose that there was no room large enough to contain all of the 300 pupils. In 1968 the Meeting House was enlarged to accommodate everyone. Currently a part of the Peabody Essex Museum the first Quaker Meeting House (Federal Garden area) in Salem, Massachusetts was built around 1688. ...

In 1991 the school adopted a more commercial approach. It dropped its named association with the Quakers and adopted the new name 'Ayton School'. They appointed a marketing manager to promote the school’s facilities to the general public, a move that signalled hard times were around the corner.

The closure of the school in 1997 came as a shock and bereavement to the Quakers, the villagers of Great Ayton and the staff and pupils at the school. Dwindling pupil numbers had given the trustees no other option but to close the school at the end of the term. In a letter to parents, chairman Robert Campbell explained that 37 of the school’s 200 pupils had withdrawn from the school recently leaving the school massively short of funds.

The school’s 28 teachers and 22 other staff lost their jobs and the school’s grade II listed building and its 30 acre estate was put up for sale. Buckingham Palace, a Grade I listed building. ...

During its 157 year history the school was attended by almost 7,500 pupils and employed 550 staff.

Headmasters

George Dixon: 1841-1865,

Ralph Dixon: 1866-1895,

F. Rivers Arundel: 1896-1913,

Herbert Dennis: 1913-1940,

J. Stanley Carr 1940-1952,

John Reader 1953-1975,

Fred Sessa 1976-1984,

David Cook 1985-1994,

Chris Scaife 1994.

Headmistresses

M. Sophia Wells 1902-1938

Evelyn Nicholson 1938-1967

Alice Meager 1995-1997.

Present

the Friends school estate was sold to Wimpey Homes.Working with English Heritage and The Georgian Society, the company established a development with attempted sympathy to the local style and to the surrounding architecture. Many of the school’s original features have been retained and the local wildlife and landscapes have been carefully managed. Wimpy could refer to: J. Wellington Wimpy a hamburger loving character from the Popeye cartoons. ... English Heritage is a United Kingdom government body with a broad remit of managing the historic environment of England. ...

Wimpey built 63 exclusive properties on the grounds. The styles vary from the farmhouse family homes, to cottages and traditional three-story town houses.

In the Richardson School Hall, 21 apartments were sold, ranging in price from £120,000 to £200,000.

The Quakers in Great Ayton set aside part of the meeting house as an 'Old Scholars' room containing many items selected by Old Scholars to be retained as mementoes of the School. The War Memorial plaque from the School dining room is placed there while the memorial benches remain in the meeting room.

References

1. ^ Bulmer's History, Topography, and Directory of North Yorkshire,1890.

Further Reading

G. Alston Watson; 'Ayton School Centenery History' 1841-1941.Headley Bros, 1941.

External Links

Ayton Old Scholars