Spelthorne College was a single-campus sixth form college on Church Road, Ashford, Surrey, England. It was formed in 1975 as a successor to Ashford Sixth Form College and Sunbury Sixth Form College. Its campus was founded in 1911 as Ashford County Grammar School, which became a sixth form college in 1975. In 2007 Spelthorne College merged with Brooklands College in Weybridge.

Spelthorne College
The building after an attempt to demolish it without planning permission.
Address
Map
Church Road

, ,
TW15 2XD

England
Coordinates51°26′06″N 0°27′47″W / 51.435°N 0.463°W / 51.435; -0.463
Information
Typefurther education college
Established1911
FounderMiddlesex County Council
Closed2007
Local authoritySurrey
GenderMixed
Age16+
Former nameAshford Sixth Form College 1975
Ashford County Grammar School (1911–75)

Former school

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Middlesex County Council founded the school in 1911 as Ashford County Grammar School, funded by the combined county and district local rates collected by Staines Rural District Council (RDC). It taught children of secondary school age from 11 to 18.

In 1965 Middlesex County Council was dissolved and Ashford was made part of Surrey. The school continued as a grammar school until 1975 when Surrey County Council made it into Ashford Sixth Form College. In 1974 Staines RDC was dissolved and its area became part of the new Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC). In 1975 the college absorbed pupils and staff from Sunbury Sixth Form College and was renamed Spelthorne College.

Spelthorne College's archive is lodged with Spelthorne Museum.

The "V for Victory" tiled into the roof of the original building (top), and replicated on the new development (bottom).

Merger

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As the college provided education in England and Wales to children more than 16 years old, in 1992 its funding passed to the Further Education Funding Council for England, later replaced by the Learning and Skills Council. The college performed well in external reviews, for instance gaining 23–24 points in the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education's (QAA) review of its higher education provision in business studies.[citation needed]

Brooklands College

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A Strategic Area Review in 2004 by the Learning Skills Council recommended that to expand and modernise the college's premises it merge with a larger institution. On 1 August 2007 the merger with Brooklands College was completed, to operate as the Ashford Campus, the other campus being the Brooklands College's Weybridge campus.

Redevelopment

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After Spelthorne College was dissolved in 2007, Inland Homes plc acquired its campus of 10 acres (4 ha) and sought planning permission to redevelop it. On 8 February 2017 Spelthorne Borough Council refused planning permission to redevelop the site as shops, a public square and 366 homes in buildings ranging from one to six storeys high.[1] Inland Homes disregarded the decision and on 20 February started demolishing the buildings. The council issued an order to stop, and demolition ceased on 21 February.[2] The demolition later went ahead after receiving planning permission to build 357 new homes on the site.[3]

The north-west corner of the original buildings included a "V for Victory" symbol which was tiled into the south-facing roof by workers repairing bomb damage during the Second World War.[4] This has been replicated on the east-facing roof at the front of the new development.

Alumni

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Ashford County Grammar School, Sunbury and Ashford Sixth Form Colleges and Spelthorne College:

References

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  1. ^ Eyres, Zosia (14 February 2017). "Developer blasts 'shambolic' council after former Brooklands College homes application rejection". Surrey Herald. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  2. ^ Eyres, Zosia (21 February 2017). "Brooklands College demolition: Developer starts demolishing building despite letter insisting it 'stops work immediately'". Surrey Herald. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  3. ^ Eyres, Zosia. "Brooklands College demolition: Controversial housing plan approved after developer cuts proposed number of new homes... by nine". Surrey Live. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. ^ Scripps, Jenny. History of Ashford. Staines-upon-Thames: Spelthorne Museum.
  5. ^ Times Guide to the House of Commons 1951, 1966 and May 1979 (London, Times Books)
  6. ^ "Irene Thomas". The Daily Telegraph. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Norman Willis". The Times. No. 71233. London. 26 June 2014. p. 56.
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