PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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The building in Paradise Road, Stoke, carries the following inscription: ~ The erection of this school building was commenced in the year 1897 in commemoration of the 60 years glorious reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and on completion, was on the 25th Day of July 1899, duly inaugurated and dedicated to the public use and benefit by the Right Worshipful Mayor W Hornbrook Esquire in the presence of and with the assistance of Sir William H White, KCB, LLB, Dr. Sce, FRS ~ Premises at 38 George Street, Devonport, were leased for five years at an annual rent of £65 while the Council negotiated with the Government's War Department to purchase a plot of ground three-quarters of an acre in extent near to the London & South Western Railway's Devonport Station. Recruitment commenced on Monday September 11th 1893 and 425 students were soon registered for lessons applicable to the trades and industries carried on within the Borough. Lessons started on Monday September 18th 1893. It was quickly realisde that the size of the premises was totally inadequate and the Technical Instruction Committee pursued with vigour their mandate of February 2nd 1893 'to erect a permanent building'. The lowest tender received for the construction was £13,268. The foundation stone was laid on Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Day, June 22nd 1897, by the Mayor of Devonport, Mr W J Waycott, JP. The architect was Mr Henry John Snell and the builder was Mr Thomas May of Cobourg Street, Plymouth. Originally known as the Devonport Municipal Science, Art and Technical School, the building was about 150 feet long by 70 feet wide and constructed of limestone with Ham Hill stone dressing. There were three entrances, the main one in the south-facing elevation, reached by granite steps. The walls were faced with Cattedown limestone and the dressing were of Ham Hill stone. In the centre of the north wall, immediately opposite the main entrance, was a stained glass window by Messrs Fouracre of Stonehouse, representing the development of naval architecture during the career of one of Devonport's illustrious sons, Sir William White, who rose from a Dockyard apprentice to become the Director of Naval Construction and was elected a Freeman of the Borough on that opening day. The window was presented by the Mayor, Mr William Hornbrook. Down in the basement were the rooms for mechanical engineering, woodwork, a clay-modelling room, a plumbers' workshop and the engine and boiler room for the building. The caretaker also had an apartment here. On the ground floor were five classrooms, a large lecture hall that doubled as a room for technical drawing, a committee room and the secretary's office. Chemistry and physics' laboratories and a lecture room measuring 57 feet by 26 feet, were at the west end of the first floor, with three art rooms and a commercial room at the eastern end. There were cloak rooms and lavatories at both ends on each floor. A stone staircase in the centre of the building led from the ground floor to the basement while two wooden staircases at either end took students to the upper floor. Classes were held in connection with the Science and Art Department, the City and Guilds of London Institution, the Society of Arts and the Worshipful Company of Plumbers. Being a Dockyard borough, about 80% of the students were drawn from there in connection with mechincal science courses. Alderman John Bright James, the out-going Mayor, presented the Town with the clock and chimes in the tower. The local press commented 'that Devonport is badly off for public clocks in which reliance can be placed, whilst of the few there are not one is illuminated at night.' It was formally dedicated on Monday September 8th 1898. The hour bell weighed one ton and the four quarter bells ranged from half a ton downwards. The bells were hung in the thickness of the walls and were therefore visible from outisde, an unusual arramgement in Devon. Only the church bells at Barnstaple and North Tawton were similar. Fortunately for the local residents, the chimes only operated between 6am and 10pm. From 1898 until 1936 the building also housed the Devonport Municipal Secondary School for Girls, which then moved into its own premises in what is now Outland Road. In March 1926 it became a Technical College, nearly ten years after Mr W S Templeton had written to the Council suggesting that both of Plymouth's technical schools should be called Colleges. Following the construction of the College of Further Education in 1974, the old Devonport Tech building became an annex in which the students of business and commerce undertook their studies. The old Technical College building was closed in the 1990s and has now been converted into apartments.
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