Save Old Pennar School - getting the building listed (Part 4)

Apologies for the lull in posts, but other things have cropped up.

As part of the the request for listing a building you are also  asked to give the historical background to the building. 

For Old Pennar School, there is information in files in The National Archives and at Pembrokeshire Archives, as well as some old newspaper reports and documents in private hands.



Files in The National Archives include ED 21/67383, an extract of which is reproduced, courtesy of TNA. This is a school inspector's report from 1938, and is interesting as it mentions how some of the classrooms were arranged.

In the Pembrokeshire Archives are files that tell us what the school was like initially. 

Details of specification and cost. This shows that the school initially comprised three classrooms.

Mixed Girls School Room:

 50 ft x 20 ft x 26 ft high

20ft x 15 ft x 20 ft high

Infants classroom

50ft x 20ft x 26ft high

The school was remodelled in 1894 to provide an extra infants classroom. Cost was £270.

30ft x 18ft x 16ft high (Wall Plate 12 ft)

In 1897 the school accommodated 123 Girls and 193 Infants.

The school was again enlarged in 1901, bringing it up to its present form.

Mixed Girls School Room:

 51 ft x 20 ft x 20 ft high

46ft x 20 ft x 20 ft high

20ft x 20 ft x 20 ft high

Infants classroom

33 ft x 24 ft x 20 ft

22 ft x 24 ft x 20 ft

30 ft x 19 ft x 18 ft

The extract below from my submission to CADW for listing, explains (in part) the relationship between the bombing of the Oil Tanks (In August 1940) and Old Pennar School:

I shall give you a few more extracts in my next post.

Old Pennar School and the Oil Tanks Fire (Part 2)

I would like YOU to do something for me ...please.

The 19th August, this summer, will be the 75th Anniversary of the bombing of the oil tanks at Pennar, just above Llanreath. Old Pennar School is where many, many firemen from all over Pembrokeshire, from Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff and other parts of Wales sought refuge and rest from the searing heat of the conflagration less that a mile up the road. The Church Hall opposite the school acted as a first aid post and official reports recount how the local population opened their hearts, homes and rations to the fire fighters.

The Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, with the Sunderland Trust, is planning to commemorate the events of those (literally) dark days with a church service and exhibition/display in the Garrison Chapel.

Pembrokeshire County Council and Pembrokeshire Housing Association have proposed an alternative commemoration.... demolish one of the few (only) buildings in Pembroke Dock/Pennar associated with what was an historic event in the history of war time Britain.

Nothing if not crass.

Why not drop Pembrokeshire Housing Association a polite email or letter letting them know how insensitive to the feelings of the community of Pennar their proposal is?

Here are their contact details:

Registered Office:

Meyler House,

St. Thomas' Green,

Haverfordwest,

Pembrokeshire.

SA61 1QP

Tel: (01437) 763688

Fax: (01437) 763997

General Enquiries: Enquiries@pembs-ha.co.uk

You may wish to to make your comments for the attention of: 

Mr Nigel Sinnett

or

Mr Sam Salgo

Note: Photograph courtesy of Rosemary Norton whose mother took this shot whilst stationed in Pembroke Dock

 — at Military Road, Pennar, Pembroke Dock.

Old Pennar School and the Great Oil Tanks Fire

19 August 1940 was a day that will feature prominently in any history of Pembroke Dock. It was when the clear blue sky of a summer's day was turned black and the Second World War made the first of many impressions on PD.

The story of the oil tanks fire has been told many times and can be read about in more detail on these links:

Phil Carradice tells the story of the bombing of the Oil Tank in Pennar. .....

......and here.

Photographs and more from the Western Telegraph.

The Old School Pennar played a significant role in the drama, as related by Vernon Scott in his book "In Harms Way":

The Photograph below shows the view looking east down Military Road from the site of the Oil Tanks after the cataclysmic Oil Tank Fire in August 1940. 

Does Old Pennar School, a refuge for the selfless firemen that fought the inferno, now face its own cataclysm?

See the caption below

The western end of the Barrack Hill was crowded with locals watching the spectacle of
the oil fuelled blaze. Did the young girl go to Old Pennar School? What would she think now?

The two photographs above are courtesy of Margaret Longueville, who served as an ambulance driver in PD in the Summer of 1940.