Greenrow Academy - 1

Greenrow Academy was founded in 1780 by John Drape. It stood between Bliterlees and Silloth on the site of what is now Stanwix Holiday Village. John Drape came from the West Cumberland port of Whitehaven, where his father, another John, ran a Mathematical School, publishing two books on the subject during the mid 1700s.

John Drape died in 1795 and was succeeded as headmaster by Joseph Saul, a member of a prominent local Quaker family. He ran the school for almost fifty years during which time it attracted pupils from all parts of the British Isles and some from overseas. It is said that, by 1811, there were 135 boys on the register.

A pupil's sketch of the school's interior
(Carlisle Library collection)

A wide range of subjects were taught, these included: English, Latin, Greek, French and Spanish as well as Drawing, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Navigation, Geography, Scripture and Astronomy. The fees were 25 guineas per year.

Joseph Saul died in 1842. His memorial, in Holm Cultram Church, says ‘he imparted to thousands the benefits of a sound education and set before them a constant example of equanimity, integrity and love of truth’.

Joseph Saul from his memorial

Following Joseph Saul’s death, the school was taken over by his son, John. When John died, in 1853, Isaac Drape, a grandson of the founder, became headmaster.

During Isaac Drape’s headship, the boys were taught drawing by Matthew Ellis Nutter (1795-1862), an artist of some note. He came from Carlisle where, for many years, he lectured at the Academy of Art. In later life, he suffered from ill health and had retired to the coast on the advice of his doctor. Many of his paintings can be seen at the Tullie House Galleries in his home town.

Isaac Drape died in December, 1870. On June 9 1871, the Carlisle Journal contained a large advertisement for the academy’s ‘Closing Down Sale’; the entire contents were to be sold by auction on the premises. They included “35 excellent feather beds, 40 wood and iron bedsteads, a number of chemical, astronomical and other scientific apparatus, school desks, maps, globes, kitchen requisites, a pony gig and harness, brass stair rods, a combined washing, wringing and mangling machine, sacks of oats and a quantity of poultry.”

The school building then stood empty for seventeen years. In 1888, it was being used as accommodation for the ‘Carlisle Poor Children’s Holiday’ a venture sponsored by a number of philanthropic citizens of that city. A market garden and nursery were established in the grounds.

On August 31^st 1888, the buildings and land were offered for sale by auction in The Queens Hotel, Silloth. They were purchased for £2,190 by Joseph Wood, the proprietor of Wood’s Bazaar on Silloth sea front who continued to live there until his death in 1932. The house was then converted into cottages and was finally demolished in the 1960s to make way for a car park and the Sunset Inn.