Ripley St Thomas Church Of England Academy

Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy is a mixed Church of England high school operating under academy status, in the city of Lancaster in the north-west of England. The school has around 1650 pupils between 11 and 18 years old, 350 of whom are part of the sixth form. HistoryThe school started life as Ripley Hospital, founded by Julia, wife of Thomas Ripley, a merchant who traded out of Lancaster and Liverpool. Thomas Ripley was born in Lancaster in 1791, and had been an apprentice to a grocer and linen draper. Since his mercantile career began later than 1807, there is no evidence to link Thomas Ripley with the slave trade. Indeed, much of his wealth stems from the fact that he was one of the first English merchants to embark on trade with China, and much of his subsequent trade was with the East Indies. As a devout Christian, he was keen to establish a charity hospital, modelled on the Liverpool Blue Coat School. Having no children, on his death in 1852 he left a considerable sum of money in trust to establish the Ripley Hospital to cater for fatherless children, especially those whose fathers had been lost at sea. On 3 November 1864, it was designated to educate an equal number of boys and girls - 300 in total - providing they lived within either 15mi of Lancaster Priory or 7mi of Liverpool Cathedral. The main school building, originally costing £30, 000, included a first-class gym, woodwork and metalwork rooms, a domestic school for girls, and heated swimming pool, four courts for playing fives and enough full-sized football pitches to allow 150 boys to play at the same time. A farm of some 40acre kept the school supplied with home produced meat, milk and poultry, and a vast kitchen garden gave a constant supply of fresh vegetables. This school was well in advance of its time. The farm won awards for the quality of its meat.

Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy is a mixed Church of England high school operating under academy status, in the city of Lancaster in the north-west of England. The school has around 1650 pupils between 11 and 18 years old, 350 of whom are part of the sixth form. HistoryThe school started life as Ripley Hospital, founded by Julia, wife of Thomas Ripley, a merchant who traded out of Lancaster and Liverpool. Thomas Ripley was born in Lancaster in 1791, and had been an apprentice to a grocer and linen draper. Since his mercantile career began later than 1807, there is no evidence to link Thomas Ripley with the slave trade. Indeed, much of his wealth stems from the fact that he was one of the first English merchants to embark on trade with China, and much of his subsequent trade was with the East Indies. As a devout Christian, he was keen to establish a charity hospital, modelled on the Liverpool Blue Coat School. Having no children, on his death in 1852 he left a considerable sum of money in trust to establish the Ripley Hospital to cater for fatherless children, especially those whose fathers had been lost at sea. On 3 November 1864, it was designated to educate an equal number of boys and girls - 300 in total - providing they lived within either 15mi of Lancaster Priory or 7mi of Liverpool Cathedral. The main school building, originally costing £30, 000, included a first-class gym, woodwork and metalwork rooms, a domestic school for girls, and heated swimming pool, four courts for playing fives and enough full-sized football pitches to allow 150 boys to play at the same time. A farm of some 40acre kept the school supplied with home produced meat, milk and poultry, and a vast kitchen garden gave a constant supply of fresh vegetables. This school was well in advance of its time. The farm won awards for the quality of its meat.