Founded in 1877 under its original name Plymouth High School for Boys, the School moved to its current site at Ford Park in 1880. It changed its name to Plymouth College in 1883. Mannamead School (founded in 1854) merged with Plymouth College in 1896.
From the beginning, the aim of the School was to provide continuous education for boys from Prep through to Sixth Form. In the early years both Preparatory and Senior Schools were on the same site. The Preparatory School moved to Hartley Road in 1947. Mergers with Western College Preparatory for Girls and Busy Bees saw the introduction of girls and the acquisition of Seymour Road for the Infant Department.
After the Second World War Plymouth College became a Direct Grant School and it reverted to full independence in 1976, the year the first girls joined the Sixth Form. The College became fully co-ed in 1995, the year which also saw the end of Saturday school.
In 2004, the Preparatory School, by now and still known as Plymouth College Preparatory School, merged with the Preparatory Department of St Dunstan's Abbey School for Girls - both the Junior and Infant Departments moved to the current site at The Millfields in 2005. The Senior Schools merged in 2005.
Past pupils of Plymouth College include Eden Philpotts (novelist/playwright), Wilson Harris (MP/editor Spectator), JC Trewin (author/theatre critic), Pete Goss (yachtsman), Paul Ackford (England rugby international), Michael Ball (singer) and Cassie Patten (Olympic swimming bronze medallist).
This collection was deposited through Chris Robinson in 2007. Most of the photographs have been identifed, to view the full descriptive catalogue for the collection refer to our About Our Other Collections page.
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