Gravesend School of Art

The School was officially opened in 1893 by Princess Beatrice of Battenberg a daughter of Queen Victoria and a competent artist in her own right. Its first Headteacher was Essex-born James Thomas Dalladay, (1860-1941) the son of a shoe manufacturer. Dalladay had been teaching art classes locally in Gravesend for about five years. The official name at the opening was 'The Municipal Technical School and School of Art'. Within a year the school had attracted and recruited 150 full and part-time students. In 1904 Kent County Council took responsibility for what was now Gravesend School of Art and by the outbreak of World War I the numbers of both male and female students had dwindled considerably but the school continued to limp along. By the war's end, there were a mere 14 full-time students none of whom were proficient enough to impress the school inspectors. The reputation of the school was however enhanced by a small enthusiastic group of part-time and amateur students who did indeed impress visiting inspectors and civic dignitaries.

James Dalladay retired in 1924 and was succeeded by William Ongley Miller and with the help of his socially-minded wife the school intake had more than doubled within three years of Miller's appointment. Gravesend could now rightly boast one of the best art schools in Kent. Miller retired at the close of 1948 and the Principalship was taken over by Royal College of Art graduate Alan Tennant Moon. Arguably his claim to fame rested in his abilities to publicise the school and his mastery of the school's finances. Quite the opposite of his predecessor. Gravesend eventually succumbed to Kent County Council and Ministry of Education reforms and closed in 1957. The most famous alumnus was undoubtedly Pop-Artist Peter Blake.