Preston Catholic College was a Jesuit grammar school for boys in Winckley Square, Preston, Lancashire, England. It opened in 1865 and closed in 1978, when its sixth form merged with two other schools to form Cardinal Newman College.
History
The college began in 1865 in a house in Mount Pleasant (a narrow passage between Winckley Square and Mount Street). In 1879 it moved to 29 Winckley Square and expanded over the next century until, at its peak of 915 pupils in 1970,Preston Catholic College Magazine, 143, January 1973, p.15 it occupied the whole of the west side of the square from the northwest corner (number 34) as far south as Garden Street (number 25), with the exception of number 25a and numbers 29 to 32. Classrooms, science laboratories and a swimming pool were built along neighbouring Mount Street in the 1930s. A gymnasium in Garden Street opened in 1970. The college also possessed extensive playing fields one mile (1½ km) south of the college, to which boys walked via the Old Tram Road, a disused tramway.
The introduction of comprehensive schools in Lancashire forced the school, which had become a direct grant grammar school, to stop admitting under-16 pupils from 1978. In that year, its sixth form merged with the sixth forms of the other two Catholic direct grant grammar schools in Preston, namely Winckley Square Convent School and Larkhill Convent Grammar School, to form Newman College. Initially both Winckley Square sites continued to be used, but by 1986 the new college was concentrated at the Larkhill site.Garlington, pp.76–77Sartin, p.42
Some of the Mount Street buildings have been demolished, most recently the gymnasium in 2021 after a decade of disuse. The buildings on Winckley Square are used as offices. However the playing fields are still used by Newman College. A blue plaque commemorates the college at its original entrance, number 34. Another blue plaque outside number 28 records its former use as the home of the suffragette Edith Rigby.
In 2010, the school was sued by a former pupil over allegations of abuse. The Jesuits were held liable for the abuse by Fr Michael Spencer and the claimant was awarded £55,000 damages. Other contemporaries have also brought sex abuse claims against the Jesuits.
Notable alumni Mark Lawrenson, television football pundit; Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company 2012–2022;"Gregory Doran" in A Dictionary of the RSC by Simon Trowbridge, accessed 27 November 2007"Othello: The Director" on the RSC website, accessed 27 November 2007 Joseph Delaney, author of the Spook's series;"Joseph Delaney" , Preston City Council website, accessed 24 October 2009 Leo Baxendale, cartoonist, creator of The Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx;Baxendale, Leo (1989), On Comedy: The "Beano" and Ideology, Reaper Books, extract on line accessed 10 June 2012 Patrick Kelly, archbishop of Liverpool 1996–2013;Elson, P (2009), "Archbishop Patrick Kelly reflects on 25 years of sweeping change", Liverpool Daily Post, retrieved 6 May 2009 Michael Carr, Liberal Democrat MP for Ribble Valley 1991–92.The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983, revised and updated edition, Times Books, 1984, p. 191. George Robinson, a former first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University in 1970 and 1971.Wisden 1972, p. 353.
Notable staff 1950s footballer Eddy Brown, after his retirement from the game"The Big Interview: Eddy Brown", Lancashire Evening Post, Preston, 14 July 2003, accessed 13 July 2007 Jesuit hymnwriter James Quinn, Classics Master, 1944–1948James Quinn, The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, Canterbury Press, accessed 15 August 2015 Mersey poet Adrian Henri, who taught art 1956–57Adrian Henri Biography Chronology 1932–1959 , accessed 2 August 2016Bowen, Phil (2008), A Gallery to Play to: The Story of the Mersey Poets, Oxford University Press, , p.30 Fred Dewhurst, footballer who played for Preston North End (1882–1890) and England (1886–1889)
References Notes
Sources Garlington, J. (1995, new edition 2006), Images of England: Preston, Nonsuch Publishing, Stroud, Sartin, S. (2002), Preston in Focus, Landy Publishing, Blackpool,