Landmark old school deserves to be saved

We learnt last week that the former St Mary Bredin C of E School at Rhodaus Town faces demolition to make way for yet more student accommodation.

As a loved local landmark is about to be destroyed, I thought it appropriate to dedicate this week’s article to it.

St Mary Bredin School was opened in 1860, when numerous other little schools associated with their parish churches, were being built across the city. The site chosen was the top of a truncated Iron Age burial mound.

This was one of three mounds known to have existed in the area until 1860. One was destroyed to make way for Canterbury East Station; the other was enlarged to become The Mound on the Dane John.

The little school was closed in 1940 and soon became one of Canterbury’s British Restaurants, providing nourishing food during the war.

The first picture dates from the late 1940s. By 1953, the former school had been bought by Rootes Ltd, who owned the adjacent garage complex.

Thus, another new use was found for this plucky little survivor, as the office of their second-hand car business. The building’s only casualty, at this time, was its charming barley-twist chimney stack.

The second photo dates from 1988 and shows the former school in the context of the wider area, much of which was now being run by the Canterbury Motor Company. Note Clarkson House at the far end of Rhodaus Town.

Almost this entire view has since been destroyed to make way for education-based development. And our little school building is to be next.

The case for its retention, and incorporation into any future development, wouldn’t take a brain surgeon to work out. Although not listed, yet, the building greatly enhances the local area and is loved by thousands of Canterbury residents. It is also one of only a handful of Victorian Church of England schools to have survived in the city – the others being St Mildred’s nearby and St Dunstan’s in London Road.

So my message is this: please save this lovely little landmark, which many people cherish. It is, after all, unique. And, in saving it, you will prove to the ordinary people of Canterbury that we actually matter.

The former St Mary Bredin school, opened in 1860, was a British Restaurant during the war

Rhodaus Town in 1988 – Clarkson House is at the far end, near the roundabout