Kipling Memorial
Building 1939
Imperial Service
College
and Windsor Corporation Offices
Alma Road, Windsor
Kipling Memorial Building, 'Kipling Building',
was built in 1939 and completed within days of the outbreak of
World War II on September 29th 1939, only a little late for the
start of the Christmas Term of Imperial Service College. There
is more information about Kipling Building and the history of
ISC in Windsor here.
Kipling Building from the lawn
- 1
Each end of Kipling Building was designed
to include Masters' homes. The stone bay window to the extreme
left of this picture and the altered roofline show this accommodation.
Kipling Building from the lawn
- 2
Note the Rudyard
Kipling Plaque in the centre of the building and the Foundation
Stone between the windows at ground level.
The Foundation Stone laid by H.R.H.
Princess Alice on 9th March 1939.
Within three years, in 1942, ISC had left
Windsor following the merger with Haileybury School at Hertford.
In 1943 Windsor Corporation purchased the
building for £37,000 although by now it was let to the
War Office. Windsor Corporation was not to take over the facilities
until 1949.
Below we feature views of, and from, Kipling
Building taken during the post-war years before its sad demise.
A view from the second floor of Kipling
Building looking NE towards Windsor Castle. Note the cycle racks
along the northern perimeter and the brick bomb shelter adjacent
to Camperdown House. This picture dates from circa 1969.
A similar colour view towards Windsor
Castle taken in September 1963
Another view from the second floor of Kipling
Building looking NW. Note the six garages along the western perimeter.
Immediately to the left of these garages were the double gates
that were open all day and every day throughout the year, except
on Christmas Day, when they were shut to comply with the requirements
regarding right of way. Another brick bomb shelter can be seen
centre left of this picture which dates from dates from circa
1969.
A view to the west
of the area north of Kipling Building in the late 1970s with
Cromwell Cottage beyond, (see enlarged view below), the blue
doors of six lock-up garages and the car park, enlarged several
years earlier. Camperdown House, formerly a dormitory for ISC
school, is to the right.
A close-up of the
view of Cromwell Cottage, the air-raid shelter
and the western end of Kipling Building. (Extract from photo
above)
1981 and Construction
Begins Around Kipling Building
In the summer of 1981 the
Rank Hovis MacDougal company commenced construction of their
UK head office. Initially construction work continued around
the former Corporation offices.
Kipling Building,
north side, as a removal pantechnicon begins to empty the council
offices
Kipling Building
from the NW with construction in the foreground
Kipling Building
from the E following demolition of Cromwell Cottage and the air-raid
shelter.
Land clearance
to the west and south of Kipling Building
Construction on
the lawns south of Kipling Building and looking towards Goslar
Way and Vansittart Recreation Ground.
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