Willaston School near Nantwich Cheshire

Located on the Grove Estate about a mile from Nantwich, the school for boys was founded under the will of Philip Barker, a wealthy tanner of the town, and had connections with both the Unitarian church and Manchester College, Oxford. Later additions included science rooms and a preparatory school, added in 1909, a war memorial hall and a covered swimming bath completed in 1924 and a laboratory built in 1926 (Kelly's Directory, 1928.)  The school had three headmasters in all: Guy Lewis, 1900-1906; H Lang Jones, 1906-1932; Hector Jacks, 1932-1937. The school closed in 1937 and the buildings were sold to become St Joseph's College for delinquent Catholic boys. The foundation stone was laid by Sir J T Brunner Bart MP. During the ceremony Beaumont and Neill presented him with a trowel and mallet. The costs of the buildings and the laying out of the grounds was estimated at £15,000

WILLASTON SCHOOL CHESHIRE - The buildings which are to be erected by Messrs Neill & Sons Manchester from plans prepared by Mr J W Beaumont, architect, also of this city, will be rectangular, enclosing a courtyard. They will comprise a schoolhouse (including headmaster=s house) four classrooms, a dining hall, three dormitories (for twenty, ten and ten boys respectively) a library and reading room, studies for the senior boys, covered playground, workshop, gymnasium and cycle house and a sanatorium for infectious cases detached from the school buildings and on the opposite side of the road. The sick room of the school will be away from the dormitories and adjoin the headmaster=s house. Dormitory accommodation will be provided in the first instance for 40 boys. In other respects the buildings will be sufficient for 60 and even a larger number of boys can be provided for by the erection of a second house in a separate portion of the grounds. The school is planned on the system of residence in separate houses. Good cricket and football fields and fives courts will be provided.[Manchester Guardian Friday 29 September 1899 Page 7]

WILLASTON NANTWICH - The foundation stone of the Willaston Unitarian School was laid on Sept. 28, by Sir J. T. Brunner, Bart, JP. The school is situated on the Grove Estate, about a mile from the town of Nantwich. The estate was the property of the late Mr. Philip Barker, the founder of the school, and includes some 21 acres. The buildings, which are being erected by Messrs Neill and Sons, Manchester, from plans prepared by Mr J. W. Beaumont, architect, also of that city, will be rectangular, inclosing a courtyard. They will comprise a schoolhouse (including the headmaster's house), four classrooms, a dining hall, three dormitories for twenty, ten, and ten boys respectively), a library and reading room, and studies for the senior boys; covered playground, workshop, gymnasium, and cycle house, and a sanatorium for infectious cases, detached from the school buildings and on the opposite side of the road. Dormitory accommodation will be provided in the first instance for 40 boys. In other respects the buildings will be sufficient for 60, and even a larger number of boys can be provided for by the erection of a second house in a separate portion of the grounds. The school is planned on the system of residence in separate houses. Cricket and football fields and a fives court will be provided. The school has an endowment from the late Mr. Barker of ,23,000. A sum of about ,15,000 is estimated as the cost of completing the buildings and laying out the grounds, and towards that nearly ,7,000 has been given [Building News 6 October 1899 Page 438]