The 'Hengist' Building at Oughtibridge J & I School

Image: © Terry Robinson Taken: 30 Mar 2008

Why 'Hengist' ... nobody seems to know! This 'extra' classroom was built in the early 1960's when the main school building was still situated off Church Street. My wife remembers it being 'her classroom' at that time but doesn't know anything else about it. Still in use in 2008 as part of the 'newer' school off Naylor Road. Update in June 2020 Following some research it has now been established that this building was erected in the late 1950s - certainly appears on a OS map dated 1959. It was erected to give additional classroom space for the, then, existing Oughtibridge J & I School, which was struggling to cope with the growing population of Oughtibridge. At this time there were already plans to replace the existing school with a new building on nearby land. The ‘Hengist’ building was therefore sited in the new location so that it would remain within the new school boundary. It is named ‘Hengist’ as it was a more modern version of the HORSA Huts which were introduced as a ‘stop gap’ solution to accommodate the ‘extra’ pupils created by ROSLA in 1947, when the school leaving age was raised to 15 years. HORSA meaning Hutting Operation for the Raising of the School leaving Age. Why Hengist? Well, Hengist and Horsa are legendary brothers who led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th Century. Many things have been named after the brothers ... probably the most famous being WW2 Gliders. Horsa Gliders were notably used in the Battle for the Pegasus Bridge in Normandy. Stena named two ferries after the brothers.

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