Leeds Modern School was a school in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England.

History

Leeds Modern School was founded on 14 July 1845 in Rossington Street as the Mathematical and Commercial School. This building in the centre of Leeds became council offices after the school moved to a site at

Lawnswood Lawnswood is a small suburb in the north west of the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. As such it is in the north north east of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. The suburb falls within the Adel and Wharfedale Ward of the City of Leeds Coun ...

in 1931. During the 1960s, pupils over 16 years of age were allowed to travel to school on motor-cycles and scooters and, with special permission, by car. The School merged with the girls'

grammar school 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 ...

, Lawnswood High School for Girls in 1972 to form the present Lawnswood School. In 1973 the now Lawnswood School became a comprehensive. The school buildings were demolished by Leeds City Council, and replaced with modern buildings in 2003.

School site

The school site was shared with a separate but identical sister school, Lawnswood High School for Girls. Boys attended Leeds Modern, Girls, Lawnswood High. The schools were separated by a joint school's swimming pool and separate dining hall building. Mixing of boys and girls was strictly prohibited. The school buildings were mainly red brick with stone features and large windows, with internal corridors of brickwork walls and oak parquet flooring. The main hall had a stage at one end, used for assembly, and was lined with scholarship boards. Classrooms accommodated about 32 pupils. School facilities included about 20 permanent classrooms, chemistry, physics and biology laboratories, lecture rooms, library, gymnasium, and rooms for metal and woodworking, art and music.

Notable former pupils

Bernard Atha Bernard Peter Atha (27 August 1928 – 22 October 2022) was an English politician and actor. He served as Lord Mayor of Leeds and was a major figure in the arts and sport in West Yorkshire and elsewhere; he also appeared in a number of films. H ...

CBE, Lord Mayor of Leeds and major figure in arts and sport * Tony Bell, professor of physics at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and the

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, merged with the At ...

, senior research fellow at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, formerly professor of physics at Imperial College, London * Author and playwright

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

* Prof

David Blackbourn David Gordon Blackbourn (born 1949 in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England) is Cornelius Vanderbilt distinguished chair of history at Vanderbilt University, where he teaches modern German and European history. Prior to arriving at Vanderbilt, Blackb ...

, Professor of German and European History at

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and

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* Robert Blackburn, founder of

Blackburn Aircraft Blackburn Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1914 to 1963 that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft. History Blackburn Aircraft was founded by Robert Blackburn (aviation pioneer), Robert Blackburn and Jessy ...

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Sir Eric Bullus, Conservative MP from 1950 to 1974 for Wembley North * TV presenter and journalist

John Craven John Raymond Craven (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', '' Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''. Early life Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...

Henry Drysdale Dakin Henry Drysdale Dakin Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (12 March 188010 February 1952) was an England, English chemist. He was born in London as the youngest of 8 children to a family of steel merchants from Leeds. As a school boy, he conducted ...

, biochemist, known for

Dakin oxidation The Dakin oxidation (or Dakin reaction) is an organic chemistry, organic redox, redox reaction in which an ''arene substitution patterns, ortho''- or ''arene substitution patterns, para''-hydroxylated phenyl group, phenyl aldehyde (2-hydroxybe ...

and the

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* Martin Kettle, journalist *

James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds, (12 August 1889 – 16 July 1967), was a British Labour Party politician. Biography Milner was educated at the University of Leeds and became a solicitor. He was a major in World War I and was wounde ...

, Labour MP from 1929 to 1951 for Leeds South East *

Bob Peck Robert Peck (23 August 1945 – 4 April 1999) was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial ''Edge of Darkness'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor, BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He ...

, actor * Peter Ridsdale, former chairman of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. * Prof Wallace Robson, Masson Professor of English Literature from 1972 to 1990 at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

* Allan Schiller B.E.M Concert pianist * Guy Schofield, Editor from 1950 to 1955 of the ''Daily Mail'' * Si
Douglas Smith
KCB, Chairman of

Acas The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a non-departmental public body of the Her Majesty's Government, Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and fa ...

from 1987 to 1992 *

Stanley Tiffany Stanley Tiffany CBE (11 June 1908 – 19 March 1971) was an English Labour Co-operative politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1945 to 1950. He was the son of Alert Tiffany from Rothwell in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated ...

CBE, Labour MP from 1945 to 1950 for

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, and Leader of Wakefield Borough Council from 1952 to 1967 *

Herbert Hall Turner Herbert Hall Turner (13 August 1861 – 20 August 1930) was a British astronomer and seismologist. Biography Herbert Hall Turner was educated at the Leeds Modern School, Clifton College, Bristol and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1884 he ...

, astronomer and

Savilian Professor of Astronomy The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Sir Henry Savile, a mathematician and classical scholar who was ...

from 1893 to 1930 at the University of Oxford * Brian Woledge, Fielden Professor of French from 1939 to 1971 at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Notable teachers

John Gunnell William John Gunnell (1 October 1933 – 28 January 2008) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Early life He was born in Birmingham, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham. He gained a BSc in General Studies in 1955 ...

taught at the school from 1959 to 1962. He was the leader of West Yorkshire County Council from 1981 to 1986, and Labour MP for Morley and Leeds South from 1992 to 1997, and Morley and Rothwell from 1997 to 2001. * Robert Shaw (poet), was head of English, 1964–1968. In addition to his teaching at Leeds Modern, during those years, he was also visiting fellow in English and education at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

and part-time tutor in twentieth-century English literature at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. He later lectured at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

from 1968 to 1972, resigning to become a full-time poet, critic (including TV and radio) and jazz saxophonist – he was a pioneer of poetry and jazz fusion.

References

External links

History of Leeds Modern School

Lawnswood School website
{{authority control Defunct grammar schools in England Defunct schools in Leeds Educational institutions established in 1845 Educational institutions disestablished in 1972 1845 establishments in England 1972 disestablishments in England