Soham Village College - History

History

The College has its origins in the Soham Free School, established in 1686. The School became known as the Soham Grammar School from 1878 and occupied a site on Churchgate Street. In 1925 the Grammar School moved to Beechurst House, located on Sand Street. Beechurst House (built in 1901) was formerly the home of the late Newmarket jockey, Charles Morbey. The Grammar School took boys aged 11–18 from surrounding villages, and was also home to a few weekly boarders.

The name Soham Village College comes from the former secondary modern style Village College which was established in 1958. The original village college took boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 15, and was built on a 17-acre (69,000 m2) site next to the Soham Lode known as Moat Fields. The village college system was the brainchild of Henry Morris, the Chief Education Officer at Cambridgeshire County Council. The College was officially opened by the Baronet and MP Sir Edward Boyle, a former Minister for Education. Morris's emphasis was on a community based establishment, and indeed the College was equipped with a public library and a youth leader.

The present day village college came into being in 1972 when the modern co-educational Village College merged with the long-established Grammar School. The merger was a direct result of the government raising the school-leaving age to 16.

Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s building work was carried out under the headships of A.E. Lawrence (between 1972 and 1985) and Dr. A.W. Bullock (between 1985 and 1999). This included the construction of the Ross Peers Sports Centre, a music block, and a science and technology block.

In 1993 the village college gained grant maintained status. This allowed for generous donations, such as the funds donated in the mid 1990s by Simon Gibson for the extension to the Mathematics and English departments (known as the Gibson Block in his honour).

In June 1998 the 'M Block', which contains science, humanities, ICT and languages rooms, was opened by Princess Margaret.

In August 2002 the school became infamous as the place where double child killer Ian Huntley worked as school caretaker. Clothing from the murdered children was found on the school grounds, leading to Huntley's arrest and eventual conviction in the Soham Murders case. Huntley's house on the school site, and the storage hangar where the clothing was found, were both later demolished.

On 1 April 2011, Soham Village College officially gained academy status.