Abingdon News No.49

The Abingdon Foundation, Park Road, Abingdon, Oxford OX14 1DE 01235 521563 • Edited by Jane Warne – [email protected] 01235 849123 • Design – www.petergreenland.com Abingdon Out of the Past When the war finally came to an end Abingdon launched a war memorial appeal. This raised £1,442 and on 18 July 1920 the Master of Pembroke dedicated a plaque in the School Chapel to the memory of the 73 members of the School community who had died . The plaque cost £75 raising the question of what to do with the rest of the money. Both an extension to School House and a new Library were under consideration when in 1924 the Waste Court estate came onto the market. With its house, outbuildings and 9 acres of grounds, the estate had vast potential for the future of the school. The only problem was the price – £5,500. However, by 1928 the money had been found and in the summer of 1929 Waste Court opened as a boarding house. In 2014, to mark the centenary of the war, Waste Court House became Austin House in memory of Abingdon’s first casualty, Alan Murray Austin who was killed on 15 October 1914 when his ship, HMS Hawke , was torpedoed in the North Sea. The 1950s Science Block From 20 May 2019 one kilogram will no longer be defined by a cylinder of platinum-iridium held by a laboratory in Paris. In future its mass will be defined as a measurement made by a Kibble Balance based on the Planck Constant. Named after its inventor, Bryan Kibble (1938-2016) learnt his first physics whilst a pupil at Abingdon in the 1950s. The Kibble Balance You can now follow Abingdon School on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. @abingdonschool @ abingdonschool @abingdon_school What is now the Common Room was once the Big School classroom. And what was originally the Masters Common Room is now the Maths Department office. In 1963 the Big School classroom was ‘modernised’ and converted into the Library, where it remained until last year. Meanwhile the staff Common Room expanded into the two adjoining rooms – the Tesdale Room and the Pembroke Room. The Pembroke Room has now been subdivided to create offices for the Headmaster and his PA and the Tesdale Room is once again a classroom. Waste Court - Abingdon’s First World War Memorial On the day before the centenary of Armistice Day, the stencilled Abingdon griffens on the School’s rugby pitches wore poppies on their shoulders instead of John Roysse’s rose. All Change 1963 Library looking north Staff Common Room looking south 1957 Masters Common Room – spot the three pipe smokers 1894 Big School classroom looking south The 1950s Science Block The turquoise line delineates the Waste Court Estate, showing how valuable the property has been to the School