#Trinity60‍

SOME sixty pupils, the staff, several Old Boys, and the Governors assembled at the site of the new School at Shirley Park on Monday. June 8th, to witness the laying of the Foundation Stone. The stone, laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Michael Ramsey, marked Ihe completion of the first stage of the new school, designed by Mr. George Lowe to accommodate 750 boys and built at a cost of £1,250,000.

Opening the ceremony, the chairman of the Governors, Alderman Sir James Marshall, said that he was aware of the sorrow that the move would cause to many, especially those educated in the present school buildings. "But", he continued, "it is the wind of change.

We feel it is in the interest of the boys to move from the busy heart of Croydon to these delightful surroundings, and we are sure the move will have happy conclusions." Sir James welcomed the Archbishop and thanked him for coming to the ceremony.

Before laying the stone, Dr. Ramsey thanked Sir James Marshall and went on, "This stone ceremony points both to the past and the future. To the past because Archbishop Whitgift was a great name in the history of Croydon and the country as a whole, because he served his church and his country. While he was a man immersed in great events and causes, he also showed great care for the individual. This was his motive behind the Whitgift Foundation.It is known of Archbishop Whitgift that he gave munificently to institutions of Croydon, and that he took a great personal interest in the scholars,

"This ceremony also points to the present day, and I feel it a great privilege to be laying the Foundation Stone. Masters and scholars alike will feel nostalgic, and well it is that this is so. Buildings have a spiritual and symbolic value to those who enjoy them,. But, we all have to look forwards to the future. This is a sign of our determination to take a firm hold of the values learnt in the past and to transplant them into the twentieth century—and let us remember that the younger members of the present company will also transplant them into the twenty-first century.

"We must always be looking ahead. Trinity School has fine traditions. Let it be a school very adventurous in the use of new methods —not only those that impart knowledge. Let it be a school that cares for Christian values, one that encourages its pupils to go out into the world and serve their fellows, encouraging a width of sympathy of human interests. Our hope is that, with the aid of the architect, the contractors and all who are making this building possible, the new school will be flourishing on this site in the autumn of 1965."

The Mayor, Councillor Keith Edwards, welcoming the Archbishop and Mrs. Ramsey to Croydon, said that the town had ancient associations with the Archbishops of Canterbury who, for a thousand years, had been Lords of the Manor. The original school buildings were opened in 1871 for three hundred scholars but by the next year new premises had to be acquired for more pupils. The school later moved to its present site in North End and in 1954 the name was changed from Whitgift Middle School to its present title. The Archbishop then laid the Foundation Stone and the ceremony closed with a service of dedication for the new buildings by Canon W. Warren Hunt, Vicar of Croydon.