How a primary school grew up over 125 years

The school was easily seen on the junction of Whitehall Lane and East Thurrock Road as it turned into the Broadway. An obvious visual impact was it was built below road level on the floor of the exhausted clay quarries, which in Victorian times were the natural source of “brick earth” which supplied the local brick industry.

The school was enlarged in 1892 for a maximum of 1,040 pupils. In 1973, the juniors moved down to a new building in Manor Road, later followed by the infants, and the old school was demolished to make way for flats and houses.

This month, Thurrock Museum is working in partnership with the primary school to look at the 125-year-long time line of the school’s history.

Pupils are visiting Thurrock Museum to look at archives and artefacts related to Little Thurrock and Grays and we are jointly organising a temporary museum in the school to enable the current pupils, teachers and parents to discover an increased awareness of the place.

One famous boy of the school was Tommy Mansfield, who won two caps playing for England schoolboys in matches against Scotland and Wales in 1931-1932.

I wonder if there are any famous girls who emerged from the school. We would love to hear from past pupils and teachers, especially from the original Arthur Street School, with your memories and any photographs which could be used in the school museum. Please contact me by e-mail or phone and I will pass this on to the school.

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