University Academy, Little London, Long Sutton, South Holland, Lincolnshire: Historic Building Survey

The photographic survey took place during the autumn half-term holiday. Photography was undertaken in digital colour photography (using a 10.4 Mpixel format). Photography was undertaken of the school buildings to create an initial archive and included general shots of the site and detailed photography of room arrangement; main elevations and constructional details such as window openings, and fixtures and fittings, such as doors and window fenestration. Weather conditions were mixed on both days of recording, with occasional sunny intervals. Low light levels necessitated the use of flash in all interior situations and included some fill-in flash to penetrate the shadows in the exterior shots. The photographs were further supplemented by Room-based record sheets and Brickwork recording sheets. The original school, designed by Sir Anthony Wakefield Cox (an architect associated with many schools of this style in the mid-20th century), opened in 1959 as the Peele County Secondary School. It was built as part of the post-war ROSLA (Raising Of the School Leaving Age) scheme: it is typical of the new-build schools produced to centralised specifications in response to the needs of the period, when a substantial increase in education capacity had to be delivered rapidly and cheaply while taking the least possible amount of construction manpower from other projects. The Sports Hall, Block E and the southern part of Block D were added in 1970, part of a second wave of nationwide ROSLA development. Block D and the exterior of part of Block C were refurbished in 2021-22. University Academy, Long Sutton can be viewed as a typical example of a secondary school built in ROSLA architecture and retaining some of its original appearance: the school buildings represent the development of state secondary education in the mid- and late 20th century. Despite subsequent extensive refurbishment and repair the buildings remain readable: they retain some aspects of their original exterior design and much of their internal arrangement, although modernisation has resulted in the loss of much interior detail, with few surviving original fixtures and fittings.