Yet more of Borehamwood's past was left to the mercy of bulldozers this week, as the town's oldest state school was finally demolished.

Furzehill School, which shut in 2001, will be remembered to many as the phoenix that rose from the ashes of a devastating fire in 1949. A phoenix, the mythological bird that rises from the dead, became the school crest.

The original brick building opened in 1912, educating 213 of the town's children from seven to 13 years of age.

The 1950s pre-fab buildings in Furzehill Road, Borehamwood were torn down this week to make room for a housing estate and community centre.

The school, which was a middle school from 1971, was closed five years ago as a result of the reorganisation into a two-tier primary and secondary system.

Jean Metcalfe, 72, of Drayton Road, Borehamwood watched the original brick school burn down, alongside many shocked residents, just a few years after she was herself a pupil in the early 1940s.

She said the closure of the town-centre middle schools in 2001, Campions, Hillside and Furzehill, had changed the community.

"It's another part of Borehamwood just gone," she said.

"It's very sad because all the schools we are losing yet we're building more houses. It doesn't make sense."

But she had some fond memories of her wartime school days.

"A lot of our time was spent in the corridors with the sand bags when the air raid sirens went off," she recalled.

"And I remember the headmaster Mr Jepps read us excerpts from Wind in the Willows."

Thankfully, a wealth of information about the school including some cinefilm footage from the 1950s and of the 1949 fire is in the hands of Elstree and Boreham Wood Museum.

The museum also has footage of the last open day at the school, on Saturday July 14, 2001, including interviews with the last two headteachers, Phil Fryer (1988 to 2001) and John Holland (1957 to 1988).

But sadly, another piece of history will also be destroyed with the building an oak tree, which was planted in the school grounds in memory of a popular caretaker.

Ted Parsons, who died in 1978, three years after retiring, was awarded an MBE for his 40 years' dedication to the school.


Anyone who wishes to view video footage of the school is asked to contact the museum in advance on 020 8953 1258 to arrange a time to visit.