Heritage Open Days at Greyfriars
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Joan Gurney reporting
Grey Friars was open to the public again this year on the Heritage Open Days of Sunday September 8th and Sunday September 15th.
There was an exhibition of the site’s social and architectural history between 10.30am and 4.00pm and guided walks (of approximately one hour) around the original site at 11am and 2pm each day, conducted by Alan Skinner and followed by a tour of the refurbished building by a member of the hotel staff.
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The exhibition (left) contained many photos, documents and artefacts including items found under the floorboards during the building’s transition from Colchester Adult Community College to Grey Friars Hotel. It was nearing the tenth anniversary of these Open Days at Grey Friars and Alan Skinner, the former Principal of the Adult Community
College, had revised and extended the exhibition to include a folder for each era of the site’s history from Roman times onwards and emphasising its links to education throughout the centuries. Amongst the visitors each year there are always CCHS alumnae, and the folder for that era was well thumbed!
The guided walks (right) which could be pre-booked, were once again well attended, and CCHS participants added little details of interest. There was much appreciation of the booklet which Alan Skinner had prepared, and distributed to all walkers before the tour began. His wife, Sylvia, who is also a well-known Town Guide, helped with the information.
Many more of those who came to Grey Friars on these days were men and women who had attended classes for adults
when it changed its role to Adult Education in 1965. They came with a sense of gratitude that this had been an establishment which, for nearly 40 years when it rose from a Senor Evening Institute to an Adult Community College, had given them an opportunity to study again, enjoy activities and gain qualifications which, perhaps, had not been open to them at school. For some, it changed their lives.
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The walkers were grateful that, although the skies threatened at times, the weather remained dry, and after the completion of each walk a guided tour, by a member of the hotel staff, took place showing how the building had been successfully and tastefully converted to a hotel, and bringing back memories of classrooms and blackboards to some, but typewriters and oil paints to others.
My duty was to look after the exhibition, answer questions and talk to visitors who came to view it, whilst the Guided Walks were taking place – and I had some interesting conversations. One lady was very interested in the 400 year old holm oak in the garden of Grey Friars and what an icon it was to CCHS Old Girls and later students of the Adult Community College. It had also been a popular nomination for impressive trees in Colchester and was mentioned in the award winners.
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Another lady complimented all those who had researched the history of the site, and suggested that it was everybody’s duty to make written memories of their past for the benefit of future generations and that the Grey Friars work was a model for others.
Hot on her heels came a CCHS Old Girl clutching the school reports of her mother (also an ex-pupil of CCHS from 1923) which were signed by the former Headmistress, Miss Crosthwaite (1913-1927) and wishing for them to be given to an organisation where they would be preserved as interesting documents from the past.
As the walkers returned from their exploration of the site and their tours of the building, there were many expressions of gratitude, either spoken or unspoken for the “Grey Friars Experience” and particular thanks went to Alan Skinner for his interest in recording the history of the site, his knowledgeable guided walks and his dedication to adult education during his years as Principal of the Adult Community College since 1981 to it closure in the early 2000s. There were also comments about how tastefully the building and its architecture had been restored in its transformation to a hotel, and obvious relief that it was still accessible to the public.
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​After a final cup of tea, or other refreshment, the Open Days eventually came to an end, and many satisfied people, some of whom had had their favourite happy memories (or even newly acquired knowledge of Grey Friars) enhanced by a few hours of bewitching nostalgia delivered so carefully, returned to their homes both near and far.