Bruce Castle School

In 1819, Rowland Hill moved his father's Hill Top School from central Birmingham, establishing a new school called Hazelwood at Edgbaston, an affluent suburb, as an "educational refraction of Priestley's ideas".W. H. G. Armytage, 'The Lunar Society and its Contribution to Education', in University of Birmingham Historical Journal vol. 67 (1967-68)P. W. J. Bartrip, 'A Thoroughly Good School: an Examination of the Hazelwood Experiment in Progressive Education' in British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 28 (1980), pp. 46–59 Hazelwood soon became a model for the education of the new middle classes, aiming to give sufficient knowledge and skills to enable a boy to continue self-education throughout a life "most useful to society and most happy to himself".Elie Halévy, The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism (1972) pp. 153-4 The new school, which Hill designed himself, had both a science laboratory and a swimming pool. In his Plans for the Government and Liberal Instruction of Boys, Hill argued that kindness, instead of corporal punishment, and moral influence, rather than fear, should be to the fore in school discipline. Science should be a compulsory subject, and boys were to be self-governing. Hazelwood School gained international attention when Marc Antoine Jullien visited the school and wrote about it in the issue of Revue encyclopédique for June 1823, then sent his own son there.

File:Bruce Castle extension.JPG

Hazelwood so impressed Jeremy Bentham that in 1827 a branch of the school was created at Bruce Castle in Tottenham, with Rowland Hill as its head master. Unfortunately for the old school, the new one proved much more popular than the old, with boys transferring to it in large numbers, and in 1833 the original Hazelwood School closed and became a home for Francis and Caroline Clark (sister of Rowland Hill) and their large family.Brown, Robert and Martin/Clark Committee The Hatbox Letters Published by the authors, Adelaide 1999. {{ISBN|0-646-36207-0}} Its educational system was continued at the new Bruce Castle School.The Durham research review: the research publication of the Institute of Education, University of Durham, Issues 11-15 (1960), pp. 75-79

From its beginning Rowland Hill ran the school along radical lines, inspired by his friends Richard Price, Thomas Paine, and Joseph Priestley.Malcolm Dick, Joseph Priestley and his Influence on Education in Birmingham (2004) Its principle was that the role of the schoolmaster is to instill the desire to learn, more than to impart facts. There was no corporal punishment and alleged transgressions were tried by a court of pupils. The school's curriculum included foreign languages, science and engineering.Jean Pegram, 'From Manor House... to Museum', in Haringey History Bulletin, 28 (London: Hornsey Historical Society, 1987, {{ISBN|0-903481-05-7}}), p. 10 At the time, most established schools focussed on Classics, and for a school to include engineering in its curriculum was almost unheard of.

In 1829 and 1830, Hill employed Edward William Brayley to lecture on physical sciences, both at Hazelwood and at Bruce Castle.J. N. Hays, 'Brayley, Edward William (1801/2–1870)', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) In the biography of one early pupil, Sir Henry Barkly (1815–1898), the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says that "...the school's particular curriculum endowed him with a lifetime interest in science and statistics.John Benyon, 'Barkly, Sir Henry (1815–1898)', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)

The school taught the sons of Charles Babbage, the computing pioneer, and of many diplomats based in London, especially from the new nations of South America. One such was the son of José Rufino Echenique, a former President of Peru.Carr (1908), p. 6

File:Bruce Castle extension entrance.JPG]]

In 1839 Rowland Hill was appointed as head of the General Post Office, where he introduce the world's first postage stamps. He left the school in the hands of his younger brother, Arthur Hill, who continued as head master until 1868, when he was succeeded by his son Birkbeck Hill. He retired in 1877, ending his family's long connection with the school. The Rev. William Almack succeeded him.

During the School's time, Tottenham's character changed. The construction of the Northern and Eastern Railway in 1840 made commuting to central London possible, and in 1872 the Great Eastern Railway opened a line from Enfield to Liverpool Street, with a station at Bruce Grove.

The Bruce Castle School was in some ways a victim of its own success. As its methods were adopted elsewhere, parents returned to traditional schools which had adapted themselves to a new age. The Rev. William Almack continued to run the school until 1891, when it was closed. The Municipal Borough of Tottenham bought the house and grounds, which were opened to the public as Bruce Castle Park in June 1892. The Park is still in use, and is adjacent to Broadwater Farm.

A printing press designed by Rowland Hill and built by pupils of the school is on display at London's Science Museum.

• 1827–1839: Rowland Hill
• 1839–1868: Arthur Hill
• 1868–1877: Birkbeck Hill
• 1877–1891: Rev. William Almack

• Sketch of the System of Education, Moral and Intellectual, in practice at the Schools of Bruce Castle, Tottenham, and Hazelwood, near Birmingham (London: Baldwin and Co., 1833)

:See also :Category:People educated at Bruce Castle School

• Sir Henry Barkly (1815–1898), politician and colonial governorJohn Benyon, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1424 'Barkly, Sir Henry (1815–1898)'] in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
• Dion Boucicault (1820–1890), dramatist and actorRichard Fawkes, Dion Boucicault (Ardent Media, 2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=QTSB1eopHbAC&pg=PA24 pp. 23–25]
• Sir William Bird (1855–1950), solicitor and Conservative politician
• J. Comyns Carr (1849–1916), drama and art critic, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager.Anthony Esposito, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/46761 'Carr, Joseph William Comyns (1849–1916)'] in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
• Sir Oscar Clayton (1816–1892), surgeon and courtier[http://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E001195b.htm Clayton, Sir Oscar Moore Passey] at rcseng.ac.uk, accessed 27 July 2011
• Edmund Creswell (1849–1931), played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 FA Cup Final{{cite book |last1=Warsop|first1=Keith|title=The Early F.A. Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs|publisher=Soccer Data|year=2004|isbn=1-899468-78-1|pages=70–71}}
• Frederic Creswell (1866–1948), mining engineer and South African Minister of Defence'CRESWELL, Lt-Col Hon. Frederic Hugh Page', in Who Was Who 1941–1950 (London: A. & C. Black, 1980 reprint: {{ISBN|0-7136-2131-1}})
• Herbert James Draper (1863–1920), painterThe Times, Issue 42523 dated 23 September 1920, p. 1, col. A
• Wilson Fox (1831–1887), physician
• George Birkbeck Hill, literary critic and head master of the school
• Joseph Moses Levy (1812–1888), newspaper editor and publisher
• Charles Robson (1859–1943), cricketer
• John Scott (1852–1860), cricketer and barrister
• Frederick Selous (1851–1917), explorerJoseph Comyns Carr, Some eminent Victorians: personal recollections in the world of art and letters (Duckworth & Co., 1908), pp. 3-4
• Henry Sweet (1845–1912), philologist, phonetician and grammarian'SWEET, Henry

MA, PhD, LLD', in Who Was Who 1897–1915 (London: A. & C. Black, 1988 reprint, {{ISBN|0-7136-2670-4}})

• William Terriss (1847–1897), actor
• James Wilson (1849–1929), New Zealand politician and farmer
• Herbert Ward (1873–1897), Southampton footballer and Hampshire cricketer.{{cite book | author=Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk | title=The Alphabet of the Saints|publisher= ACL & Polar Publishing | year=1992|page=351| isbn=0-9514862-3-3}}
• Jerningham Wakefield (1820–1879), New Zealand politician{{cite book

| pages = 86–87

| last=Blain

| first=Rev. Michael

| title=The Canterbury Association (1848-1852): A Study of Its Members' Connections

| year=2007

| publisher=Project Canterbury |location=Christchurch

| url= http://anglicanhistory.org/nz/blain_canterbury2007.pdf

| accessdate= 27 March 2013

}}

{{reflist}}

{{Schools and colleges in Haringey}}

{{coords|51|35|57.6|N|0|4|30.3|W|display=title}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Boys' schools in London

Category:Boarding schools in London

Category:Defunct schools in the London Borough of Haringey

Category:Educational institutions established in 1827

Category:1891 disestablishments in England

Category:1827 establishments in England

Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1891

Category:19th century in London