And The Wall Comes Tumbling Down

(Article extracted from The Old Bostonian, August 1998 edition)

(Photograph by Peter Swift)

No, this isn't Jerico, or the set of a Pink Floyd movie - this is the wall in the Grammar School yard. It is not wanton destruction by students wanting to escape, or collapse due to decay and old age. The wall is being lovingly taken down and rebuilt, section by section, to ensure that either scenario doesn't happen for a few hundred more years. The tree has played its part by undermining the wall and has now been removed.

During the renovation work local archaeologists are investigating the wall, and are turning up some interesting finds. Stone window frames have been found in the lower parts of the wall, most probably from the old Greyfriars monastic building which stood in the vicinity in Mediaeval times. Unfortunately, some of the original limestone at the base is way past its best, and crumbles away when removed.

The wall on the left of the picture has already been rebuilt, and to the right stands the original wall.

The wall has had many uses for pupils over the years. Early forms of graffiti exist, where they haven't been scraped off by later pupils (some form of detention punishment, no doubt). Someone has spent many, many hours turning a coin against the brickwork to form hemispherical indentations over an inch (2.56 cm) deep in places. That lad must have been seriously bored or in some way obsessive! In latter days, the wall was used for football (not the goal though) - if a tennis ball (which was all that was allowed) hit the wall, it could be picked up and thrown.

If you have any memories/stories of the wall, or if you were (or knew) the person who turned the coin holes, email the address below.

See also Thro' The Wall - A story of great teamwork, or terrible vandalism?