Looking back at the history of schools in South Oxhey

Last time we traced, very briefly, the origins of the South Oxhey development as part of the post-war overspill from London. It had been conceived in the 1930s, but finally arrived in the late 1940s, managed by the London County Council but for all practical purposes part of Watford, to which it added more than 15,000 people.

The transport links, even with Watford, were pretty poor at first - the train to London from Carpenders Park was much better. Even the shops and churches were slow to arrive. But families had been moving in from the start – what provision was being made for them?

An early image of Oxhey Wood School

For a few years they had to go to existing Watford schools – 400 were being ‘bussed’ every day into Watford, where schools were put under great pressure, until Warren Dell Infants and Junior schools, the first, opened in May 1949. The next primary school to open was Oxhey Wood from May 1950 (official opening June 1951, but put into use as quickly as possible) separated into Juniors and Infants until 1969. It was closely followed by Little Furze, in September 1952. That site had to be extensively levelled, but 600 children were to be provided for. Greenfields Junior and Infants opened in September 1952 (although, again, some of it had been in use earlier), and Woodhall in 1954. The founding of the RC parish in 1952 saw St Joseph’s open a little later, on September 5, 1955, completing the intended provision of primary schooling. Little Furze closed at the end of 2004 and there have been other changes, but this generally remains the primary schooling scene.

A class at Warren Dell School in 1951.

The first Secondary school was Hampden, again in use in September 1950 well before it was ready. Clarendon followed, opened in September 1951 and completed in 1952. Both schools were ‘co-ed’ Secondary Modern from the start – the pupils for these badly-needed schools had come from hundreds of London schools as the residents had moved to South Oxhey, and just the integration of so many must have been a real problem. Meanwhile, the intended Grammar School couldn’t be found a site, and was eventually built at Rickmansworth, with children in the ‘grammar stream’ taught at Clarendon from September 1953 and joined by others bussed from Croxley Green and Rickmansworth - Watford pupils made their own way - until July 1954.

Clarendon School.

In 1967 the two schools, faced with falling numbers, combined to form the comprehensive Sir James Altham School, but the continuing decline in numbers in the ageing population of South Oxhey forced it in turn to close in July 1989, with students moving to other schools in the area (Langleybury being one, although not recognisably close to Oxhey – a familiar problem in the story of South Oxhey).

A class at Woodhall School.

Many readers will have strong personal memories of school days at one or more of these schools. The website www.ouroxhey.org.uk has much more detail, as do the books of David Reidy, which have provided much of this information. Three Rivers Museum’s exhibition on South Oxhey will open shortly.