Wycombe High School Centre for the History of Girls' State Education
Listed by Rachel Kneale
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Wycombe High School Centre for the History of Girl's State Education is the most complete archive for a girls' state school in the UK
Click here to visit The Archive
The collection contains a huge variety of types of record. These include books, administrative records, such as minutes, reports and correspondence, financial records, student records, records relating to the school curriculum, records relating to extra-
curricular activities, photographs, audio-visual material, articles of clothing and other artefacts.
Wycombe High School moved from Benjamin Road to its current site on Marlow Hill in 1956. The 'new school' was formally opened on 14 November 1956 by Princess Marina, the Duchess of Kent. The headmistress at the time was Miss Anne Downs. You can hear a 40 minute recording of the opening ceremony here. You may be intrigued to hear the view of the Duchess of Kent on the role of young women in society; a sentiment with which we certainly do not agree. We apologise for the poor sound quality. Click here to hear the recording (30MB).