Verdin County Grammer School - Winsford

History

Verdin County Grammar School in Winsford was founded in 1895, financed by Sir Joseph Verdin, 1st Baronet, and his brothers, wealthy salt manufacturers who redirected surplus assets from the Verdin Trust, originally set up to cover brine subsidence damage but made redundant by the Brine Pumping (Compensation for Subsidence) Act 1891. Designed by the Manchester architects Woodhouse & Willoughby and built by James Fowles & Sons at a cost of around £9,000, the foundation stone was laid on 4 August 1894 and the official opening took place on 8 August 1895, attended by the Duke and Duchess of Westminster. The building, in Netherlandish Renaissance style, features red Flemish-bond brick, ashlar dressings, terracotta ornamentation, shaped gables, winged-lion finials, and stained glass, earning it Grade II listed status in 1986. At its opening it accommodated 43 pupils and incorporated classrooms, a gymnasium, art and science rooms, a chemical laboratory, and a laundry training facility, combining both academic and practical instruction; it also operated evening classes, a day school, and specialist training under one roof. The school underwent a series of renamings: Verdin Higher Elementary School (1906), Verdin County School (1925), and Verdin County Grammar School (1935), before becoming Verdin County Comprehensive School and later Verdin County High School in the 1970s. Following local educational reorganisation, it became part of Mid Cheshire College as the Verdin Centre, and in 1991 the site was converted into the Verdin Exchange, a business start-up hub that preserved much of the upper-floor architecture while modernising the ground floor for offices. The Exchange closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the building has remained vacant since, standing today as both a landmark of Winsford’s civic and educational history and a testament to the philanthropy of the Verdin family.