Solihull School dates back to 1560, but up until the late 19th C. we only have rare, but precious glimpses of the life and times of those who were educated here throughout the centuries. For over 300 years the school resided at Malvern House, until ambitious plans were made to create a larger, more stately home for the school to enjoy. School House was opened in 1882 and since then records have been preserved, although not always complete they offer a wonderful picture of late Victorian life at Solihull and thereafter. Personalities emerged, new ideas embraced and progress continued against the background of the great events of the 20th C.
Yet only since the 1980’s was any attempt made to classify and preserve the records of Solihull. Denis Tomlin who became the School Archivist in 1988 inherited a mass of documents, photographs, letters and statistics of past pupils and staff which were located at the back of the headmaster’s study. For 20 years he created a systemised and coherent Archive which he handed over to John Loynton in 2007. With the same dedication and diligence John has built on the foundations of Denis’s remarkable achievement. In 2012, in the Leonard Stevens Building (formerly the Old Music School) a school museum, aptly named the Denis Tomlin Archive Room was opened to display many of the school’s treasures and make them available to Old Silhillians, pupils and parents to see the interesting items we have.
In 2022 the decision was made to record the entire School Archive, digitally, to live alongside the physical one. The present generation of pupils and staff are custodians of this fine academic institution, and like their predecessors will become part of the fabric of our unfolding history, one of which we can be proud and one which is now safely preserved and documented in digital form.
Click here for access to the Saint Martin’s School Archives