Roger Ascham School Buildings, Ascham Road, Cambridge

History of the Roger Ascham School

Listed building:

The first open-air school was opened in Charlottenberg near Berlin in 1904 and several open-air schools were established in England before the First World War. By 1931 there were over 80 and by 1949 127 had been built. The schools were intended as recovery schools for children whose development had been impaired by illness, so that they could be eventually integrated into normal schools. They had considerable influence on the design of C20 schools.

Roger Ascham School was a day school and is one of the most intact open-air schools remaining. It was established in 1916 in wooden buildings in Vinery Road, Cambridge, but moved to Ascham Road in 1927. It comprises an admin building and hall, detached classrooms and a rest shed (qv).

Ascham Road is named after Roger Ascham who went to St John’s College in 1530 and was appointed Greek Lecturer in 1538. He was later tutor to the Princess Elizabeth and secretary to Sir William Morysin, Ambassador to the Court of Charles V. From the accession of Elizabeth he was constantly at court.

9 July 1928 — New open-air school
Close to the windmill on the north side of Milton Road, opposite Chesterton Hall Crescent, occupying one of the highest and healthiest sites in the locality and surrounded by spacious lawns and trim walks stands the new open-air school for defective and sub-normal children. It is an ideal school, admirably adapted to its purpose and planned and equipped on a generous scale, a veritable children’s paradise. The opening ceremony was an open-air function. Open air schools for delicate children have come to stay and in the future all schools will probably become open-air.

Credit: Mike Petty, 1928 07 09.