Bancroft Building

The Octagon                                                                                            Peter Landin Building

 

The Bancroft Building is named after Francis Bancroft. He is the grandson of Arch-Bishop Bancroft.  

Due to his financial difficulties, he was persuaded to take a position working for the Lord Mayor. Throughout his tenure in this role, he managed to amass a wealth of 28,000 pounds in both real estate and personal assets.  

In his will, dated March 18 1727, he left a bequest to the Company of Drapers entrusting them with the funds for acquiring a plot of land to establish and provide funding for almshouses. In 1735, in accordance with the trust, the Drapers' Company constructed a school at Mile End. The almshouses established had apartments for 24 alms-men, a chapel and a school room for 100 boys as well as 2 dwelling houses for the school’s masters.  

Bancroft also instructed that for each alms-house man, they would be given coal and a baize gown every three years. He also wished for the school boys to be clothed and taught reading, writing and accounts. 

The school complex comprised several components: a spacious schoolroom, a chapel, the second master's residence, the headmaster's dwelling, two adjacent rooms, a garden, and a small burial ground. Accommodation facilities included two dormitories, one on the upper floor and one on the lower floor, a sizable dining hall, living quarters for two assistant masters, domestic staff quarters, and various offices. On the eastern side, there was a substantial yet irregularly shaped playground. 

Francis Bancroft’s tomb now stands in St. Helen’s Church in the angle by the north wall.  

 

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_{Queen Mary University of London Archives, Reference: GM/4/5}