Gleed Boys' School desk in Spalding's Ayscoughfee Hall Museum was nicknamed 'the detention desk'
An old school desk, found in the Geest Gallery at Spalding’s Ayscoughfee Hall Museum, may look like an ordinary piece of furniture - but it’s also known as ‘the detention desk’.
A reader who recognised it from the former Gleed Boys' School, got in touch with us to tell us about its nickname.
The table was made by George Wittington, the woodwork master at the school in the 1940s. It is carved with the school’s emblem and the arms of the four houses- Godric, Hatfield, Johnson and Willesby.
But for those who were late for school, it will be remembered for detention.
Former teacher Ron Holloway (94), who still lives in Spalding and taught metal work at the school from 1948-1980, said: “I remember it being just inside the hall on the left hand side. There was a mat that extended across the front of the hall entrance doors. It was known as ‘the late mate’ and the ‘miscreates’ stood on the mat to see the headmaster separately beside the desk.”
The Gleed Boys’ School was a secondary school for boys aged 11 to 16. It later merged with Gleed Girls’ Technology College to form the Sir John Gleed School and today is known as Spalding Academy.
According to Ron, the school also once had what he is convinced were original Leonardo Da Vinci drawings on the art room walls.
He said: “I told every art boy in the class not to miss out on looking at them because they would not have another chance to see a Da Vinci close up.”
He said they were embossed with a stamp from the Windsor Castle Library and recognised them straight away as Da Vinci’s work.
Ayscoughfee Museum in Churchgate was offered the ‘detention table’ when it was removed during renovation works at the school.
It takes three people to lift it so it is kept in the Geest Gallery and has a wooden cover to protect it.
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