St Leonard's

St Leonard’s Catholic School (Central, Modern & Comprehensive!)

Springwell Hall was purchased by the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in 1935 at a cost of £8,000. Canon Robert Thornton, long-time parish priest of St Godric’s, was instrumental in acquiring the site, and personally paid £4,000 towards the cost of the school. On 26th August 1936, Springwell Hall became the home to St Leonard’s Catholic Central School.

When the school opened a hall had been added that joined Springwell Hall to the east, and the plans for the school below show the layout, much of it similar to the current use of Springwell Hall as part of St Leonard’s today. The Hall (marked H) was a single story building, which was demolised to build the expanding school in the 1960s.

The 1938 Ordnance Survey map shows buildings adjoining Springwell Hall to the east. These buildings would have been replaced by the school extension in the early 1960s.

The account of the school opening was covered in the Durham Advertiser:

1940s & 1950s

Mr Mukerrin was the second Headteacher at St Leonard’s and took up post in Easter 1943. At this time it was a very small school with only four members of staff – Miss Cullen, Miss Kenny (who taught domestic science), Miss [L] Burns and Mrs Gill. Mr George Phillipson was in the forces but returned to the school after the war as deputy head and took over as Headteacher when Mr Mukerrin died in 1962.

The photo below shows a school trip to Lourdes in 1960. The Headteacher, Mr Mukerrin, is the one crouching lower right. The trip went by coach to Southend, then flew (in a chartered Dakota) to Paris Le Bourget, spent a day or two sightseeing in Paris (where the photo was taken), then took the train to Lourdes.

A Growing School

In the early 1960s the range of current buildings, including the Main Hall, to the east of Springwell Hall were completed. These replaced the single story hall that was completed when the school was opened in 1936. By the time of this photo in 1963, Mr Philipson was Headteacher of St Leonard’s, the third teacher to hold the post.

Changes in the educational system over the years meant that the school later became St Leonard’s Modern School and then in September 1970, it changed status again to become St Leonard’s Comprehensive School. By this stage the school had undertaken two significant building phases, the first phase being the buildings to the east of Springwell Hall (including the Main Hall) and by 1970 the range of buildings previously adjoining the west of Springwell Hall had been completed. These are the buildings that were found to contain RAAC in 2023 and which have subsequently been demolished.

You can see the completed 1970s St Leonard’s in these Cine Clips.

In April 2020 the school became a part of the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust. The school is currently being re-built and Springwell Hall will be fully re-furbished as part of the current work and will provide a library and seminar rooms alongside a separate visitor entrance. The 1960s buildings to the east of Springwell Hall will be demolished in 2026 and the view of Springwell Hall from North Road will be restored for the first time since it was a family residence in 1935.

The name of the school is now simply: St Leonard’s Catholic school.