PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
|
|
Marlborough Primary School in King Street, Devonport, has a history that goes back to 1831, when a Mr Joseph Trounsell noticed on his walks around the Town that the children received their education on the streets. At the time there were only four schools in Devonport and they were all run by charities. It prompted him to found the Royal Naval and Military Free Schools. In April 1910 the Trustees of that School transferred it to the Devonport Local Education Authority with the express condition that it be transformed in to an elementary school within the new Education Act of 1903. Thus it became the King Street Elementary School. It continued educating the youngsters of Devonport until the Second World War, when the top floor was badly damaged. As most of the adjacent streets were also destroyed or equally badly damaged, the School was closed down. New housing during the reconstruction period of the 1950s brought new famillies and during the early 1960s the School was reopened as the Marlborough Primary School. It then had a flat roof and only two classrooms on the third floor. The third floor was removed in February 2000 and a new pitched roof added as part of a £400,000 refurbishment, which involved erecting new buildings on the opposite side of the old King Street. Marlborough Primary School was officially re-opened on Friday April 7th 2000 by Mr David Jamieson, Member of Parliament for Devonport.
|
