St Benedict's School for Boys, Reading, Berkshire
St Benedict's was established in 1937 as an Approved School for Roman Catholic Boys. It occupied a country estate at Wokefield Park, Mortimer, near Reading, Berkshire. The establishment was run by the Brothers of the Christian School and could accommodate up to 104 senior boys aged between their 15th and 17th birthdays at the date of admission. The training provided for the boys included farming, gardening and estate carpentry.
In around 1973, the school became a Community Home with Education (CHE) under the control of Brent London Borough Council.
The site is now occupied by the Wokefield Park Golf Club.
Records
Note: many repositories impose a closure period of up to 100 years for records identifying individuals. Before travelling a long distance, always check that the records you want to consult will be available.
- Christian Brothers Province Centre, Griffith Avenue, Marino, Dublin 9. Email: archives@edmundrice.eu.
- The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU. Holds a number of reports about the School.
Bibliography
- Higginbotham, Peter Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain's Young (2017, Pen & Sword)
- Hyland,Jim Yesterday's Answers: Yesterday's Answers: Development and Decline of Schools for Young Offenders (1993, Whiting and Birch)
- Millham, S, Bullock, R, and Cherrett, P After Grace — Teeth: a comparative study of the residential experience of boys in Approved Schools (1975, Chaucer Publishing)
Links
- The Therapeutic Care Journal — has a number of articles relating to Approved Schools.
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.