‘Hidden gem’ of a school in Sheffield marks its 90th anniversary

Mairead Shipley taught at Mylnhurst preparatory school on Button Hill in Ecclesall for 43 years, from 1978 to 2021.

For six years until 1968 she was a pupil of the school herself and, when she became a parent, she chose Mylnhurst for her two daughters in the 1990s.

Later her daughter Orlaith got married in the Mylnhurst chapel and held her wedding reception in a marquee on the field, and her grandson attended Mylnhurst nursery,

“This school has always been in my life,” said Mrs Shipley, aged 66, from Bents Green. “Coming back is like walking into my own living room - it just feels like coming home.”

Mrs Shipley spoke to current Year 6 pupils about the history of their Grade II listed school, which was built in 1883 as a mansion for a Major William Greaves Blake, decorated veteran of the Indian mutinies of 1857.

His wife was Rebecca Jessop, daughter of the steelmaker and hospital founder Thomas Jessop, and their 12 children played in the once vast grounds, Japanese gardens, vinery, boating lake and stables.

After Rebecca’s death in 1920 the house was sold to Walter J Walsh - owner of his family’s John Walsh department store on High Street in Sheffield city centre - who had 14 children.

And, when the Walsh family moved out, Mylnhurst was sold to the nuns of the Sisters of Mercy for use as a Catholic school, which opened initially with just seven pupils 90 years ago in 1933.

Nuns still made up most of the teaching staff by the time Mairead joined the private fee-paying school aged five in 1962.

She told rapt Year 6 students: “They wore long tunics, huge great habits and veils, skirts right down to the floor, so we couldn’t see their arms or legs. They just used to glide about, with their rosary beads.

“But they were lovely, and I loved being at school; the feeling of it, the friends.

“You would come in, out of the rush of everything and all the traffic on Eccleall Road South, and it was a little haven of quiet, our own little world. It still feels like that.”

Michael Caine’s elder daughter, Dominique Haines, whose mother was the Sheffield-born Avengers actress Patricia Haines, was a pupil at the school in the 1960s.

Other high-profile students have included the journalists Julia Bradbury and former Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack editor Scyld Berry, the Bishop of Salford John Arnold, former First Lady of Ireland Maeve Hillery, and the Boulding family. Helen Boulding, now 45, is a singer-songwriter who has toured with Bryan Ferry. Her filmmaker sister Mary Boulding, 32, was assistant director on the Bafta-winning Sam Mendes film 1917. Brothers Michael, 47, and Rory, 35, are retired professional footballers, sister Sally was a world-ranked tennis player, and Laura played rounders for England.

The school, which caters for children from nursery to the age of 11, has had only eight headteachers in its 90 years, the current of whom is Mike Hibbert.

He said: “Mylnhurst is a very special place. It is everything a primary school should be. As a community we feel so privileged to be a part of it.

“I love the fact the school is like a hidden gem. You could quite easily drive past us as you travel through Ecclesall, not knowing what treasures lie within. If ever anyone would like to visit us we would be delighted to show visitors around, and explain our plans for the next 90 years.”