No 106 -  Old Longton High School

[since demolished]

"This building in Trentham Road, Longton, now occupied by the Longton annexe of the Northern College of Further Education, has played a significant role in the development of Longton High School.

It all began in 1760 with that charitable man John Bourne, Town Clerk of Newcastle, who endowed the first school with the income from a rented cottage at Meir Heath. This amounted to £7 per annum and was to be used for educating 30 children of poor parents. 

The first school occupied land adjoining St. John's churchyard, and measured only 25 by 13 yards. This land was the gift of the Lord of the Manor, the Rev. Obadiah Lane, who charged only a peppercorn rent. For more than 100 years this school survived and developed, aided by several bequests.

In 1873, a scheme was successfully proposed to build a new and more suitable school which could accommodate 200 boys. The Endowed Schools Act of 1869 made it possible for the School Trust to sell its properties and land for the purpose of building new premises. From the money raised, a site was acquired in Trentham Road in 1885, and building began. By 1894, and after considerable structural additions, the number of boys attending classes was only 70. The numbers continued to fall; in 1899 they were down to 56, and by 1900 to a mere 29.

A complete reassessment became essential as liabilities were exceeding assets. The Assistant Charity Commissioner advised Longton Town Council to assume administration and run it as a mixed school. This injected new life into the project, and 70 pupils in 1902 rose to 340 boys and girls by 1922. 

The school continued to flourish, and in 1940 a larger and better-equipped building was begun in Sandon Road, Meir. The war intervened and the building was taken over by the Military College of Science. 

The new premises were finally occupied by Longton High in 1947, which reverted back to all boys. Since then further developments have taken place, and Longton High now occupies a site in Box Lane, Meir."

13th November 1974

Trentham Road

—Here is Spring Garden Road— 

Whalley, H . T., Gardener's Rest (B.H.)

Frost, Mrs. E., hosier and ladies' outfitter

Frost, E. T., baker and confectioner

Tudor, T ., greengrocer 

Brookfield, T ., hardware dealer, hosier, and cycle agent, &c.

Ellis, A., boot repairer 

Baker, Emily, newsagent

—Here is Summer Row— 

Longton High School
Headmaster, Dr. Walter Harris, M.A., Ph.D., and F.C.S.

Assistant Masters: T. P .Evans, M .A., Oxon; 

W . W. Leech, B.Sc.; 

F. P. North, gymnastics; 

J. Lafosse, B.A., Paris; H. C. Dowswell, B.A.; E. Jones, and N. E. Smith.

Assistant Mistresses: M iss Blake, Miss L. Thomas, Miss D. Boyle, Miss E. A. Ellison, and Miss H . M. Farmer

54 Parkes, Alfred, physician and surgeon
56 Stevenson and Tart, veterinary surgeons

58 Nixon, Jane, spinster