The Wembdon Road Senior School, Westover School, was completed in 1937, and initially took some 600 pupils, rising to over 900 by 1955. It closed as a senior school in 1978, and the buildings were taken over by Friarn, at which point it became a junior school. This building was demolished in the early 2000s, and a new school built on the former playground. The frontage along the Wembdon Road was developed into housing. Before the school, the site had previously been a nursery with a series of greenhouses.
The buildings representing an interesting inter-war neoclassical style, with bright open rooms and broad windows for good ventilation. They were held with some pride by the borough, appearing in several Town Guides. The plaque on the left of the door in the above photograph read: ‘Borough of Bridgwater / this stone was laid by / Alderman S. Berry J. P. / Chairman of the Education Committee’ With five more lines below dedicated to the committee. The plaque on the right of the door read: ‘This School was opened by / the right honourable / Oliver Stanley M.C. M.P. / president of the Board of Edicuation / on February 12th 1937’.
Sources
Robert Dunning, Bridgwater History and Guide (Sutton, Stroud, 1992)
MKP