3-043-891 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

St. Mary Magdalen National Schools, Bermondsey, [London], 1872. 'These school-buildings have been erected at the cost of Mr. William Boutcher, as a memorial of his wife, who died in January, 1870. The schools have recently been opened; the Earl of Shaftesbury presided on the occasion. The building surrounds three sides of a spacious court-yard, approached from the Grange-road. The boys' school is in the shape of the letter L, and comprehends the whole of the left wing and the ground floor of the main building. The girls' school is immediately above the boys' school, but does not extend into the wing. The infants' school is on the ground floor, in the right wing, and the master's house is at the end of the wing. The accommodation is for 700 children - 300 boys, 200 girls, and 200 infants. The building is of handsome appearance, in the Gothic style, and has open timbered roofs. The interior is remarkable for its light and cheerful aspect. The architect was Mr. Joseph Gale, of Bermondsey-street; Messrs. Browne and Robinson were the builders'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.