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Next site up, totally by chance, happened to be you guessed it, another school!
Thanks to TranKmasT for the heads up on this place, definitely a good choice to go here. Given it's location being literally surrounded by houses I personally didn't have much hope that we'd be able to get in undetected on a Saturday afternoon but after a tight squeeze we got in and had the run of the place until we ran out of light.
I've been piecing together bits of the history (there is an entire website devoted to the school) but it can be summarised briefly as follows: It was first built and opened in 1912 as Longlands School, and was extended massively during the 1960s with a new gymnasium and class blocks built including one perched right on top of one of the original 1912 wings which is very unusual indeed. Longlands School closed in 1990 despite having 500 students on it's roll in 1989 and was amalgamated with High Park School in Wollaston. Post-closure it appears to have been taken over by Stourbridge College who used it as their centre for creative arts and design, and that too closed around 2010 or 2011. In September 2011 a reunion was held in the grounds for pupils of the original Longlands School which saw hundreds of ex-students turn out from all over the world.
Kids have got in and made a right mess of some of the place but the original 1912 wings still have some lovely features including the main hall with it's plasterwork and the lovely tiling throughout.
Thanks for looking more here https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/sets/72157648624875314
Thanks to TranKmasT for the heads up on this place, definitely a good choice to go here. Given it's location being literally surrounded by houses I personally didn't have much hope that we'd be able to get in undetected on a Saturday afternoon but after a tight squeeze we got in and had the run of the place until we ran out of light.
I've been piecing together bits of the history (there is an entire website devoted to the school) but it can be summarised briefly as follows: It was first built and opened in 1912 as Longlands School, and was extended massively during the 1960s with a new gymnasium and class blocks built including one perched right on top of one of the original 1912 wings which is very unusual indeed. Longlands School closed in 1990 despite having 500 students on it's roll in 1989 and was amalgamated with High Park School in Wollaston. Post-closure it appears to have been taken over by Stourbridge College who used it as their centre for creative arts and design, and that too closed around 2010 or 2011. In September 2011 a reunion was held in the grounds for pupils of the original Longlands School which saw hundreds of ex-students turn out from all over the world.
Kids have got in and made a right mess of some of the place but the original 1912 wings still have some lovely features including the main hall with it's plasterwork and the lovely tiling throughout.
Thanks for looking more here https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/sets/72157648624875314
