Abingdon School history

The Abingdon Male Academy opened in 1824.

On 12 December 1831 Catherine and three companions vowed their lives to God and the service of others; they pledged themselves to do this through their work in education, in nursing the sick and caring for those in trouble and distress.

By the time Catherine died in 1841 fourteen Convents had been opened; three of these were in England, at Bermondsey, Liverpool and Birmingham.

As a consequence, Pembroke College, Oxford, used the Oxford University Act 1854 as an excuse to cut its links with the school.

10 January 1860 – At the request of Dr O’Toole, parish priest in Abingdon, the Very Reverend Doctor Grant, Bishop of Southwark, arranged for Sister Mary Elizabeth Rigby and two other nuns from the Bermondsey Convent of Mercy to found a Convent in Abingdon at a cottage in Northcourt.

August 1862 – Two villas, (the first portion of the Convent buildings on the current OLA site) were completed and the Sisters took possession.

1865 – Monica Smith (later known as Reverend Mother Aloysius) was the first pupil at the Our Lady’s convent Boarding School.

1867 – Sir George Bowyer gave the land around the villas to the Sisters to enable larger schools to be built in the future.

The current school site in the Victorian quarter of Abingdon, adjacent to Albert Park, was designed by Edwin Dolby and was built from 1870.

The war took its toll on the schoolhouse and, in 1872, the Academy was rebuilt.

The earliest items date back to the sixteenth century but the bulk of the records date from the mid-nineteenth century and from 1879, when the New Scheme of Governance was established, the records are fairly complete.

31 October 1884 – The Chapel was solemnly blessed and opened by Monsignor Canon Cahill, VG. The same day news came that the Chapel altar oil paintings of Our Lady of Ransom (by Verhovein 1658) and four other paintings of Abingdon Saints had arrived at London Docks.

July-August 1889 – The girls’ hall was built.

The school magazine, The Abingdonian, was first published in December 1890 and has been published every year ever since.

1892- The building of the new wing of the Convent and the boys’ school was commenced, housing the Sisters’ refectory, community room and cells and the boys’ dining room, classrooms, dormitories and hall.

St Katharine’s was founded in 1894 as an offshoot of St Mary’s School, Wantage.

June 1898 – The first Bazaar was held in the Convent grounds to assist the building fund.

1901 – A gas engine was fitted and a pump installed to supply water to the Convent from the Convent well.

St Helen’s was originally founded in 1903.

When the Abingdon Male Academy closed in 1905, its trustees leased the property to the Town of Abingdon and the Central School District of Washington County.

The school buildings were opened by the daughter and granddaughter of Queen Victoria in 1906.

The adjacent Waste Court property was acquired in 1928.

10 May 1937 – Lady Abingdon laid the Foundation Stone of the new Sacristies.

In 1938 56 girls from the former St Katharine’s school arrived at The School of St Helen and St Katharine bringing the total number of pupils to 220 (128 boarding).

1953 – St John’s Villa repairs were completed to create the Novitiate and Domestic Science Centre.

July 1954 – Opening of the new Assembly Hall.

In 1963, to mark the Quartercentenary of the school's re-foundation, the big schoolroom was re-ordered as the Grundy Library (opened by Princess Margaret), together with erection of further buildings east of the Science Wing, the whole becoming known as Big School.

In 1979, the William King Foundation was incorporated and renovations began to turn the former schoolhouse into an arts center to help bring the arts to prominence in Abingdon and create a museum to serve the community.

In 1992, the doors to the former William King High School opened once more to welcome visitors to the new William King Regional Arts Center.

Mercers Court was opened in 1994 by the Chancellor of Oxford University and Visitor of Pembroke College, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead.

In 2003, the new Arts Department was opened (adjacent to the Amey Theatre).

In 2004, the Arts Center (now called the William King Museum of Art) was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

On 4 October 2008, the newly completed Sports Centre was opened by MP Kate Hoey.

September 2009 – The School welcomes boys into the Senior School for the first time.

In September 2010, Felicity Lusk, formerly headmistress of Oxford High School for Girls, a GDST school, replaced Mark Turner as Head of Abingdon.

Opened in October 2015, housing 21 laboratories, study areas and prep rooms.

In 2016 a new Sport Centre opened with national league standard courts; it also has a fitness suite, an ergo suite and a group cycling room.

In 2018, a new development called Beech Court, housing a new library, Sixth Form Centre, and art facilities was completed and opened in November.

In 2020, a further development called Faringdon Lodge (containing Economics, Business and Computer Science) was completed.