Within the school archives there is a huge collection of photos and Foundation Archivist, Janette Ratcliffe, never misses an opportunity to share the treasures within her care. Last week saw a series of Twitter posts by Janette on the theme of nature for Mental Health Awareness Week and we enjoyed comparing the then and now images of some of the College’s most iconic natural settings.

Some of the old photos were from a St Mary’s Priory’s prospectus from the 1920s and they included a picture of pupils amongst the trees on the Lime Walk, originally planted in the 1840s, a photo of Switzerland, the lake that was formed when clay was dug out to build St Mary's Priory, and an old image of The Plantation, what we now know as the Mile Walk. There was also an old photo of the Quad from when it was part of St Mary’s Priory’s enclosure.

The then and now photos show just how little the campus grounds have changed over the years and are sure to be fascinating to all Old Princethorpians.

If you are interested you can explore the 11,000 items in archive collection further here: https://archives.princethorpe.co.uk/, or receive regular updates, including lots of old photos, by following Janette’s Twitter feed @PFdn_Archives

The archive reference for the prospectus is SMP.26.6a.