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Object No. 9 is one of a collection of local views printed and published by the Brecon County Times in 1871.
School House was less than ten years old when the photograph was taken. Built in 1864, its construction was an obvious outward sign that the school was thriving and preparing for the future.
When we think of School House now, we think of a House that is already more than 150 years old. A closer look at the building seen in 1871 reveals the crisp lines of freshly cut slate and newly dressed stone. Also visible is a gowned master, possibly the Headmaster, the Revd J D Williams, proudly showing the still very new building to visitors.
The sepia format, the visitors' clothing and the uncut grass all seem old-fashioned to the modern eye. We can see that it tells of an altogether different century and yet it seems very familiar.
The importance of Object 9 is that it reveals the emergence of a modern school from the school founded in 1541.
The College of Christ at Brecknock, Henry VIII's original foundation, had often thrived, but by the early 1800s it was barely surviving: some of the buildings, including the Chapel, were derelict, and it was badly in need of institutional change.
Never more than 40 boys, by 1833 numbers had dwindled to just 7. In 1838 the Ecclesiastical Commission reported that the College should be left to "quietly fall to the ground".
With the active - and often very vocal - support of local dignitaries who campaigned to see a new school emerge on the site, the College of Christ at Brecknock was re-founded in 1853 by Act of Parliament. The subsequent 'Scheme' of 1855 established Christ College, beginning a new era in the history of the school we know today.
The first appointed headmaster, Revd John Daniel Williams (Headmaster 1854-1878) had been a Bell scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge and had experience as a Master at his old school, Christ's Hospital, and at Sherborne. He devised the operation of the school including the shape of the school day and the curriculum. In common with other similar schools, lessons were taught with an emphasis on Latin, Green, English grammar, and Arithmetic.
Unfortunately, the near derelict Chapel and other buildings on the site were not in a state that could accommodate the newly established school. Until the Governors could raise suitable finances, Revd J D Williams, with a 'Second Master', had to conduct the school in a room in Lion Street in Brecon.
When the new school buildings finally opened, they were an outward sign that Christ College was ready for its future as a modern boarding school.
On June 24th 1864 the public opening of School House and the newly restored chapel was attended by “200 of the elite of society in the neighbourhood”. The prestigious new building, designed by architects Pritchard and Seddon, was completed at a cost of £10,000.
Declared to be spacious and modern by impressed visitors, School House included classrooms, dormitories for 40 boarders, and accommodation for the Headmaster and his family. Also noted in the lengthy report in local newspapers were the modern appliances in the unusual octagonal kitchen, and a school room and a library created in the former friary buildings (now the Dining Hall).
A closer look at Object 9, reveals School House and the Chapel much as they would have been seen on the day they were opened. At the very same time, it shows a landscape familiar to generations pupils - from 1864 to the present day.
You might have spotted the space where a building should be.
To find out what is missing, visit Object 12!
