VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
Whispers from the past E
ducation Today speaks to Dr Matthew Glencross, Head of History at York House School in Hertfordshire.
Tell us about your school?
York House is an independent prep school for girls and boys aged 3-13 years of age. From September 2026 it will move to an 11+ co-educational model. Founded in 1910 with a rich history, the school is set in 50 acres of stunning grounds and has been located just outside Croxley Green in Hertfordshire since 1966. While the school excels academically and pastorally, York House is passionate about inspiring a love of learning with a sense of adventure, while celebrating the importance of a ‘genuine childhood’. Offering a high-quality experience in outdoor education with an onsite small holding housing more than 50 animals, the school is also passionate about art, sport, music, drama and all other aspects of the curriculum. The school is committed to nurturing confident, self- reliant pupils in a safe, caring, positive and stimulating environment.
Tell us more about the original architect who built York House.
Pupils at York House School have been commemorating the 300-year anniversary of the passing of Charles Finch, the original architect of their historic school building. The main grade II listed building that now houses York House School, was built in 1712 by Finch on the site of a former dwelling which is thought to have dated back to Tudor times. Finch is said to have inherited the estate from his uncle Thomas Baldwin, and after some considerable demolition and construction work, he built the main portion of the house seen today, or Red Heath House, as it was then known. What have the pupils discovered about the history of their school building? Our pupils have recently been learning about this historic event in their history lessons and have discovered some fascinating facts in the process, including that the site was once far larger that its current 50 acres, with a vast 479 acres of meadows and a further 91 acres of woodland within its grounds. The expanse
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of the site was also evident from the old maps our pupils found stored in the school’s archives, which also show a basement underground, suggesting the past footprint of a far larger residence with twisting tunnels below.
How did you use your history lessons to bring these learnings to life? With it being 300 years since the passing of Charles Finch, I began to wonder what he would make of the prep school that now resides in the Manor of Red Heath and what he would think about the changes we have made to the site today. As such, I decided to task our pupils to write their own individual letters to Finch telling him all about their school today and to try and imagine the former uses of the classrooms in which they now study.
What ideas emerged from the letters written to Finch?
Our pupils came up with a raft of interesting and thoughtful ideas including the fact that the front door to the main building is rarely
April 2026
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