Rhubarb Issue 12: November 2023

ST EDWARD’S

The move to Summertown...

1871 B ased on Wilkinson’s recommendation, Simeon purchased 5.75 acres of farmland at the Old Diamond Farm ‘near the miserable village of Summertown, north of Oxford.’ The negotiations were protracted and the costs higher than Simeon had anticipated so he had to borrow a considerable amount ‘and this was a great difficulty, and I do not need enter upon the particulars of that – did succeed in getting it’ (Simeon’s Diary,1903).

1870 T he Reverend Algernon Barrington Simeon, the School’s second Headmaster, bought the School from the founder, the Reverend Thomas Chamberlain, and immediately began looking for new premises. He paid for the furniture, fixtures, and the name borrowing the money from the bank,‘which was soon paid off, for the School was paying fairly well by that time’ (Simeon’s Diary,1903).

FEATURE

Reverend Algernon Barrington Simeon c1870

William Wilkinson, the leading Oxford-based architect (who had already condemned the New Inn Hall school premises) was hired to find a new site and then ‘prepare some plans for the School buildings of a very plain character at the lowest sum for which a building suitable for that purpose could be erected’ (Simeon’s Obituary, Chronicle, June 1928).

Diamond Farmhouse, North Oxford,1781 sketch.

...‘the miserable village of Summertown’, north of Oxford.’

‘Simeon’s Dream’ drawn up by William Wilkinson based on Algernon Simeon’s ideal layout for his new School before a brick was laid. It turned out amazingly accurate, especially on the northern, western and southern sides, with a smaller Chapel eventually built (due to cost).The eastern side was also accurate except for the south-eastern corner.

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