Hey Guys,
Due to the increasing petrol prices, I decided to explore a few places within walking distance of my house. My travels soon took me to Becket Upper School is West Bridgeford. The site is sadly quite trashed, however there are a number of interesting spaces to see.
The 1930s main school building is constructed from red-brick and sits very unassumingly upon the bank of the Trent. The building has minimal limestone dressings with tall half-round arched Romanesque windows on the ground floor and smaller rectangular windows on the upper floor, much more in keeping with the minimalistic style of early monasticism than a 19th-20th century Catholic school. The only obvious ornamentation on the entire building is a vivid mosaic of the Virgin Mary who sits above the former main entrance. Attached to the main school is a 1930s domestic villa, in the 'arts and crafts' style. Which, whilst not an opposite to the Romanesque style of the rest of the building; the rugged fascias, broad chimney and chunky white render provides an ill fitting contrast with the simplicity of the red-brick school.
History
Becket Upper School was originally founded as a boys’ grammar school in 1929 by Fr Aidan Kenny and Fr Bede Horwood, two priests from the Order of the Augustinians of the Assumption. During the 1960s the school was particularly renowned for a number of sporting achievements, particularly in rowing and athletics. In 1975 the school merged with the Corpus Christi Grammar School to form ‘The Becket School’. Then in 2009 the school moved to a new site at Gresham Fields at the cost of £25 million. The new school brought about the closure and demise of the older campuses, which now lay derelict awaiting demolition.
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Regards,
Due to the increasing petrol prices, I decided to explore a few places within walking distance of my house. My travels soon took me to Becket Upper School is West Bridgeford. The site is sadly quite trashed, however there are a number of interesting spaces to see.
The 1930s main school building is constructed from red-brick and sits very unassumingly upon the bank of the Trent. The building has minimal limestone dressings with tall half-round arched Romanesque windows on the ground floor and smaller rectangular windows on the upper floor, much more in keeping with the minimalistic style of early monasticism than a 19th-20th century Catholic school. The only obvious ornamentation on the entire building is a vivid mosaic of the Virgin Mary who sits above the former main entrance. Attached to the main school is a 1930s domestic villa, in the 'arts and crafts' style. Which, whilst not an opposite to the Romanesque style of the rest of the building; the rugged fascias, broad chimney and chunky white render provides an ill fitting contrast with the simplicity of the red-brick school.
History
Becket Upper School was originally founded as a boys’ grammar school in 1929 by Fr Aidan Kenny and Fr Bede Horwood, two priests from the Order of the Augustinians of the Assumption. During the 1960s the school was particularly renowned for a number of sporting achievements, particularly in rowing and athletics. In 1975 the school merged with the Corpus Christi Grammar School to form ‘The Becket School’. Then in 2009 the school moved to a new site at Gresham Fields at the cost of £25 million. The new school brought about the closure and demise of the older campuses, which now lay derelict awaiting demolition.
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Regards,
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