Over the past year, many members of Save Our Heritage, alongside individual volunteers from external organisations, have spent hundreds of hours researching the history of the school. The research areas varied considerably from the importance of the school in womens education, the design influences of the building and into the lives of the architects.
The information we have gathered is far too great and detailed to display on a website, so we decided to maintain this page as a record of where the information came from, and how you access it. If possible, we have included a link to the information itself.
Surprisingly, very little information has come from the Wrexham County Borough Archives. This is because when the idea for a school was first mooted, Wrexham was part of Denbighshire, and the county town was Ruthin. In a similar vein, correspondence and reports before the school was built between the Department for Education was a UK wide entity, with it's main office in London. There was no Welsh Assembly Government and therefore, no devolved powers.
Denbighshire County Archives, Ruthin
These archives hold a lot of information on Grove Park School, including the plans drawn up by Gilbert Wiles.
The archive is kept in the former Ruthin Gaol, visiting hours are somewhat restricted. You can search their archives online, but the viewing of documents isn't yet possible.
http://archives.denbighshire.gov.uk/
National Library of Wales, Abersytwyth
There are some documents available within the archives of the National Library of Wales, including some photographs and drawings of former headmistresses, and several versions of the plans drawn up by Walter Wiles (for approval by the local Education Board). Visiting is well worthwhile, as the building itself, and the resources available are impressive. Search and reserve documents online by following the link below:
The National Library is a large building,with different libraries located across the site. Familiarise yourself with the layout of the building before travelling to Aberystwyth. If you don't already hold a readers card, take two forms of ID as you will be asked to sign up for a card on arrival.
National Archives, Kew, London
By far the largest collection of documents relating to the school can be found in the National Archives at Kew. Here we discovered a lot of correspondence and reports that were produced before the school was built. Some of the documents are appeals for funding to the Department of Education and the Department of Health. There are also newspaper articles relating to the over-crowding at Grove Park Boys School, which was hosting the girls for two decades before Grove Park School for Girls was built.
The archive can be searched online at the link below:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
We aim to condense the documents obtained from Kew and make them available here shortly.