Girls' boarding school in England, 1871–1960s
Milton Mount College was a girls' boarding school that was established in Milton-next-Gravesend near Gravesend, Kent, southeast England. It was founded in 1871, opened to pupils in 1873, and the original building was demolished in 1972.
Establishment of the school.
Milton Mount College was founded by the Rev. William Guest, Minister of the Princes Street Congregational Church as a religious school for the daughters of Congregational ministers, although other pupils were also accepted. It was located on the southern side of Windmill Hill at the junction of Parrock Road and Echo Square. The architect of the school building was C.E. Robins from Southampton and it was built in the Victorian Gothic style in an "E" shape. The foundation stone was laid in 1871 and the school opened in 1873.
The first headmistress of the school was Miss Selina Hadland (1838–1919), a pioneer of girls' education. Milton Mount College is believed to be the first school in the UK to include domestic science in its curriculum.
Later years.
Hadland retired from her post in 1889 and Ethel Mary Conder succeeded her. The school remained in its initial location until World War I when, after air raids started locally on 4 June 1915, it closed on 24 June 1915 and moved to Cirencester in Gloucestershire for the following term and then Worth Park near Crawley in West Sussex, where it continued until after World War II. Tilgate House and Worth Park, used by Milton Mount College, were demolished in the 1950s. The school merged with Bournemouth Collegiate School to become Wentworth College in the 1960s.
Gravesend building later history.
When the school vacated its original building, it was initially used as a hostel for munitions workers at Vickers and later for a period as a hospital for invalided soldiers. It was used for cases of venerial disease, after being requisitioned by the Admiralty in March 1918, so the school declined to return to the location.
In 1921, the building was sold for use as an orphan school, run by the Roman Catholic church. In 1926, it was officially opened by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Southwark, continuing as part of the Southwark Rescue Society. In 1940 during World War II, the school was evacuated to Ugbrooke Park, Chudleigh, Devon, the residence of Lord and Lady Clifford. During World War II, the building was used as a canteen by the Auxiliary Fire Service (later the National Fire Service) and the Women's Voluntary Service. The school returned to Milton Mount in September 1945 at the end of World War II. It was closed in 1951, after which a number of new St Mary's Children's homes and buildings were erected on Parrock Road and Glen View. After remaining empty for a period, in 1972 the original building was demolished and the site was then developed for housing.
Milton Mount Primary School.
The similarly named Milton Mount Primary School in Crawley was established in 1972.
Archives.
Information on the school is available in the archives of the West Sussex Record Office.
References.
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