Vaynor and Penderyn High School
| Established | 1861 |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2005 |
| Location |
Old Church Street Merthyr Tydfil CF48 2RR Wales 51°45′37″N 3°24′08″W / 51.76019°N 3.40218°WCoordinates: 51°45′37″N 3°24′08″W / 51.76019°N 3.40218°W |
| Local authority | Merthyr Tydfil |
| DfE URN | 401828 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
Vaynor and Penderyn High School was situated at Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. Although now part of Merthyr Tydfil, the area covered by the school was part of the old county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire) until local government reorganisation in 1974. The designated catchment area of the school was made up of the communities served principally by Ysgol y Graig Primary in Merthyr Tydfil and Penderyn and Hirwaun Primary Schools in Rhondda Cynon Taff, and is an area which suffers a high degree of economic deprivation. The school had an age range of 11-18 and a capacity of 455 places which would be small for a secondary school even if full.
The School was opened by Robert Crawshay in 1861 but closed in 2005.
Few schools in Wales can boast a history as long as Vaynor & Penderyn. The school can record its history back to well over three centuries, with the first school on this site being a circulating school established in a farmhouse in 1740. There has been a school of one kind or another serving the community and offering opportunity of an education to one and all on this very site ever since.
The oldest building still in use dates from 1861. This works school was paid for by Rose Mary Crawshay, wife of the Cyfartha Ironmaster at a time when Merthyr Tydfil was arguably the Iron capital of the world. The school was extended in 1868 following the passing of the Parliamentary Bill known as the Forster Education Act.
This school continued to serve the community until it was further extended in 1932 when the Vaynor and Penderyn Grammar and Secondary School was established. The first Headmaster, Mr. Trevor Lovett, established a national reputation as an advocate of multilateral schools (a kind of precursor to comprehensive education) and was instrumental in placing this school at the forefront of educational innovation in the 1930s and 1940s. Innovations that as one might expect were a response to the unemployment and economic depression that South Wales experienced throughout the 1930s.
This school site has offered the opportunity of an education for one and all for more than 250 years, a record superseded in Wales only by some of the older independent schools.
Having such a long and varied history has produced a school with a range of buildings, arguably one from each of the last three centuries, unique to a local authority school in Wales. Located in the heart of Cefn Coed, the school is surrounded on all sides by residential property, this gave the school a unique community feel and spirit.
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