Onslow St Audrey's School

 

Onslow St Audrey’s School was created in 1985 with the amalgamation of St Audrey’s School and Onslow School, on the site of the latter in Old Rectory Drive.    The badge of the new school was created by a member of the College of Arms, by placing the three crowns of St Audrey’s on the red bar at the centre of the Onslow coat of arms.

History

St Audrey’s began as a Church of England School in 1905, when new premises were built in School Lane to accommodate the senior boys from the overcrowded London Road School.   In 1924, the senior girls moved to the site and it became St Audrey’s Mixed School. Numbers continued to grow and, in the 1930s, a new block for science, cookery and practical crafts was built. This was partly financed by a series of “Tudor Revels” held in Hatfield Park. On 10th October 1944, St Audrey’s school was hit by a flying bomb, causing extensive damage. The school was rebuilt after World War ll, being the first permanent post-war school built in England. It reopened on 26 July 1946. Unable to find enough money to cover the difference between war damage payments and building costs, the Church of England passed control of the school to the County Council.

In 1958, St Audrey’s School moved to new premises in Travellers Lane, being officially opened on 17th October (St Audrey’s Day). Its former building became a temporary home for Onslow Secondary Modern School, which moved into new buildings in Old Rectory Drive in September 1960.