Oct 2008 - Morrison's Academy

Boarding
Knockearn 1981
Oakwood 1933
Ochtertyre 1959
Boarding The Morrisonian | 07/08 Page 155
accommodated elsewhere.
In September 1979, the process of
joining the two schools together was
nearing completion, At the same time,
boys’ and girls’ boarding also came
under the umbrella of the Governing
Body, together for the first time. This
period, from 1979 until the early 1990s,
was probably the period of time in the
school’s history when boarding was
most popular. Around Crieff were to be
found a total of nine boarding houses,
each containing numbers in the
region of 50-60 boarding pupils.
However, family needs were changing
and, with an ever increasing
availability of other local schools also
offering boarding, together with the
constant need to be looking further
afield in order to find boarding pupils,
notably to the Far East in China and
Hong Kong, boarding numbers began
to decline.
The arrival of the new millennium did
not reverse the trend and numbers
continued to drop with the houses
gradually being sold in order to
provide vital funds to invest in the main
school. Finally, after 148 years, on 29th
June 2007, Dalmhor House closed its
door for the last time to boarders, thus
ending a vital period in the history of
the school.
Two notable pictures accompanying
this article, one undated but showing
a very early group of boarders, the
second is a picture of the final group
of boarders and boarding staff, taken
outside Dalmhor House in June 2007.
Throughout the history of the school, a
total of fifteen boarding houses have
been associated with the school in
various guises (some as private
residences) and these are listed overleaf,
together with the years, where known.
R McDermott