Call on 400 staff to vote for historic school

Hundreds of staff at South Norfolk Council have been asked to join the residents of a village and make a big television vote to restore a crumbling 600-year-old school.

BBC 2's popular Restoration programme, presented by Griff Rhys Jones, will next month feature Pennoyer's school at the heart of Pulham St Mary, which closed in 1988 and is now on the council's Buildings at Risk register.

John Halliday, whose children were pupils at the school, is passionate about saving it. He has now made a direct appeal to the more than 400 staff of South Norfolk Council to vote for the school when the phone poll lines open from midnight on Thursday 10 August.

"Restoration Village" is aired on Friday 11 August at 9pm on BBC 2.

John, a district councillor representing Beck Vale, which includes Pulham St Mary and Pulham Market, said: "If everyone who works at South Norfolk Council could vote for Pennoyer's school, it would be a big boost.

"The truth is, we will also need a lot more. And my appeal goes out to everyone in Norfolk, and the rest of East Anglia. We are up against two other projects both in the Midlands, and they have the population muscle to squeeze us out.

"To vote for the Pennoyer's restoration, please call the Restoration Village telephone number 09013 600500. The line opens at midnight on Thursday 10 August and closes on Wednesday 16 August. It only costs £1, at least 77p of that will go to the Restoration Fund."

The building's crumbling and neglected facade hides its huge historical and architectural importance. Part of it is the chapel of the Guild of St James, built in 1401. It is probably the only free-standing Guild chapel in Norfolk.

The school was subsequently endowed in 1670 by William Pennoyer who also endowed what became the University of Harvard, where there is still a Pennoyer Scholarship, the oldest hereditary scholarship in the United States.

Said Councillor Halliday:

"There are exciting plans to restore this building to become a village centre, fulfilling the functions not only of a village hall but also a meeting place for businesses and other organisations, a hi-tech centre for life-long learning and further education and much more.

“William Pennoyer would have been saddened by the state of the buildings today, but equally, as a wealthy Puritan, he would have been very supportive of the plans for its restoration."

The school will be up against two other buildings, both in the Midlands, and if successful, it will go forward into the Restoration final. The series winner will receive funding for their restoration based on telephone voting by viewers

He added:

"Pennoyer's is the only East Anglian project in the series, so it is vital that we get as many people from Norfolk, East Anglia and beyond to register their support.

"With everyone's help this exciting development will ensure that this building's 600-year history will continue into the 21st century and serve the modern needs of people in the area."

Graham King, Secretary to the charity that owns the school said:

“We are enormously grateful to SNDC’s conservation department for seizing the opportunity to recommend Pennoyer’s to the BBC. Inclusion in the Restoration Village series gives an incredible boost to the project.

“This really is our last chance to save Pennoyer’s School, not only to restore the building, but also to restore a tradition of which the village is rightly proud.”

To contact the team or to find out more about the Pennoyer’s project, go to www.pennoyers.org.uk.

Web links

• Pennoyer's Project

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