2007
NZ1716 : Steps to High Green, Gainford
taken 18 years ago, near to Gainford, County Durham, England

Steps to High Green, Gainford
The building in the centre rear was once Gainford Academy. A plaque in the village reads " Gainford Academy was founded in 1818 by the Congregational Minister, the Reverend William Bowman. It operated from this building until 1899 when it was moved to North Terrace. In 1884 there were 80 boarders. The most famous pupil of the Academy was Arthur Stanley Jefferson (Stan Laurel) of Laurel and Hardy fame. The building was later acquired by the Edleston family who gave it to the village in 1964. The building was restored for housing in 1987 by the Teesdale Buildings Preservation Trust." Appropriately the building now also accommodates 'The Academy Theatre'. Stanley would be pleased!