Cormont Road School, standing empty and decaying, is seriously at risk of further deterioration if immediate action is not taken to make the building weathertight. 

Cormont Road School is Grade II listed and has been on the Historic England at Risk Register since 2016. In the 2023 Register, it was noted as being in a 'Very Bad' condition.

It has now joined the Victorian Society list of the UK's Top Ten most Endangered Buildings.

A survey commissioned by London Borough of Lambeth in March 2016 identified that water ingress had caused significant internal damage and urgent work was needed to make the building weathertight. But no action has been taken. It is now critical that work is done urgently and that a new use for the building is identified before the structure deteriorates further.

We call on Lambeth Council, owners of Cormont Road School, to:

• Immediately undertake works to make the building weathertight. Works were scheduled to take place in 2023 and have not happened.
• Commission and carry out a full condition survey so that other urgent repair works can be identified and carried out.
• Seriously engage with the local community and other stakeholders so that a sustainable future of the building can be found.

About Cormont Road School

The Cormont Road School has a significant history, not least as the place where thousands of local children have been educated. The school first opened in 1898. It has been a junior school, Kennington Boys and in 2012, the last pupils sat in the classrooms and walked the corridors when the final occupants, St Gabriel's Girls School, relocated to a new site. 

The School is an integral part of the Minet Estate, comprehensively planned and developed by the Minet family to provide a mix of residential types and a range of community amenities. It sits alongside Grade II listed St Gabriel's College (formerly a teacher training college and now flats) and overlooks Grade II listed Myatt's Fields Park.

Professor Andrew Saint, Editor of the Survey of London, who has written extensively on Board Schools states: 

"The twin pepper-potted towers of Cormont Road School, built to the designs of T. J. Bailey, architect to the School Board for London, enliven the repose of Myatts Fields and must at all costs be retained." 

Cormont Road School also holds national significance. The building was requisitioned by the military wing of St Bart's Hospital in 1914, along with the adjacent St Gabriel's Teacher Training College. The two buildings became the 1st London General Hospital, treating thousands of wounded soldiers throughout World War 1. The need was so great, the hospital also took over Myatt's Fields Park opposite, as the demand for bed space for the wounded outstripped the space available in the school and college buildings.

Author, Vera Brittain, was one of the many nurses who cared for the wounded and dying at the hospital. Like many women, Vera felt compelled to volunteer as her brother and his friends headed to the front. Being at the 1st London General Hospital was Vera's first nursing experience.   It was while at the Hospital that her fiancé was killed. Her poem A Military Hospital was written about the 1st London General Hospital in 1916.

Those early months of the war shaped Vera's life for ever. She went on to join military hospitals in France and after the war became a leading pacifist. Vera's book Testament of Youth, first published in 1933, was based on her experiences throughout the war. It has been read by millions of people around the world.

Vera Brittain with her younger brother Edward. He was brought injured from fighting at the Somme and treated at Cormont Road School. Vera was working there at the time and rushed to see him. Photos of Vera Brittain by permission of the Principal and Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford and the Vera Brittain Estate.

It is vital that urgent action is taken now, to save this historic building and find a future sustainable use.