History Timeline: 1808 : 1815 : 1903 : 1996
1903 - 1996 The Bushey Years
The School in Bushey, which still stands in Aldenham Road, cost £40,000 and was built by Kerridge & Shaw of Cambridge. The architect was William Emerson, the then President of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
The Memorial Stone for the new Building was laid on 10 May 1902 by Her Royal Highness the Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg, a glittering occasion with great ceremony.
Later that month Bushey saw another procession when the children arrived from London by train and marched from Bushey Station led, of course, by the Schools' pipes and drums.
The Schools, with the Chapel which was
destroyed during the Second World War.
It was through the pipes and drums that the Schools left their permanent impression in Bushey with regular church parades and at local ceremonies. For many years the Caley Pipes and Drums played their part in Armistice Day commemorations at the Bushey war memorial.
With many Caley scholars joining the armed forces it is believed that ex-Caleys will have played their part in virtually every armed conflict since 1835. Caley lives were lost in both the First and Second World Wars. During the Second World War the dining room was damaged due to enemy action and the school chapel was destroyed due to an electrical fault.
From 1903 to 1948 education was provided at the Schools. The regime was strict but the children received a good Scottish education. After 1948 the children attended local state schools.
Many royal visits to the Schools took place. In 1925 the Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VIII visited the Schools, and the following year the Duke & Duchess of York (who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) came to present prizes. This was the beginning of a long association with the Schools for Queen Elizabeth who as Queen Mother made two further visits and always took a real interest in the work of the schools.
In 1986 our present Patron Her Majesty the Queen opened Coltart House, the then new 6 th Form accommodation.
Pipe majors of the future
By 1995 the Directors, having given consideration both to the future of the Schools and the wishes of the original founders, decided that the best way to continue their work into the 21st century would be to close the Bushey premises, sell them and invest the proceeds of sale to provide an income for a new Educational Trust.
The buildings were purchased by the Purcell School, one of the four principle music schools in the UK, so music continues to grace these important buildings - only now the pipes and drums have been exchanged for other classical instruments.