Barrow Grammar Schools
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The Barrow Grammar Schools were two adjacent single-sex education schools in
Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
(now
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
), England during the 20th century. Both schools merged in 1979 to form the co-educational Parkview Community College of Technology. Parkview School itself was merged in 2012 with Thorncliffe School and Alfred Barrow School to form Furness Academy. Parkview School and all elements of the former Grammar Schools were demolished in 2014 with a new school building for Furness Academy being constructed in the playing fields of Parkview. The fictional detective Inspector Charles Parker was said in Dorothy L Sayers '' Clouds of Witness'' to have been educated here.


History


Barrow Boys and Girls Grammar Schools

The schools included Barrow Boys Grammar School which opened in 1930 and Barrow Girls Grammar School in 1932. 186 students from Barrow Boys Grammar School died during combat in World War I and II and are commemorated on plaques in Furness Academy. Alumni of the grammar schools are known as 'Old Barrovians' The boys had a school song: Autumn gold and winter weather, summer due and bluebell spring, days afoot in Furness heather, these I know, these are mine, these are part of me till I. perish. Westaway the seas lie open, east away the sun rides high, outward bound in morning glory, free and ready here am I.


Parkview School

Parkview Community College of Technology (or simply Parkview School) took over the former grammar school buildings naming the boys school Fraser Building and the girls school Auld Building. Both buildings were connected via the a new sports department and sports hall, while an extension to Fraser Building included Parkview's technology faculty. In 1979 Up to 2009, Parkview was Barrow's largest school in terms of pupil numbers and land area, with around 1,000 pupils attending the school. The last acting headteacher of Parkview School was Robert Swales after replacing Enid Fraser.


Disestablishment

2012 saw the establishment of Furness Academy which utilised the buildings of Parkview School for one academic year. It was named the 'South Site' as a number of students remained based in Thorncliffe School ('North Site'). Plans were drawn up for a state-of-the-art school building for Furness Academy, leaving the Parkview School buildings redundant. A common misconception was that the former grammar school buildings held listed status and were immune from major development. Ultimately demolition of the complex commenced in 2014 with property developers Mullberry Homes planning 64 large family homes on the site. In September 2014 during the demolition process, a major fire broke out in the former Auld Building of Parkview School (the original Girls Grammar School), an arson investigation was launched as a result.


Notable alumni

Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School for Boys * Chris Blackhurst * Philip Martin Brown * Glenn Cornick * Gordon Fallows * Jack Lewis, Baron Lewis of Newnham * Dave Myers * Ivor Porter * Richard Reeves * Joseph Stenhouse * Gary Stevens * Victor Chavez (businessman) Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School for Girls *
Philippa Russell Dame Philippa Margaret Russell (born 4 February 1938) is a British worker and writer in the field of learning disability. She was chair of the UK government Standing Commission on Carers 2007–15. Career Philippa Margaret Russell was educated a ...
Parkview School


See also

* List of schools in Barrow-in-Furness * Furness Academy


References

{{coord missing, Cumbria Buildings and structures demolished in 2014 1979 disestablishments in England Defunct grammar schools in England Barrow Grammar Schools Barrow Grammar Schools Barrow Grammar Schools
Grammar Schools A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...