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Spelthorne College
The building after an attempt to demolish it without planning permission.
Address
Church Road Ashford, Surrey (Middlesex), TW15 2XD England
Coordinates	51°26′06″N 0°27′47″W / 51.435°N 0.463°W / 51.435; -0.463
Information
Type	further education college
Established	1911
Founder	Middlesex County Council
Closed	2007
Local authority	Surrey
Gender	Mixed
Age	16+
Former name	Ashford Sixth Form College 1975 Ashford County Grammar School (1911–75)

Spelthorne College was a single-campus sixth form college on Church Road, Ashford, Surrey, England. It was formed in 1975 as a successor to Ashford Sixth Form College and Sunbury Sixth Form College. Its campus was founded in 1911 as Ashford County Grammar School, which became a sixth form college in 1975. In 2007 Spelthorne College merged with Brooklands College in Weybridge.

Former school

Middlesex County Council founded the school in 1911 as Ashford County Grammar School, funded by the combined county and district local rates collected by Staines Rural District Council (RDC). It taught children of secondary school age from 11 to 18.

In 1965 Middlesex County Council was dissolved and Ashford was made part of Surrey. The school continued as a grammar school until 1975 when Surrey County Council made it into Ashford Sixth Form College. In 1974 Staines RDC was dissolved and its area became part of the new Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC). In 1975 the college absorbed pupils and staff from Sunbury Sixth Form College and was renamed Spelthorne College.

Spelthorne College's archive is lodged with Spelthorne Museum.

Merger

As the college provided education in England and Wales to children more than 16 years old, in 1992 its funding passed to the Further Education Funding Council for England, later replaced by the Learning and Skills Council. The college performed well in external reviews, for instance gaining 23–24 points in the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education's (QAA) review of its higher education provision in business studies.

Brooklands College

A Strategic Area Review in 2004 by the Learning Skills Council recommended that to expand and modernise the college's premises it merge with a larger institution. On 1 August 2007 the merger with Brooklands College was completed, to operate as the Ashford Campus, the other campus being the Brooklands College's Weybridge campus.

Redevelopment

After Spelthorne College was dissolved in 2007, Inland Homes plc acquired its campus of 10 acres (4 ha) and sought planning permission to redevelop it. On 8 February 2017 Spelthorne Borough Council refused planning permission to redevelop the site as shops, a public square and 366 homes in buildings ranging from one to six storeys high. Inland Homes disregarded the decision and on 20 February started demolishing the buildings. The council issued an order to stop, and demolition ceased on 21 February. The demolition later went ahead after receiving planning permission to build 357 new homes on the site.

The north-west corner of the original buildings included a "V for Victory" symbol which was tiled into the south-facing roof by workers repairing bomb damage during the Second World War. This has been replicated on the east-facing roof at the front of the new development.

Alumni

This article's list of alumni may not follow Misplaced Pages's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (September 2014)

Ashford County Grammar School, Sunbury and Ashford Sixth Form Colleges and Spelthorne College:

• Don Bennett, who played cricket for Middlesex 1950–68
• Nicholas Bond-Owen, child actor of the 1970s and '80s who played Tristram Fourmile in the sitcom George and Mildred
• Brian Capron, actor in Coronation Street from the Sunbury Sixth Form College
• Susannah Clapp, theatre critic of The Observer since 1997
• Robert Evans, MEP for London North West 1994–99 and one of the MEPs for London 1999–2009
• Richard Johnson, who played cricket for Middlesex and England 1992–2007
• Gary Numan, musician
• Arthur Palmer, MP for Wimbledon 1945–50, Cleveland 1952–59, Bristol Central 1964–74, and Bristol North East 1974–83
• Sid Russell (1937–94), who played cricket for Middlesex (1960–64) and Gloucestershire (1965–68) and football for Brentford F.C. 1956–61
• Wendy Smith-Sly, Olympic athlete who competed mainly in 3000 metres running events
• Irene Thomas, radio quiz show personality
• Norman Willis, TUC General Secretary 1984–93

References

1. Eyres, Zosia (14 February 2017). "Developer blasts 'shambolic' council after former Brooklands College homes application rejection". Surrey Herald. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
2. Eyres, Zosia (21 February 2017). "Brooklands College demolition: Developer starts demolishing building despite letter insisting it 'stops work immediately'". Surrey Herald. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
3. Eyres, Zosia. "Brooklands College demolition: Controversial housing plan approved after developer cuts proposed number of new homes... by nine". Surrey Live. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
4. Scripps, Jenny. History of Ashford. Staines-upon-Thames: Spelthorne Museum.
5. Times Guide to the House of Commons 1951, 1966 and May 1979 (London, Times Books)
6. "Irene Thomas". The Daily Telegraph. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
7. "Norman Willis". The Times. No. 71233. London. 26 June 2014. p. 56.

External links

• Spelthorne Museum
• Capital Bid Minutes
• "Explanatory Memorandum to the Spelthorne College, Ashford, Middlesex (Dissolution) Order 2007" (PDF). The National Archives.
• Lee, Joseph (18 September 2009). "FE: 3,000 sixth form places at risk as college goes 'bust'". TES.
• Lee, Joseph (13 November 2009). "Capital funding fiasco brings campus closure". TES.
• Lee, Joseph (29 January 2010). "'Closure' campus to stay open despite debt". TES.
• Thomson, Alan (4 December 2009). "Second chance for condemned campus". TES.

v t e Borough of Spelthorne
Towns, villages and localities	Ashford Ashford Common Charlton Laleham Littleton Lower Halliford Lower Sunbury Shepperton Staines-upon-Thames Stanwell Stanwell Moor Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury Common Upper Halliford
Key parks	Ashford Park Rec. Ground Beechwood Rec. Ground Bishop Duppas Park Knowle Green Laleham Park Spelthorne Sports Ground Long Lane Rec. Ground Shortwood Common Staines Moor (Staines) Lammas Staines Park Sunbury Park Town Lane Rec. Ground Walled Garden, Sunbury
Large listed buildings	Churches All Saints', Laleham St Hilda's, Ashford St Mary's, Staines St Matthew's, Ashford St Mary's, Stanwell St Mary Magdalene's, Littleton St Nicholas', Shepperton Other Halliford School Laleham Abbey Littleton Manor The Old Manor House, Shepperton Shepperton Manor St Paul's College St James Senior Boys School Sunbury Court
Education	The Bishop Wand Church of England School Halliford School Matthew Arnold School St James Senior Boys School St. Paul's College, Sunbury-on-Thames Spelthorne College Sunbury Manor School Thamesmead School
Railway stations	Ashford Kempton Park Shepperton Staines Sunbury Upper Halliford
Buildings and structures	Kempton Park Racecourse Kempton Park Reservoirs Kempton Park Steam Engines King George VI Reservoir Queen Mary Reservoir Shepperton Studios Staines Reservoirs Wraysbury Reservoir Thames Water Ring Main M3 motorway and Thames Crossing Staines Bridge Chertsey Bridge Walton Bridge
Sport	Football Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C. Spelthorne Sports F.C. Staines & Lammas (Middlesex) F.C. Staines Town F.C. Rugby London Irish RFC London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club Staines Rugby Football Club Other Staines Boat Club Sunbury Cricket Club West Surrey Racing
Destroyed landmarks	Ashford Manor Astleham Church Stanwell Place Kempton Manor Sunbury Manor

• Ashford, Surrey
• Borough of Spelthorne
• Educational institutions disestablished in 2007
• Educational institutions established in 1911
• Further education colleges in Surrey
• People educated at Ashford County Grammar School
• 1911 establishments in England