Holcombe Manor was built in 1887 as a house by the first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Chatham, George Winch (September 20, 1842 – February 22, 1914), for him and his wife Mary Clarke Bluette to live in. Mary was brought up in the village of

Holcombe Rogus Holcombe Rogus is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the English county of Devon. In 2001 the population of the parish was 503. Name The first element of the place-name is derived from Old English for a deep or hollow coomb (v ...

, Devon. Winch built the new family house in a near-identical style to that of her childhood home, Holcombe Court in Devon, calling it Holcombe. There was a lake in the grounds, and a sunken Italian garden. The original building was later extended past the conservatories. In 1909 Holcombe Manor was put up for

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

. The lots were the house itself, the local football ground, Chatham Town F.C., and the surrounding

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

. This area is now occupied by houses, shops and so on. In 1920 the house became home to

Chatham Grammar School for Boys Holcombe Grammar School (formerly Chatham Grammar School for Boys) is a grammar school with Academy (English school), academy status in Chatham, Medway, Chatham, Kent, England. They are part of Thinking Schools Academy Trust. Holcombe is a selec ...

, after which more buildings were built to accommodate students. After 1945 it became a specialist technical school (Chatham Technical School for Boys) and in 1982 it became a grammar school, Chatham Grammar School for Boys. In 2016 the school name was changed in preparation for the planned admission of girls throughout the school. After a consultation with pupils, staff and parents the name "Holcombe Grammar School" was selected. The local authority is now using this name. During the late fifties, pre-fabricated buildings were erected in the grounds to serve as classrooms. These temporary buildings remained on the site for many years. In 2000, construction of the Performing Arts block was started. The last remnants of the sunken garden were destroyed, steps leading out from the Manor's library down to the garden were demolished and the area bricked over. Today the English and Science ("B" Block") stands on the site of the lake. The parent-teacher association of Chatham Grammar School for Boys is called the Holcombe Association - it is believed to be the oldest PTA in England. Students are known as "Holcombians".

References

External links

Chatham Grammar School for Boys website

Map of site from Google Maps
Country houses in Kent Medway {{Kent-struct-stub