Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Trust was established by Sir Walter St John (1622-1708) in 1700 and made provision for education of boys in Battersea by the Vicar of Battersea. This was known as Battersea Free School. In 1817 a National School was superimposed on the school by the Vicar. By 1853 there was concern over the use of Trust funds for education, and a new scheme was established following a case in Chancery. This scheme separated the National School from Sir Walter St John's School.
In 1873 a new scheme for the Trust made provision for a new school to be established at St John's Hill, later moving to Streatham, known as Battersea Grammar School. The old upper school for Sir Walter St John's School became known as a 'middle class school' or 'middle school' (not to be confused with current usage) under the headmastership of William Taylor. The Taylor family provided three headmasters for this school. A third elementary or lower school, existed between 1875 and 1880.
In 1902 Sir Walter St John's School became a Secondary School under the Education Act of that year. It had already built up a strong reputation in the sciences.
During the Second World War, the school was evacuated to Godalming, and in the post-war period the school was brought more closely into line with the administration of the London County Council Education Officer's Department as a voluntary controlled school (1951). It retained its distinctive status, benefitting from various investments, scholarship and memorial funds, enjoying its fine set of buildings (some of which were designed by W. Butterfield in 1859) and having an active Old Boys Association. Reorganisation of schools in the 1960s and 1970s by the ILEA meant the advent of comprehensive education and merger with neighbouring schools.