History of the School

West Hill was, for almost one hundred years, the home of the Harrison Family who were pioneers of the Cotton Industry in Stalybridge. 

The Harrisons amassed enormous wealth and prestige over a period of some one hundred and thirty years through their ownership of the Chapel Street Cotton Mills. 

The mansion that we know as West Hill was built in 1822 for William Harrison and his future wife, Amy Cheetham, as a wedding gift from his brothers.

West Hill passed into the ownership of successive members of the Harrison family until Mary Harrison, a spinster, was the one remaining member of the Harrison family.  The house was purchased by Stalybridge Education Committee for £13,000 for “the elder boys of the borough”.

At first, the school was to be designed for both boys and girls, but the decision was made for a boys-only school. The Board of Education suggested making it into “one of the best schools in the country and not a school that would be obsolete in a few years’ time”. Consequently, instead of making 12 classrooms for 500 children, it was decided to make 10 classrooms for 400 children.

West Hill School was declared open on the 24^th March 1927 in the presence of Alderman Cooke, who worked tirelessly to realise the birth of the school. 

The school was open for public inspection during Easter and on Monday 25^th April 1927, the first students took up their places; 278 boys and 3 girls. 196 students came from Elementary Schools whilst 85 were transferred from Waterloo Road Central School.