Anger at plans to demolish Princess Diana's former school

The former Silfield School in the Gaywood suburb of King's Lynn, where the Norfolk-born royal began her formal education, is at risk of being bulldozed by developers Aspire LLP.

Planning permission has been granted for six houses on the site but it has been reported that the company now intends to build a 70-bed care home instead.

Princess Diana at the opening of the Splash leisure centre in Sheringham in 1988 (Image: free)

With the threat of the century-old building being turned into rubble, The King's Lynn Civic Society are attempting to persuade Historic England to grant the Gayton Road property listed status to save it and fear if it goes ahead a piece of the town's history will be lost.

Alison Gifford, chairman of the group, said: "We are convinced of its importance as an example of an architectural style not represented elsewhere in the town in such an elegant form.

Princess Diana during a visit to Riddlesworth hall School in April 1989 (Image: Archant Library)

"When these lovely suburban villas are demolished for multiple units of inferior housing part of our history is lost. The pleasant and well-designed becomes mundane. You see it everywhere. It's symbolic of modern life. 

"We are all poorer for this downgrading of our buildings."

Princess Diana in Norwich in the 1990s

A ROYAL EDUCATION

Diana, Princess of Wales, who was born on the Sandringham Estate, attended Silfield Private School in 1968 and stayed there for two years.

Princess Diana with her guinea pig Peanut in 1972 (Image: Archant)

It was where she began her formal education, a time during which her parents divorced.

She later left the school in 1970 to study at Riddlesworth Hall Preparatory School in southwest Norfolk which last year went on sale for £3m. 

Riddlesworth Hall School where Princess Diana spent some of her childhood. School Speech Day, including a young Princess Diana (pictured looking at the camera)

Silfield School remained in operation until 2004.

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Silfield House in Gayton Road, Gaywood (Image: King's Lynn Civic Society)

"DEMOLISHING HISTORY"

Aspire LLP has applied to West Norfolk Council to seek prior approval to demolish Silfield House.

It follows a bid to build six houses on the plot, which was approved in 2018.

But Aspire LLP, a specialist care home developer, have different plans for the site and hope to build a 70-bed care home.

A spokesman told the Daily Mail: "There is currently a shortfall of care home bed spaces for the elderly across the borough.

'The site is in a highly sustainable location in close proximity to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and provides an opportunity to meet a demonstrable need and deliver a much-needed community asset."

Alison Gifford, chairman of King's Lynn Civic Society

Ms Gifford believes the decision to demolish the building should be viewed amid a wider neglect of historic buildings in King's Lynn, such as the Carnegie Library - built in 1905 - which is to be abandoned for a new modern library in the city, and the Old Post Office which has been left to decay.

A HISTORY OF SILFIELD HOUSE

Silfield House was built in 1921 by members of the Jermyn family, who once ran the main high street department store in King's Lynn.

It was one of the earliest private properties to be built in the growing suburb of Gaywood in Gayton Road - one of the main routes into King's Lynn and what was once an exclusive area lined with several prominent buildings along the thoroughfare.

The Majestic Cinema in King's Lynn (Image: Chris Bishop)

It was designed by architects John Laurie Carnell and William Dymoke White, who also designed the Majestic Cinema in the centre of the town.