Blackheath Art School

In 1881 the art school was established by William Webster (1856-1910) at No 41 Bennett Park which is now the site of upmarket residential accommodation. Its official title was the Blackheath, Lee and Lewisham Government School of Art and within three years it moved to larger premises in the same road. The school’s first principal John Howard Hale enrolled noted teachers of the day who included Harold Nelson, Robert Austin, Alfred de Sauty and James Woodford. The school had 300 pupils attending a variety of fine art and crafts courses that included sculpture, ceramics, wood carving, sculpture and graphics.

The school was closed during World War I and the building was used by the Army Pay Corps while the school relocated to Lee Terrace where they stayed until 1921. The school flourished until the outbreak of World War II when in September of 1940 the building was again requisitioned by the Government for army use. During this period other noted members of staff included the Principal John Edgar Platt, Charles Paine, Douglas Percy Bliss, Joan Herrin, William Clause, Reginald Brill, and Frederick Austin. In 1941 the school finally ceased to exist as a free-standing art school and effectively merged with Goldsmiths’ College. Blackheath Art School reopened as a private business in 1983.