THE STORY OF WYREFARM CAMP SCHOOL 1940 - 1982 - INTRODUCTION

Arial view of the school 1967

In 2011 I created a webpage for the City of Coventry Boarding School formerly known as Wyrefarm Camp School supported by two Facebook pages. (See below).

Collectively many of the former pupils, staff and their offspring shared many photographs, press cuttings, memories and other documents.

We discussed, we argued, we dug deep and did some sleuthing in newspapers and other archives, solving many issues and finally developed an historical perspective none of us knew back in the day when we were pupils there.

Furthermore we have discovered that this seemingly obscure municipal boarding school had a national wartime significance beyond anyone's knowledge.

The purpose of this new website is to build those insights into a new historical narrative, and there are many surprises here for former pupils!

Wyrefarm Camp School was part of the wider National Camps Corporation initiative 1939, receiving Royal Assent on the eve of WW2. It functioned initially as an evacuation camp for Coventry, evolving into a municipal boarding school and, in the summer holidays, offering a holiday / activity camp experience in the countryside for Coventry school children.

The camp school lasted 40 years from 1940 to 1982 after which it evolved into being an activity camp - currently known as The Pioneer Centre, and although independent, it still fulfils  some of those early ideals of the National Camps Corporation, in terms of providing quality outdoor activities and instruction. 

WHERE IS IT?

Wyrefarm Camp School (later known as The City of Coventry Boarding School) was located off the B4201 outside Cleobury Mortimer, near Kidderminster. Shropshire. 

It's one of 31 identical camps schools around the country and mazingly some of the old buildings, now reconditioned and re-purposed, are still standing and in use by the Pioneer Centre.

EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF ITS HISTORY

Back in the day, at the school during the 1950's, 60's and 70's, most of us had only vague notion of the camp's history. The camp had been created by the National Camps Corporation (NCC) in 1939 and they ran it with the Coventry Local Education Authority providing the educational facilities. No one questioned why something called the National Camps Corporation would only have one camp (apparently) or why this was unique to Coventry! Those notions have now been swept away - it wasn't unique to Coventry and the NCC had around 31 identical camps.

We knew it originally functioned as an evacuation camp in WW2 and the stories of wartime pupils (who were there 24/7 - no school holidays) witnessing the Coventry blitz on the evening of 14 November 1940 from 50 miles away. We can only imagine what was going through their minds, knowing that their friends and family were amongst the devastation!

RESDISCOVERING THE HISTORY 

In 2011, on one the school Facebook pages, Rosemary Webb Rehill, daughter of the former school bursar, told me that her brother Stan had heard there was an identical camp school in Yorkshire. I Googled it and found Bewerley Park Camp School near Hebdon Bridge. Howerver they said this wasn't the one. I tried again and found Linton Residential Camp school - Grassington, North Yorkshire. This was the one - but hey - now there were three identical camp schools! It wasn't long before the internet offered up a fuller history of the National Camps Corporation history that will form part of this site.

This project has quietly evolved from nostalgia into genuine local historical research, no longer just recording memories—but reconstructing a forgotten piece of Coventry's educational and wartime history.

Along the way we will look some of the ideas for alternative or camp school education during the interwar years, the evolution of the National Camps Corporation, the location of the camps, a newly emerging narrative of the earliest Coventry Camp School located at Town Thorns, to the wartime experiences of pupils at the Cleobury Mortimer site, to the re-branding of Wyrefarm Camp School as the City of Coventry Secondary Boarding School (simplified to The City of Coventry School) in 1955 and beyond until it's closure in 1982.

 

Enjoy - Trev Teasdel - admin / creator of the blog.

The school in the 1950's

The original school website here is wider reaching with over 300 posts of photos, memories more of the cultural or sporting history of the school - Take a look through if you haven't already https://wyrefarmed.blogspot.com/

And join the Wyrefarm / City of Coventry Boarding School Pages where we chat and post -

I Survived Wyre Farm Camp School

https://www.facebook.com/groups/wyrefarmsurvivor

And

City of Coventry School

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CityOfCoventrySchool/

BETWEEN THE WARS EXPERIMENTATION WITH EDUCATION

 Between the two World Wars there was a remarkable burst of experimentation in education, youth development, and communal living. Many of these projects were responses to unemployment, dissatisfaction with traditional schooling, fears about declining health, or hopes for social reform.

Here are some of the main strands.

Summerhill

1. Summerhill School

Founded in 1921 by A. S. Neill, Summerhill became Britain's best-known progressive school.

A. S. Neill

Located in Suffolk, it's principles included: 

* Children choosing whether to attend lessons 

* School democracy through meetings where every child had a vote 

* Learning motivated by curiosity rather than punishment
* Emphasis on emotional wellbeing.

Neill believed unhappy children could never become genuinely educated adults. 

Summerhill was established to provide a space where children could grow in a 'free-range' environment, emphasizing self-directed learning and democratic principles.

Neill's philosophy centered on fitting the school to the child, rather than forcing pupils to conform to traditional educational expectations. Although controversial, Summerhill influenced progressive education worldwide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerhill_School

2. Work Camps

The Depression of the 1930s created mass unemployment, particularly in industrial areas.

Several kinds of camps emerged.

Government Instructional Centres

The government established camps where unemployed men:
built roads / drained land / planted forests / followed physical training.

The stated aim was to restore fitness and work habits before employment.

Critics argued they sometimes resembled military discipline or forced labour.

Voluntary Work Camps

These had a very different philosophy.

Organisations such as the International Voluntary Service for Peace brought together young people from different countries to:

build village halls / repair footpaths / improve rural communities.

The emphasis was international understanding after the trauma of the World War I.

3. The Grith Fyrd

Founded by John Hargrave in 1922.

This movement combined:

outdoor living / handicrafts / physical fitness / self-government / camping.

It was partly inspired by scouting but rejected militarism.

4. Settlement Communities

Places like the Brynmawr Experiment attempted to rebuild communities devastated by unemployment.

They combined:

education / arts / craft industries / adult learning / cooperative living.

These experiments influenced later community development ideas.
5. Woodcraft and Nature Education

The Woodcraft Folk, founded in 1925, promoted:

cooperation rather than competition / camping / environmental education / international friendship / social equality.

Unlike the Scouts, it had a more explicitly cooperative and progressive outlook.

6. Experimental Boarding Schools

Several progressive schools appeared during the 1920s and 1930s, influenced by thinkers such as Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner.

Many stressed: creativity / crafts / gardening / music / learning by doing.
7. National Camps Corporation (1939)

The National Camps Corporation was established just before the Second World War.

Its purpose was different from most earlier experiments. It aimed to build permanent camp schools that could:

provide outdoor education in peacetime

be used for the evacuation of schoolchildren during wartime.

Many of the camps were designed with dormitories, dining halls, sports facilities and classrooms.

Although the war changed their immediate role, they later influenced the post-war network of outdoor education centres.

Why so many experiments?

Several forces came together in the interwar years:

dissatisfaction with rigid Victorian schooling

mass unemployment after the Depression

concerns about poor physical health among young people

the growth of psychology and child-centred education

hopes of preventing another war through international cooperation and better citizenship.

For many reformers, the camp became a symbol of a healthier society: learning through shared work, nature, democratic participation, and community rather than through rote learning alone.

The Next post will look at The national Camps Corporation.

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION (NCC)

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION

Originally Wyre Farm Camp School Cleobury Mortimer.

The Camps Act 1939

Newspaper paper evidence suggests that Wyrefarm Camp School wasn't built specifically for Coventry as originally thought. Newly discovered evidence suggests that the earliest proposal for a Coventry Camp School was proposed by Coventry industrialist Sir Alfred Herbert at Town Thorns, near Brinklow about the time The Camps Act 1939, as we shall see in a further article. It would seem the Wyrefarm location was likely offered first to towns nearer to Brimingham and even when it was offered, Coventry rejected it - well, at first. The full story will be posted soon.

Wyrefarm Camp School was built by The National Camps Corporation Ltd., a government-funded non-profit organisation created under Section 1 of the Camps Act 1939. The NCC served as an operating company for England and Wales. The function of the NCC in regard to the schools, were in the maintenance and management of the camps. 

The NCC formed with assistance from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), and was given 1.2 million pounds; half grant, half loan; by the government to build fifty camps in remote areas initially to enable children from towns and cities to be able to experience the countryside and animal life.

The NCC combined several educational and social ideas current during the inter-war years. These included providing holiday and activity centres in the countryside for children from industrial towns, creating ready-made evacuation centres in the event of war, and promoting what became known as 'camp consciousness'—an educational philosophy centred on communal outdoor living.

Origins of National Camps Corporation

In the 1930s, government ministers were worried about working class children living in cramped accommodation in polluted industrial cities.

The original purpose of these camps was to provide holiday accommodation for city children, who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to experience the countryside and nature.

In the context of preparations for war, in February, 1939, the Home Secretary announced that the Government had decided to proceed with the building of a number of camps. As a result, the Camps Act was enacted on 25 May 1939.

The Purpose of the Camps

The real purpose of the camps was that in peace time they should be school camps for children during the major part of the year and used for adults in the winter months, and, in time of war, for refugees. The camps also offered children from poorer, urban backgrounds a unique living experience in rural environments. Consequently, the health benefits of these environments were strongly promoted.

It was intended that approximately 50 camps would be built as a supplement to the accommodation available for evacuation from the more vulnerable areas.

The Camps Act 1939 prompted the creation of the National Camps Corporation to oversee the camps. In March 1939, Lord Portal was announced as chairman of the company. Lord Portal and members of his board visited 155 possible sites for camps which were to be built as residential schools. In practice, however, the NCC also had to compete with the RAF for suitable sites.

The Camps Act provided "a sum of £1,200,000, for the construction, maintenance and management of the camps. The share of England and Wales was £1,032,000" half of which was as a loan.

In England and Wales, 31 camps have been erected; one of these is occupied by an evacuated orphanage, the others, with one exception, are occupied by local education authorities of vulnerable areas for occupation by school children, together with the necessary teachers and staff."

The number of evacuees housed at such camps came to under 9000 nationally. In November 1940 the Minister of Health Malcolm MacDonald described the camps as "one of the most significant pieces of work that Parliament has lent its hand to in recent times".

THE NCC COUNCIL

Under the Articles of Association the National Camps Corporation was set up under the Camps Act, 1939, and managed by a Council. The members at the time were:

Lord Portal, D.S.O., M.V.O. (Chairman).
Patrick Abercrombie, Esq., F.R.I.B.A.

Sir Samuel Gurney-Dixon, J.P.
George Hicks, Esq., M.P.
Sir Edward Howarth, K.B.E., C.B.
Dame Florence Simpson, D.B.E.
Percy Thomas, Esq., O.B.E., P.P.R.I.B.A.

The members are unpaid apart from Sir Edward Howarth, who receives a salary of £2,200 per annum as managing director. The cost of the central organisation of the Corporation was approximately £7,700 for the year ended 31st March, 1943, which represents just over 3½d. in the £ on the total sum dealt with in the period.

Sources

Hansard.parliament.uk. 20 July 1944.https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1944-07-20/debates/a9b328c3-efc7-4cc6-9ab2-087417e41a8e/NationalCampsCorporation

Mr Clifford Morris FRPS Source no longer available.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Camps_Corporation#cite_note-:2-2

CONSTRUCTION OF THE CAMPS

The government expected that the corporation would construct fifty camps, but in reality, only 31 were built in England and Wales, with a further five in Scotland. Wyrefarm was one of the thirty-one National Camps Corporation schools constructed in England and Wales under this programme.

The cessation of the construction of new camps was mainly due to the increased costs as a result of war, and the realisation that such camps were not a completely adequate solution to the problem of evacuation.

The Corporation considered 155 sites for camps, all of which had been personally inspected by the chairman or managing director of the NCC.

Some were taken by the Royal Airforce before the corporation could decide on them. The design of each camp was similar, consisting of huts made out of Canadian Cedarwood, designed by architect Thomas Smith Tait of Messrs. Sir John Burnet Tait and Lone. Each camp has been designed to accommodate about 350 children and 13 teachers in peacetime, but the camps are so laid out that they can be doubled if necessary in an emergency.

Each camp followed a standard layout designed by the architect Thomas Smith Tait of Sir John Burnet Tait and Lorne. Built mainly from Canadian cedarwood, the camps included dormitories, classrooms, a dining hall, assembly hall, kitchen, hospital block, staff accommodation, boiler house and other service buildings. They were fully electrified, centrally heated and designed for year-round occupation.

Each camp had a static water tank, required by law as a defence against incendiary attacks.

The outbreak of war significantly increased construction costs owing to rising labour and material prices. At the same time, the Government decided that the camps should become permanent residential schools rather than seasonal holiday camps. This required additional classrooms, enlarged medical facilities and other adaptations for year-round occupation, all of which increased the capital cost.

The Corporation, within the limits of its capital, was compelled to restrict the scope of its building owing to higher costs. The average cost of each camp was in the region of £25,000.

Contemporary reports emphasised not only the children's safety from air attack but also the perceived educational and health benefits of rural life:

Not only were the children in these camps more secure against the evil acts of the Nazi airmen and safer from their bombs, but they have gained other permanent benefits. The fresh natural air of the countryside made them more healthy; contact with Nature has broadened the minds and refreshed the spirits of town children. They are healthier and better educated than they were before.

The First Camp

The first NCC camp to open was Kennylands, near Reading, in February 1940. On 30

September that year it received a visit from members of the Royal Family. It also attracted the attention of the German propagandist Lord Haw-Haw, who mocked the quality of the fish served to the children in one of his broadcasts. Despite such publicity, the school continued to operate successfully throughout the war and for many years afterwards.

On 12 June 1945 a further Camps Act transferred responsibility for the National Camps Corporation from the Minister of Health to the Minister of Education.

During the post-war years, most camps were sold to county councils and local education authorities for continued use as residential schools. By 1948, 30 of the 31 camps in England and Wales were still in educational use for eleven months of each year.

On 22 September 1955, the Ministry of Education appointed a Receiver to the National Camps Corporation Ltd., which subsequently went into liquidation.

The Architect - A Coventry Connection.

The National Camps Corporation adopted a standardised design for all of its camps. The buildings, designed by the Scottish architect Thomas Smith Tait of Sir John Burnet, Tait and Lorne, consisted of prefabricated Canadian cedar buildings with cedar-shingle roofs. Individual camps were then adapted to their sites by architects selected from a panel approved by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Thomas Smith Tait (18 June 1882 – 18 July 1954) was a Scottish modernist architect. He designed a number of buildings around the world in Art Deco and Streamline Modern styles, notably St. Andrew's House (the headquarters of the Scottish Government) on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and the pylons for Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A Coventry Connection

With Thomas Smith Tait there is an intriguing Coventry connection. Tait had worked alongside the young architect Sir Basil Spence, who would go on to design the new Coventry Cathedral following the destruction of the medieval cathedral during the Blitz.

Tait's Tower

Tait is best remembered for his contributions to the design and master planning for the Empire

Thomas Smith Tait 

Exhibition, Scotland 1938, held in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Tait was appointed as head of a team of nine architects, which included Basil Spence and Jack Coia.

Tait's vision was of a modernist, utopian future, and the Empire Exhibition was the largest collection of modern architecture built in United Kingdom in the first half of the 20th century. Dominating the whole exhibition was "The Tower of Empire", designed by Tait himself. The 300-feet-high tower was erected on the summit of the hill in the centre of the park and had three observation balconies, each capable of carrying 200 people.

The outbreak of the Second World War curtailed many of Tait's ambitious architectural projects, including the National Camps programme, which ended well short of its intended fifty camps. Nevertheless, he continued to practise after the war until his death in 1954.

Canadian Cedarwood

The huts at the camps were all very similar and were designed for the purpose by Tait. Tait specified Canadian Western Red Cedar for the camp buildings because it combined light weight with durability and excellent natural insulation. Its resistance to decay made it particularly suitable for prefabricated buildings intended for year-round occupation, while the cedar shingle roofs complemented the woodland settings in which the camps were built. Much of the timber came from the managed forests of British Columbia, where Western Red Cedar has long been valued for its strength, longevity and resistance to weather.

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATIONS Part 2 -(31 Camp Schools)

 THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATIONS - 

Part 2 looking at the 31 Camp Schools.

"In any of these camps, you could be forgiven for thinking you were at Wyre Farm Camp School, but would maybe notice the location was unfamiliar!"

This Government Video was put out in 1950 after the evacuation camp era had ended and the camps had become local authority schools. The video focusses on Sheephatch Camp School Tilford Surry. 

The video owners only allow you to watch it directly on YouTube, So click the link below to watch it.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeybfB0KIT4

RESEARCH - For further research check out the National Archives https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

The National Archives at Kew houses collections dating 1939-1962 which relate to the National Camps Corporation. The National Archives' database is searchable online.

And Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Camps_Corporation

THE NATIONAL CAMPS CORPORATION REMIT

The National Camps Corporation's remit was to build 50 camp Schools in 1939, in remote areas around the country, initially to enable children from towns and cities to be able to experience something the countryside and animal life. The money ran out after thirty one had been built. in all the Corporation considered 155 sites for camps. it was thought that some 30 to 40 camps would be constructed in England and Wales - the rest in Scotland.

The camps seemingly varied in capacity, from 350 to to under 200 in the case of Wyre Farm Camp school. Although located in the country, they were attached to an urban area and their location in the country was also idea for their use as evacuation camps. Some camps had boys and girls - others just one sex - it perhaps varied according to decisions by the local Education Authorities and the needs and resources of the area.  The average cost of the camps, including land purchase, construction and fitting out was £25000 in the money of the day.

HERE IS A LIST OF THE 31 CAMP SCHOOLS AND THEIR LOCATION

Here they are listed by county. They are correct as far as I can determine. If anyone can correct any of the information, please do.

NORTHUMBRIA

1 Brownrigg Camp School, Bellingham, Nr Hexham, B6320 Northumberland. For Newcastle.

2 Dukeshouse Wood Camp School, Hexham, Northumbria.

LANCASHIRE

3  White Acre Lane Camp School Clitheroe Nr  Walley Lancs A59 Served Manchester

 YORKSHIRE

4 Bewerley Park Camp School near Pateley between Hebden Bridge and Ripon AB6265.

5 Linton Residential Camp school - Grassington, North Yorkshire - serving Bradford. B6265

6 Cottage Pasture Camp School Etton North Yorkshire Nr Beverley, West Riding York

DERBYSHIRE

7  Amber Valley Camp, Woolley Moor, Alfreton, Near Ashover Derbyshire 

CHESHIRE

8 Marton Camp school, ,Northwich Cheshire

DENBIGHSHIRE

9 Colomendy Hall Camp School, Loggerheads Denbighshire -  Mold Cheshire between Ruthin and Chester A541 - For Liverpool and Colomendy Wood.

STAFFORDSHIRE

10 Pipewood Camp School, (for Girls) Blithbury, Rugeley Staffordshire. Between Stafford and Litchfield A513

11 Shooting Butts Camp School, Penkridge Bank Road, Rugeley, Staffordshire.

SHROPSHIRE

12 Wyre Farm Camp School / City of Coventry Boarding School. Cleobury Mortimer. Between Ludlow and Kidderminster. A411

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

13 Hurley Buckinghamshire 

14 Horsleys Green Camp School, Stokenchurch, Horsleys Green Buckinghamshire or High Wycombe.

15 Finnamore Wood Camp Marlow Buckinghamshire Redbridge Greater London.

HERTFORDSHIRE

16 St. Margaret's Farm Camp school, Great Gaddesden, Berkhamsted, Nr Hemel Hempstead. Herts.

17 Lord's Field Camp School. Overton. Herts 

OXFORDSHIRE

18 Oxford: Henley (No further information on this)

BERKSHIRE

19 Cockpole Green Camp School Berkshire

20 Kennylands Camp School, Kidmore End, Near Sonning, Reading, Berkshire B 418

21 Bishopswood Farm Camp School, Sonning Common, Near Reading, Berkshire.

HAMPSHIRE

22 West Mark Camp School, Sheet Common Hampshire or Petersfield (sometimes called Dell)

SURRY

23 Sayers Croft Camp School Cranleigh or Ewhurst Catford Surrey B2127

24 Elmbridge Camp School, Cranleigh Surrey between Guilford and Horsham off B218

25 Merstham Surrey (No further information on this)

26 Merchant's Hill Camp Nr Hindhead and Haslemere, Surrey

27 Sheephatch Camp School Tilford Layton Surrey. Between Farnham and Haslemere off B3001.

28 Coopers Farm Camp Sussex (West) Itchingfield near Horsham Surrey A264

29 Wedges Farm Camp School West Itchingfield near Horsham Surrey

SUSSEX

30 Wrens Warren Camp School  Coleman's Hatch, Hartfield East Sussex. B2026

31 Hydon Heath Camp school, Essex ? No further information on this)

 

PHOTOS OF THE CAMPS FOLLOW THE ABOVE COUNTY LIST

NORTHUMBRIA

Brownrigg Camp School,

Bellingham, Northumberland, Nr Hexham, B6320 Northumberland.

For Newcastle

I

http://brownriggschool.co.uk/aboutus.html

"Brown Rigg School was constructed in 1938, built by the National Camps Corporation.  The school's first function was to house evacuees from Newcastle, all girls , who were fleeing the bombing taking place in the city."

Brown Rigg Dining Hall

Dukeshouse Wood Camp School near Hexham in Northumberland.

https://www.hexhamhistorian.org/historic-hexham/photograph-archive/photo-archive-choices/hexham-choices/schools-choices/dukeshouse-wood-centre-gallery/

Lancashire 

White Acre Lane Camp School Clitheroe Nr Walley Lancs.

https://issuu.com/greenparkcourt/docs/the_history_of_green_park_court

YORKSHIRE

BEWERLEY PARK CAMP SCHOOL - PATELEY BRIDGE

Bewerley Park Camp School, Pateley Bridge

Bewerley Park Dorm 1940

HRH the Duke of Edinburgh visits Bewerley Park in 1967

Bewerley Park Book 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bewerley-Park-School-Outdoor-1940-1974/dp/0954417003

Bewerley Park was built as a Camp School as a result of the Camps Act of 1939 and was finished in March 1940. The 18 acres of land required for Bewerley Park was purchased in June 1939 from the Agricultural Society for £1,900. Before the Camp School could be used as originally intended, the 2nd World War broke out and about 200 evacuees, from Leeds, stayed at Bewerley Park between August 1940 and June 1945.

Linton Residential Camp school 

Grassington, North Yorkshire - serving Bradford. B6265

https://www.lintoncampschool.uk/

Here is a video of what remains of Linton Camp School
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F65dqmtILAY&t=15s

Cottage Pasture Camp School 

Etton North Yorkshire Nr Beverley, West Riding York

https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/etton-pasture-special-school-e-yorks-may09.39872/

DERBYSHIRE

Amber Valley Camp, 

Woolley Moor, Alfreton, Near Ashover Derbyshire.

CHESHIRE

Marton Camp school, Northwich Cheshire

DENBIGHSHIRE

Colomendy - North Wales 2 Sites

"Colomendy was built in 1939 by the National Camps Corporation as a wartime refuge for Liverpool schoolchildren. The first children arrived in April 1940 from Dingle."

BERKSHIRE

19 Cockpole Green Camp School Berkshire

20 Kennylands Camp School, Kidmore End, Near Sonning, Reading, Berkshire B 418

21 Bishopswood Farm Camp School, Sonning Common, Near Reading, Berkshire.

STAFFORDSHIRE

Pipewood Camp School, 

(For Girls) Blithbury, Rugeley Staffordshire. Between Stafford and Litchfield A513

Shooting Butts Camp School, 

Penkridge Bank Road, Rugeley, Staffordshire

SHROPSHIRE

Wyre Farm Camp School / City of Coventry Boarding School. Cleobury Mortimer. Between Ludlow and Kidderminster. A411

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

Hurley Buckinghamshire. 

No further information or photos.

Horsleys Green Camp School, 

Stokenchurch, Horsleys Green Buckinghamshire or High Wycombe.

Finnamore Wood Camp 

Marlow Buckinghamshire Redbridge Greater London.

HERTFORDSHIRE

St. Margaret's Farm Camp school, 

Great Gaddesden, Berkhamsted, Nr Hemel Hempstead. Herts.

https://www.hemelatwar.org/imagedbresultsfull8502.html?productID=145

Lords Field Camp School, 

Overton. Herts 

OXFORDSHIRE

Oxford: Henley (No further information on this)

BERKSHIRE

Cockpole Green Camp School

Berkshire (No further information or photos)

Bishopswood Farm Camp School, 

Sonning Common, Near Reading, Berkshire.

No specific photos found

Kennylands Camp School, 

Kidmore End, Near Sonning, Reading, Berkshire B 418

This was the first camp school to be used as an evacuation camp.

"Kennylands was the first camp to be finished and occupied. There were five dormitories, each 90 feet long by about 15 feet wide with a large covered veranda at the far end. Inside there was a small partitioned room at each corner. Two of these were occupied by masters"

Read more about this camp here on this PDF EVACUEES https://merl.reading.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/B19317-MERL-LR-03-Evacuee-1-Terry-5.pdf

King and Queen at Kennylands British Pathe News Video

The Entrance to Kennyland

Evacuees at Kennylands Camp School, near Sonning

More of the above via this link https://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/09/08/evac_feature.shtml

HAMPSHIRE

West Mark Camp School, Sheet Common Hampshire or Petersfield (sometimes called Dell)

SURRY

Sayers Croft Camp School 

Cranleigh or Ewhurst Catford Surrey B2127

Sheephatch Camp School

Tilford, Surrey.

Merchant's Hill Camp Hindhead Surrey

Wrens Warren Camp School

in Coleman's Hatch, East Sussex

http://www2.westsussex.gov.uk/learning-resources/LR/wrens_warren_evacueess_camp_ashdown_forest7d94.pdf?docid=00105d84-bdd4-4dc5-b8b1-f448275471ce&version=-1

Pathe News 1

Sussex (West) Itchingfield: Coopers Farm Camp 1939-1945

"One such camp in Itchingfield was called Cooper’s Camp – named after the farmland on which it stood. It was built by James Longley & Co, from Crawley, under contract to the National Camps Corporation. The camp was occupied by 200 boys from Tom Hood Central School, Leytonstone – and they brought all the school’s equipment with them. The lads were looked after by headmaster Mr AE Hunt and the other teachers." https://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/home-home-world-war-two-evacuees-1218530

Elmbridge Camp School, Cranleigh Surrey