Skegness Magazine

History of the Magdalen College School Wainfleet Lincolnshire

Bishop William Waynflete

The Magdalen College Wainfleet was built in 1484 and was founded by Bishop William Waynflete, son of Richard Pattin and Margery Bereton. Waynflete, b1395 d1486, adopted the name of the town, Wainfleet in which he was born. The portrait of Bishop William Waynflete (above) was created in 1638 by Richard Greenbury.

Early History

The school was originally designed for seven pupils and the first known schoolmaster was John Marshall who held the post from1466 until 1469. Throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, various schoolmasters were named in school documents. Rev William Gerrish succeeded Rev Henry Valentine as Schoolmaster at Magdalen College in 1877. Gerrish was likened to William Waynflete. He was a man greatly respected, holding his term of office for forty-six years. His pupil and apprentice was schoolmistress, Miss Florence Lucas, who was in her 20s when the portrait, right, was created.

Decline in Pupils

The school was struggling during the early 1900s, with just eighteen pupils, possibly because there was little demand for grammar school education in a farming village at that time. Rev William Gerrish died in 1923, and was succeeded by Mr Kenneth Gordon Spendlove. The Magdalen College ceased to operate in 1933, when the Skegness Grammar School opened, due to the fact that Skegness, now in its hey-day as a seaside resort, was more convenient geographically. The picture left shows the whole school of 1933, just before closure. The building stood empty for a while until 1939 when it became a youth hostel.

Click the picture to enlarge.

During the Second World War, it was used as a class-room for evacuees and a military billet, and narrowly missed by bombs in November 1940.

In 1951, the building became a mixed secondary modern school until the new Wainfleet Magdalen School was opened in November 1966. Two years later the medieval building became a public library and later, a museum was installed on the top floor.

Wainfleet Magdalen Museum

The Wainfleet Magdalen Museum is well worth a visit. It is crammed with exhibits, Wainfleet memorabilia, old cooking utensils, farming implements, old photographs, war memorabilia, a Victorian school room and bedroom and of course old school ties and badges from the Magdalen College (see our photo right). And who knows – you may catch a glimpse of the Wainfleet Magdalen College Ghost…

We will be adding a gallery of some of the museum’s exhibits shortly.

Wainfleet Magdalen College Quincentenery

In 1984, the Wainfleet Magdalen College celebrated its 500th anniversary. Former pupils of the college gathered for a service and celebrations. A Special Commemorative Cover bearing postage stamps with the Magdalen College Coat of Arms and a special commemorative frank. Former Magdalen College scholar, Mr Bert Crawshaw, who is pictured in the full school photo above, has presented us with his original Special Commemorative Cover which he received whilst attending the quincentenary celebrations. We have scanned the document for you to examine (above). Mr Crawshaw has also presented us with a copy of the original quincentenary book. Special thanks to Mr Bert Crawshaw.