Moseley School

In 1838 a private house in Spring Hill, Hockley, Birmingham, was opened as Spring Hill College, for the training of Congregationalist ministers, under the patronage of George Storer Mansfield (1764–1837) and his two sisters Sarah (1767–1853) and Elizabeth (1772–1847). Twenty years later, in 1857, after expansion to include a further three private houses, the establishment, still under the name Spring Hill College, moved to new, much larger, purpose-built premises on Wake Green Road, in what was then rural Worcestershire, some miles south of the city. This striking Gothic revival building was designed by the architect Joseph James, and is particularly noted for its gargoyles.

In 1886, the college was closed and a replacement institution founded in Oxford, known as Mansfield College (now part of the University of Oxford). Meanwhile, in 1892, the Wake Green Road buildings were re-opened as the Pine Dell Hydropathic Establishment and Moseley Botanical Gardens, which entailed the construction of a swimming bath (with highly decorative ceiling) and greenhouses. It soon became an important community hub, hosting a great variety of events, such as concerts and plays, and classes for local children. One of these was the future author J. R. R. Tolkien.[4]

Pine Dell Hydropathic Establishment closed in 1900, and the buildings became a private residence. In the same year, further down College Road (itself named after Spring Hill College), the local school board opened a new institution named College Road Board School, for both junior and senior pupils, later transferred to Birmingham City Council in 1911 with the expansion of the city boundaries. The juniors eventually became Springfield Primary School (now Springfield Primary Academy) in the same premises, while in 1955 the seniors moved up the hill to a site adjacent to the former Spring Hill College.

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the former Spring Hill College buildings were commandeered by the War Office for a military barracks. Later, they also briefly housed an orphanage, and a temporary teacher training facility for veterans.

Finally, in 1923, the former Spring Hill College premises were acquired by Birmingham City Council, which opened them as Moseley Secondary School, for boys only and with a selective entrance examination. Major Ernest Robinson served as headmaster until 1956. The study bedrooms of the former college were merged in pairs to form classrooms, and the former hydropathic swimming bath was boarded over to serve as the school assembly hall (now the main library). An extension was built to house laboratories and further classrooms. A feature of the school was that the headmaster would live on the premises, which continued as the practice until 1972. Moseley Secondary School changed its name to Moseley Grammar School in 1939. Almost immediately, school life was completely disrupted by the Second World War, when the entire school population was evacuated. A semblance of normality did not return until the 1944/45 school year.

In 1955 the City Council opened Moseley (Secondary) Modern School, fronting College Road, on what had previously been a playing field next to Moseley Grammar School, as the new home of the seniors from College Road School. This new school, with Miss Eileen Cohen (later Mrs Eileen North), previously head of College Road Seniors, as headmistress until 1967, was both co-educational and non-selective, and specialised in performing arts such as theatre and music. Only a fence separated it from the grammar school, and relations between the two sets of pupils were not always peaceful.

During the headmastership of Bruce Gaskin, 1956 to 1972, Moseley Grammar School acquired its reputation for academic excellence, having previously been known more for its sporting achievements, particularly in rugby. In 1968 it acquired a former inn near Abergavenny, Wales, known as Old Grouse Cottage, for outdoor activities and field trips, which the school retained until 2014. The school was designated a Grade II listed building in the year of Mr Gaskin's retirement.

Four Moseley School sixth-formers win cricket scholarships to Aston University, 1984.

In 1974, after two years of uncertainty, Moseley Grammar School and Moseley Modern School were amalgamated into a single school. This change was controversial but supported by many (among the latter, Mr Gaskin, who after his retirement remained active on the new school's Board of Governors until the 1980s). The combined establishment, known simply as Moseley School, became one of the largest comprehensives in Birmingham. Initially at least, it inherited the good reputations of its predecessors in their respective fields. Moseley Grammar School had been without a head since 1972, and Donald Wilford, headmaster of Moseley Modern School since 1967, applied for the appointment as head of the combined school.

In the event, the job went to an outsider, Alan Goodfellow, who was on record as being bitterly critical of comprehensive education. He was also plagued by ill-health and died in office in 1981, after which a number of institutions that had survived the amalgamation, such as a school house system, were allowed to lapse.

David Swinfen was appointed as head the following year. His ambitious plans, however, were overwhelmed by events, when the former Moseley Grammar School, known since the amalgamation as the West Wing, began falling apart as a result of decades of neglect and under-funding. In 1986 the roof of the old library was declared unsafe halfway through an exam, and the entire building was closed and subsequently earmarked for demolition – the latter prevented only by Mr Swinfen's speedily organised campaign and the resultant public outcry. By the end of his tenure in 1992, the school had undergone a radical change of character, following the redrawing of its catchment area in 1987/88. Hitherto, Moseley School had taken a majority of its pupils from the (then) largely white area of Hall Green, but now it took them from the mainly Asian area of Sparkhill.

Cricket has always been a popular sport at Moseley School, and the school field often doubled up as a cricket pitch. Since 1994 it has been the permanent home of the Birmingham-based Attock Cricket Club, which has invested money in improving facilities, including the rebuilding and expansion of the pavilion in 1998.

Head David Swinfen celebrates the saving of Moseley School from demolition, 1987.

The campaign for the restoration of the West Wing continued for many years. In 1995 Mrs Mary Miles, head teacher from 1992 to 2001, authorised the formation of the Moseleians Association, for former students and staff of Moseley School and its various predecessor institutions. It publishes the twice-yearly Moseleian Gazette, and organises regular reunions and many other events. Continuing the work of the Old Moseleians Association – founded by Major Robinson in 1927, but with which the school had severed links in 1968 – the Moseleians Association has assumed an increasingly important role in school life. It sponsors competitions and prizes for pupils, raises funds for restoration work, plants trees on the school grounds, and has taken over the administration of the school archives.

After being closed and shored up with scaffolding for more than a decade, in 1998 – with financial assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund – the West Wing was completely refurbished, and re-opened as the new home of the school sixth form. To coincide with its re-opening, the three daughters of Mr Gaskin published Moseley into the Millennium: The Story of Moseley School, detailing and celebrating the history of the school.[5]

Moseley School badges.

Top row: (1) Arms of Spring Hill College 1838–1886, and reputedly of George Storer Mansfield, a stained glass version of which appears in the school tower. (2) Moseley Secondary School 1923, temporary badge. (3) Moseley Secondary School 1923–1939, Moseley Grammar School 1939–1974, Moseley School 1974– , school colours black, red and white, the Spring Hill Arms with addition of an ermine border of 23 spots – the year that Moseley Secondary School opened.

Bottom row: (4) Moseley Grammar School 1939–1945, alternative badge used by evacuee pupils during the Second World War, for ease of identification. (5) Moseley Modern School 1955–1974, school colours red and green.

The following is a list of all those who have held the office of head teacher (or equivalent), or acted as such during vacancies, of Moseley School and its predecessor institutions, since Spring Hill College was first opened in 1838.[8][9]

The individuals below are listed by the Moseleians Association as famous Moseleians, former pupils of Moseley Secondary School (MSS), College Road Senior School (CRSS), Moseley Grammar School (MGS), Moseley Modern School (MMS), and Moseley School (MS).[10]

• Kabir Ali (MS), cricketer.
• Rod Allen (MGS), vocalist for The Fortunes.
• David Bell (MGS), Mayor of Solihull.
• Bev Bevan (MGS), drummer for ELO.
• Stuart Burgess (MGS), President of the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
• Jasper Carrott (Robert Davis) (MGS), comedian and game show host.
• Anthony Carthew (MSS), ITN news reporter.
• Nisar Choudhry (MS), hockey player.
• Carl Chinn (MGS), historian and broadcaster.
• Sharon Corbett (MMS), Commonwealth sportswoman.
• Sir Alan Cottrell (MSS), Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.
• Geoffrey Gibbins (MGS), judge and musician.
• Sir Douglas Hague (MGS), economist.
• Derek Hathaway (MGS), businessman.
• Maurice Herriott (MMS), Olympic sportsman.
• Frank Ifield (CRSS), singer.
• Anthony Jackson (MGS), actor.
• Anton Lesser (MGS), actor.
• Mickey Lewis (MS), footballer and manager.
• Noel Luke (MS), footballer.
• John Lumby (MGS), industrialist and inventor.
• Joanne Malin (MS), radio and television presenter.
• John Masding (MGS), Chairman of the English Clergy Association.
• Roy Massey (MGS), organist and choir director.
• Peter McGowran (MMS), Chief Yeoman Warder of the Tower of London.
• Barry Pritchard (MGS), vocalist for The Fortunes.
• Steve Rouse (MGS), Head Groundsman at Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
• Daphne Slater (MMS), Olympic sportswoman.
• Gladstone Small (MS), cricketer.
• Chris Spedding (MGS), musician.
• Richard Tandy (MGS), keyboard player for ELO.
• John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick (MGS), politician (life peer) and barrister.
• David Turner (MGS), dramatist.
• Philip Walking (MGS), Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central England.
• Martin Woodhead (MGS), Professor of Childhood Studies.

The author J. R. R. Tolkien lived very near Spring Hill College as a child, and according to his first biographer, Humphrey Carpenter, he visited the college, which at that time housed the Pine Dell Hydropathic Establishment, with his mother and brother for the celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The imposing Gothic building left a lasting impression on him, and the college tower, in particular, is the likely inspiration for the tower of Isengard in The Lord of the Rings. Other places in the immediate vicinity, such as Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog, are also known to have inspired his fictional creations.[11][12]

Novels by other writers that are set, wholly or in substantial part, at Moseley School include Aealdra (2013) by Tony Steele, Brittle (2022) by Frank Discussion, and If These Walls Could Whisper (2013) by Rod Ling.[13][14][15]

• Moseley School
• Moseleians Association
• EduBase: Moseley School