Place Names of Calne: The John Bentley School, Bentley Grove, Bentley Lane, Bentley Woods

The John Bentley School, Bentley Grove, and Bentley Woods are all named for John Bentley (d.1660 at the age of 65), who gave "Fickett's or Fitchett's Fields" adjoining Lincolns Inn, London, for the erection and maintenance of a school in his will, dated 29 September 1660[1].

John Bentley School
John Bentley, husband of Ellenor[2], who had passed three years prior, was from Richmond, Surrey, a business man and justice of the peace. Bentley had offered to build Christ's School, Richmond on Thames, in 1658 at his own expense. This school wasn't established until 1713 and by subscription, which leads me to think that with Bentley dying two years later, his money was not used towards that school.

There is no evidence that Bentley ever came to Calne himself, however three of the (seven) trustees (Peneyer, and 2 Webbs) of his will had associations with Calne[3]. So, even with no written record as to why, the Calne Free Grammar School began in a newly built house on The Green and continued there until 1833. Beginning as an English school, Latin and Greek were later added to the curriculum.

New buildings were opened in 1833, with fees being introduced in 1836 as the incomes could not provide an able master for the school. Classics were abandonned by the 1840s. Fees became too high and grants from the Treasury ceased in 1861. Towards the end of the century, along with the middle school subjects, science and commercial subjects were included, an attempt as modernisation by the Charity Commission. In 1901, the school amalgamated with the Technical Institute, which had been established in 1894.

Girls were allowed from 1903 and occupied a seperate house until, in 1909, co-education was established, with new buildings erected around the same time, using the buildings on The Green as a nucleus - the original house had been demolished in 1842. In 1946 Wiltshire County Council bought a site for a new school, with the school operating there from 1957/1959 (depending on source).

1974 saw the merger of the school with Fynamore school (known as north wing), which had building in Silver Street. This became known as the John Bentley Comprehensive School and later the John Bentley School[4]. In 1998 the old Fynamore School (North Wing) was sold and the current site expanded to make room for all the students on a single site.

As of 2019, there are talks of changing the name of the school due to the school becoming part of the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust[5].



School Names:
1663 - Calne Free Grammar School
1901 - Calne County School - later Calne county secondary school
1957 - by this time Bentley grammar school
1974 - John Bentley comprehensive school - later the John Bentley school
2019 - From September 2019 the school will be known as Kingsbury Green Academy[7]

Pupil Numbers:
1664 - 30
1891 - 20
1902 - 30
1934 - 126
1955 - 227
1999 - 1128
2018 - 811
2019 - 787

For a fuller account of the school, see Marsh's history of Calne.

Bentley Grove

Houses at Bentley Grove

Date stone on some houses at Bentley Grove.

Bentley Grove is a group of 16 houses, built off Anchor Road by the council in the 1920s[6]. c. 2007, after aquiring the land from developer Syms and Sons, Hannick Homes demolished two detached houses and constructed ten new dwellings, a terrace of six, and two lots of semi-detached houses, This developement, with houses designed by Peter Kent Architects of Potterne, faced fierce opposition from locals, who were understandably upset when a Hannick Home representative stated: "Without wishing to be contentious, Bentley Grove is not an outstanding or remarkable area in Calne.". It was proposed at a council meeting that the new houses take on a separate name that would reflect the relationship with twin town, Eningen, Germany, however it was unanimously resolved that the ten new dwellings continue the name and numbering of Bentley Grove.

Bentley Lane and Bentley Woods
Bentley Lane is a short lane that runs from Wessington Avenue to White Horse Way, primarily as pedestrian access and presumably named because it provides easy access to the school.
Bentley Woods is the informal name given to the woodland opposite and is the named used by the pupils that use the lane to get to John Bentley School. The official name for the woods is Quemerford Lodge Plantation.

 

To discover more about the place names of Calne, buy the book:

References:
[1] Frank, R., 2007. London/Wales. Göttingen.
[2] Richmond Parish Church monuments - Bob Speel's website. 2019. Richmond Parish Church monuments - Bob Speel's website. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.speel.me.uk/chlondon/richmondch.htm. [Accessed 31 January 2019].
[3] The John Bentley School. 2019. The John Bentley School - School History. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.johnbentleyschool.com/page/?title=School+History&pid=47. [Accessed 31 January 2019].
[4] Calne: Education | British History Online. 2019. Calne: Education | British History Online. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol17/pp111-114. [Accessed 31 January 2019].
[5] https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/17398898.the-john-bentley-school-to-close-july-and-re-open-in-september-with-a-new-name-and-identity/ 
[6] Calne: The town in the 20th century | British History Online. 2019. Calne: The town in the 20th century | British History Online. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol17/pp44-51. [Accessed 31 January 2019].
[7] The John Bentley School - Calne's New School Name | Facebook. 2019. The John Bentley School - Calne's New School Name | Facebook. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/johnbentleyschool/videos/2224423017779600/?__xts__[0]=68.ARCTBVYREjkgGWMf04W1LqhtBv8DigvoWR4cdwMKatgGJXqQfe4Svi5yRBb7zShPJLTCErs16TIk7dqfObDaZDl9DkMFuT7uNpMK0bzqVYJg5Wq0ZQc_2JDOO7T2hwgu4OwNenhB-Lpt78tYTWtDugCXmX2lrKk--4CjKX8nwVYwNTWEXgBG_mcwR2EEHNv94_8KWjwpDrGEYIWyqUu9x2KsIYm8i6D9QOkjrbI6wIJINXF-a7VL5Y6qpxp5xkVigjSL56FG9KVfx4UZTnWyYzhvRIGbSyopN6gzdJs8UgvdvHPfMEFAC5PzdcIMTyyjDerI6qkF8k5_7h-MlPaqG-HrmvVAKUDnwbB3kh1PAxL-l6jnm7uj9Z0DDtxRUHfS4E1_m1LNrrLtdgdUEnZYwmx9EONfGCbMzHbiStiKGlAQ4KPfBYoSaoADCpLoNBITeLZTyyhMbZXSV68G5XeLpROmlb29XHWmRc25xdkP_KLIjgr616VJ39gNz3XvJeKNfw&__tn__=H-R. [Accessed 14 February 2019].