The Quad

It is interesting that in the 1850 contract to build the School (which can be viewed on the digital archive www.lgs-heritage. org) there is no mention of what was to be done with what we now know of as the Quad. All the earliest plans we have of the School grounds, however, make it very clear that it was to be the boys’ playground. 1

This is clearly shown in one of the most iconic photos we have of the Quad in the 1890s and you can see that by then it was not all grass, with what looks like an asphalt area being used for football – now there is a surprise! In fact, that was the School’s tennis court. 2

That is confirmed in the Loughburian of December 1891 where Headmaster Colgrove was so taken by Willoughby Hamilton’s triumph at Wimbledon the previous year that: ‘During the Midsummer holidays our Head Master has very generously had the old ash court asphalted at his own expense, and we feel sure that the whole school will heartily join us in thanking him for his great munificence.’ This is well illustrated in this postcard which clearly shows the tennis court. As there is no Reading Room, we know this must be pre 1904. 3

A postcard from 1906 shows that the ‘hard court’ has been removed and a grass court placed on the north side. Note also that there is a path on the south side, just below what was the science building. 4

It seems likely that the Quad remained like that until the outbreak of World War I when drastic measures were called for as the Loughburian of May 1917 records: ‘Work has gone on during the term in the dinner interval and after school on the potato patches in the Quad, from part of which the turf has been removed. The labour is organised in squads under ‘bosses’, and when the seed potatoes arrive, they will be set, and the workers will live in hopes of a plentiful crop; and very heavy crop of ‘roots’ has already been gathered. Some rows of artichokes, a vegetable suited to the unpromising soil, and of parsnips have already been planted.’ 5

After the war, with a growth in school numbers, there were now two tennis courts on the north side.

During World War II it was not the grass that suffered, but the railings, taken away to be melted down for the war effort. However, this was not as straightforward as you would think. The first request for iron railings came at the end of 1941, and at the start of 1942 the Governors were happy for the removal of railings at the High School but not at the Grammar School. This went to several appeals before the Governors accepted that they would have to go – being paid compensation of 7/6 for the Quad panels and £20 for the gates along with £60 to ‘make good the stone coping’ in 1943. In total for both schools they were expecting £829 14s. 6

There then follows protracted negotiations over exactly the state and weight of the steel and finally the Schools received £327 in 1945, just before the war ended. 7

There is another expansion of the School after the war and soon there are four tennis courts and the path to the field on the south side has been removed. We know the picture is pre 1958, as the L Block has not been extended. Note that due to the Quad not being symmetrical - the 1895 buildings created that—there are singles courts on the south side and doubles courts on the north side. 8 9

In the late 1960s, with the School getting even bigger, the tennis courts were moved from the Quad and the first set of cherry trees planted. As the trees blossomed pink on the north side and white on the south side it seems reasonable to suggest that they were planted at different times. The Quad now was primarily used for croquet—indeed it had been in both the 1940s and 1950s but really blossomed in the late 1980s when, for the only time in 1988, it has its own section in the Loughburian.

In 1995, the Old Loughburians funded the restoration of the railings as their contribution to the Quincentenary. 10

With the average life span of a blossoming cherry tree being 15-30 years it was no surprise that by 2010 several of the trees had died, or were dying, and it was decided to replace them and at the same time widen the walkways to cope with the added ‘boy traffic’ created by the new buildings on the north side. This work was completed during the summer of 2015 ready for the Quad to become a memorial to the Schools’ war dead in 2016 – the centenary of Roger Bingham Turner’s death, the Headmaster’s son, in WW1. 11 12 13

In August 2017 seven of the trees were vandalised, an event that was to attract national media coverage. 14

The pandemic of 2020 meant that the Quad reverted back to its original use of 170 years early – the boys’ playground - this time being used exclusively by the 11 year olds in their ‘bubble’ and mini cricket and football matches occurring during every break. Not surprisingly this wore out the grass, seeded over 100 years earlier, and so the decision was taken to level and completely reseed the Quad during the summer of 2021. 15

Now, thanks to the skill and expertise of the Schools’ ground staff, with new cherry trees and new grass, the Quad is truly resplendent, the best it has looked since 1852. 16 Chris Parry, Head Groundsman at LSF for the past 10 years and his colleague (and friend for over 40 years) Keith Kent spoke to the LGS boys at a recent assembly about their prestigious careers working for top clubs and venues such as Manchester United, Leicester City and Twickenham. They ended with some words of wisdom: • Always seek to give of your best – that’s what the grounds’ team wanted to achieve with their work on the Quad. • Have pride in the newly restored space in such a historic setting. • Respect friends and colleagues throughout your lives – you are only ever as good as your team. After a fitting thank you from Head Boy Leon, they were then both presented with School Colours ties and each of the grounds team will receive a green Heron badge in recognition of their outstanding service to the school. 17

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