SCHOOLS IN HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING

Many of our memories are about our school days, and as Houghton-le-Spring had over twenty schools, that is a lot of memories!

We have tried to include all of the Houghton Schools below but still seek images for illustration of the following: Hopper Street Council Infants School, Houghton-le-Spring Day School, Lambton Colliery Infants School and Lambton National Infants School. Where were these schools?

If you know of a school that has been missed from our list below, or if you can help with photographs, please do contact Houghton Heritage Society.

Houghton Kepier School, now known as Kepier Academy, was a merger of Houghton Grammar School, Bernard Gilpin School and Sancroft School.

HOUGHTON KEPIER SCHOOL

Houghton Kepier School was established in 1987 when Sancroft, Bernard Gilpin and Houghton Schools merged. The school's building opened in 1990 on Dairy Lane when the old Sancroft School had been extended.
[HOUGHTON KEPIER SCHOOL]

Houghton Grammar School was also known as Houghton School and Houghton Secondary School

HOUGHTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Houghton Secondary School (later Grammar) opened in July 1926 on land between Hetton and Durham Roads. It was for pupils who passed the Eleven Plus exam. The school merged with others to form Kepier School.
[THE GRAMMAR] | [BOOK OF HONOUR] | [NAMES LIST]

Sancroft School, Dairy Lane, Houghton-le-Spring

SANCROFT SCHOOL

Sancroft School opened on Dairy Lane on September 1st 1975 following the reorganisation of Local Government when Houghton became part of Sunderland Borough. The building was extended for the new Kepier School.
[SANCROFT SCHOOL]

Bernard Gilpin School also known as Houghton Secondary Modern School (HSMS)

BERNARD GILPIN SCHOOL

Bernard Gilpin School, Hall Lane, was formerly known as Houghton Secondary Modern School and Houghton Council Intermediate School. It merged with Sancroft and the old Grammar to form Houghton Kepier School.
[BERNARD GILPIN SCHOOL]

Bernard Gilpin Primary School, Hall Lane, Houghton-le-Spring, DH5 8DA

BERNARD GILPIN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Bernard Gilpin Primary School was built in 1993 on the site of Bernard Gilpin Secondary School. Other than the sharing of a plot of land, the primary school is not connected historically to the old secondary school.
[BERNARD GILPIN PRIMARY SCHOOL]

The Royal Kepier Grammar School, or Kepier Hall as it is now known, is located within the grounds of the churchyard, just behind St Michael & All Angels Church. The school, which dates from c1574, closed in 1922.

KEPIER GRAMMAR SCHOOL

The Royal Kepier Grammar School, or Kepier Hall as it is now known, is located within the grounds of the churchyard, just behind St Michael & All Angels Church. The school, which dates from c1574, closed in 1922.
[ROYAL KEPIER SCHOOL]

Houghton Council School aka Houghton Junior Mixed School aka Newbottle Street School.

HOUGHTON JUNIOR SCHOOL

Newbottle Street Junior Mixed School was opened in 1908 as a Council School and was in use as a school until its closure in 1993. It was demolished to make way for a new row of shop units and Houghton Library.
[NEWBOTTLE STREET SCHOOL]

Newtown County Infants School, Houghton-le-Spring

NEWTOWN COUNTY INFANTS

Known as the 'little school' in Houghton-le-Spring's Market Place, along Seaham Road, it closed around 1965 when the more modern primary schools were being built, including the nearby Gillas Lane School.
[NEWTOWN COUNTY INFANTS SCHOOL]

Houghton Nursery School, Hetton Road, Houghton-le-Spring

HOUGHTON NURSERY SCHOOL

Houghton-le-Spring Nursery School was located next to the Grammar School, sandwiched between Hetton Road and Durham Road. We know very little about this school - can you help with photos and information?
[HOUGHTON NURSERY SCHOOL]

St Michael's National School (Church of England), Dairy Lane (now the Rectory Park's Rose Garden)

ST MICHAEL'S NATIONAL SCHOOL

St Michael's National School, Dairy Lane, opened in 1855 and was founded by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. This C of E school closed in 1947 and is now the Park's rose garden.
[CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL]

George Wheler's Charity School, Blue Coat School for girls, housed in the Rectory Gatehouse, 1719

BLUE COAT GIRLS SCHOOL

George Wheler, Rector of Houghton established a Charity School, a Blue Coat School, for girls in the Rectory Gatehouse in 1719. In 1855 it merged with the National School to form St Michael's School, Dairy Lane.
[BLUE COAT GIRLS SCHOOL]

The National & Barrington School, Houghton-le-Spring, was located behind Newbottle Street, 1833

NATIONAL & BARRINGTON SCHOOL

The National & Barrington School, Houghton-le-Spring, was located behind Newbottle Street, in 1833. It merged with George Wheler's Charity School to form St Michael's National School (Church of England) on Dairy Lane.
[NATIONAL & BARRINGTON SCHOOL]

St Michael's Roman Catholic Primary School, Durham Road, Houghton-le-Spring

ST MICHAEL'S R.C. SCHOOL

Houghton-le-Spring Mixed & Infants Roman Catholic School stood alongside the Catholic Church on Durham Road. Fr. William O'Gorman laid the foundation stone for a new school, opposite, on 4th May 2000.
[CATHOLIC SCHOOL]

William Street Wesleyan School, William Street, Houghton-le-Spring

WILLIAM ST. WESLEYAN SCHOOL

The school rooms were built out of stone behind the William Street Wesleyan Chapel in 1851. The Day and Sunday school was built out of stone in the Gothic style at a cost of £300. They were demolished in the 1960s.
[WESLEYAN SCHOOL]

Gillas Lane Primary School, Seaton Avenue, Gillas Lane, Houghton-le-Spring

GILLAS LANE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Gillas Lane Primary School, Seaton Avenue, overlooks Gillas Lane from which it takes its name. It was built around 1964. Indeed, it is a typical flat roofed 1960s building, synonymous with other schools of that era.
[GILLAS LANE PRIMARY SCHOOL]

Burnside Primary School, Brinkburn Crescent, Houghton-le-Spring

BURNSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Burnside County School is located on Brinkburn Crescent, Houghton-le-Spring. It is thought to have opened in 1968, and like Gillas Lane has aspects of typical 1960s buildings (i.e. flat rooves).
[BURNSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL]

Newbottle County Junior School (now Newbottle Primary School), Houghton Road, Houghton-le-Spring

NEWBOTTLE SCHOOL

Newbottle County Junior School is located on the crest of Newbottle Bank, alongside Houghton Road, on the edge of Newbottle village. Now a disused community centre, a new school was built nearby in the 1990s.
[NEWBOTTLE SCHOOL]

Dubmire Junior School aka Dubmire Council School aka Dubmire County Mixed School, now Dubmire Primary School

DUBMIRE SCHOOL

Dubire Junior School was officially opened in 1914. The old building was in use until 2003 when a new school, Dubmire Primary School, was built. The school's Coronation Clock was incorporated into the new building.
[DUBMIRE SCHOOL]

Join Fyass Byuk - Houghton Heritage Society's popular Facebook group

FACEBOOK GROUP

You can join Houghton Heritage Society by becoming a member on Facebook - or Fyass Byuk as we call it. We have over 4,000 members and the group is very popular with residents, descendants and ex-pats.
[FACEBOOK]

Videos and cine footage of Houghton-le-Spring

VIDEOS OF HOUGHTON

Houghton Heritage Society's YouTube Channel features exclusive videos of Houghton-le-Spring as well as footage from our heritage events throughout the year - and of course our visits to Penshaw Monument!
[YOUTUBE VIDEOS]

Old photographs of Houghton-le-Spring shared via Flickr

OLD PHOTOGRAPHS

Houghton Heritage Society has over 5,000 images in its collections. Many can be found on our Flickr page while our Facebook group has thousands of exclusive photographs as uploaded by our many members.
[FLICKR] | [ARCHIVE CATALOGUE]