This is my first post with photos on here.
Visited in July and then made a repeat visit in August. Unfortunately Crookham is quickly falling into disrepair. Vandals etc. have now smashed a lot of the upstairs windows and it's hard to see how the house will get through the winter without either being seriously trashed, or nature taking a complete hold. :-( However, in between our visits a fairly serious effort had been made to re-board the whole place to stop intruders.
When we were in there some other people arrived - preceded by a loud crash that nearly made us jump out of our skins! However, we didn't bump into whoever it was which was a shame really, as they were also taking photos (we think). Anyway, we weren't exactly going to seek them out and they didn't seek us out either! I think they hid until they thought we'd left and then, when we were outside, we saw one of them through an upstairs window. If you're reading this and it was you, come forward and introduce yourselves!
First a bit of history (yes it's been done to death!) and then on with the photos.
History
Crookham Court School is on the former site of Crookham Manor house. Built around the start of 14th century and destroyed in 1543, Crookham House which was demolished around 1850. The construction of the current building started around this time and continued in two more phases over the next fifty years.
Since then it has served several purposes such as a manor house, a junior school and a school for children of people serving at Greenham Common. It was abandoned for some time after the US Air Force left the area, before being purchased in 1961 and used as a boarding school until its closure in 1989.
In the time leading up to its closure, and despite demands for an inquiry, parliament was told by the Department of Education that it was 'powerless to act' in the face of mounting stories of over 30 years of sexual abuse experienced at the boys boarding school by teaching staff after Michael Gold, the then new headmaster, blew the whistle. He barely received recognition for his efforts in finally bring justice for the victims and never taught again.
In the end it was the media and Esther Rantzen (investigating child abuse as a presenter on the BBC's "That's Life" programme) that finally brought an end to the years of abuse and the School was closed.
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Visited in July and then made a repeat visit in August. Unfortunately Crookham is quickly falling into disrepair. Vandals etc. have now smashed a lot of the upstairs windows and it's hard to see how the house will get through the winter without either being seriously trashed, or nature taking a complete hold. :-( However, in between our visits a fairly serious effort had been made to re-board the whole place to stop intruders.
When we were in there some other people arrived - preceded by a loud crash that nearly made us jump out of our skins! However, we didn't bump into whoever it was which was a shame really, as they were also taking photos (we think). Anyway, we weren't exactly going to seek them out and they didn't seek us out either! I think they hid until they thought we'd left and then, when we were outside, we saw one of them through an upstairs window. If you're reading this and it was you, come forward and introduce yourselves!
First a bit of history (yes it's been done to death!) and then on with the photos.
History
Crookham Court School is on the former site of Crookham Manor house. Built around the start of 14th century and destroyed in 1543, Crookham House which was demolished around 1850. The construction of the current building started around this time and continued in two more phases over the next fifty years.
Since then it has served several purposes such as a manor house, a junior school and a school for children of people serving at Greenham Common. It was abandoned for some time after the US Air Force left the area, before being purchased in 1961 and used as a boarding school until its closure in 1989.
In the time leading up to its closure, and despite demands for an inquiry, parliament was told by the Department of Education that it was 'powerless to act' in the face of mounting stories of over 30 years of sexual abuse experienced at the boys boarding school by teaching staff after Michael Gold, the then new headmaster, blew the whistle. He barely received recognition for his efforts in finally bring justice for the victims and never taught again.
In the end it was the media and Esther Rantzen (investigating child abuse as a presenter on the BBC's "That's Life" programme) that finally brought an end to the years of abuse and the School was closed.
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