Originally a barracks called Argonner Kaserne on Soester Straße, Hamm, Nordrhein-Westfalen and built in 1937/38, the British took control and renamed it Brixton Camp. At first the camp housed German and Austrian POW's and then went on to be the base for the Polish 61st Tank Transporter Unit.
In 1953 Brixton Camp reopened as Windsor School which was a mixed boarding school and stayed that way until 1959 when it became the male only Windsor Boys School (WBS). The nearby Newcastle Barracks opened up as Windsor Girls School (WGS).In 1981 WBS became mixed again and then finally closed its gate in 1983.
Remains of the Dining Block. (2020)
Photograph courtesy of Chris Brooking
After seeing images online showing the remains of Windsor Boys School / Windsor school in Hamm, like many others that went to the school between 1953 and 1983 there was a disappointment that it won't be there anymore. I never really had the chance to go back to Hamm and have a look at the old buildings and always thought they would have been converted into apartments or something else. No chance of that and all that was left in 2020 was a pile of debris from the Dining block.
I have a keen interest in 3D modelling so it was time to bring the school back to life and show the buildings and grounds as they would have been during that 30 year span.
Thanks to the kind and knowledgeable members of the Windsor Boys and Windsor Girls School FB groups there were many old photographs and even a floor plan of the entire grounds to use for reference.
Windsor Boys School site, Hamm, Germany
Swimming Pool
Woodwork/Metalwork/Sports Hall
Old shooting range and Garden
Dining Hall
Chapel St Boniface
Old stables area
The Bedford SB3 Bus
A 360-degree view of the Bedford SB3 bus interior.
The scene is 'Returning to Windsor School'.
Project timeline and updates
Still to do
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4th / 5th year female dormitory from WGS
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Assembly building interior at WBS
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Canteen interior
29th August, 2023
St Boniface Chapel interior is completed
15th August, 2023
1st/2nd year dormitory is completed
27 July, 2023
The Bedford SB3 bus is completed
Uploaded the 360-degree image created inside the Bedford SB3 bus.
The scene is 'Returning to Windsor School'.
25 July, 2023
The 1970s 360 degree image is completed
The 360-degree image is located in the middle of the front field at Windsor School. Total of 8 tables displaying items from the 1970s, along with things around and in the air :-)
24 January, 2023
Added images
Just added another 80 images to the various tour pages, including several to the Assembly Hall area as it was lacking in live bands and socials. To date, there's a total of 277 images of students, teachers & staff displayed near the location the pictures were taken. Thanks to the Facebook groups and also the non-Facebook users that sent emails with attachments.
I'm still on the lookout for more if they become available. If you have any negatives or slides of WBS (any year) that will probably end up in the bin during clearouts or downsizing, please send them over and I can scan and restore them if needed. Even printed photographs that you may have no need for anymore, let me get them up on the tour so everyone can see them.
Please get in touch to let me know what you have and for my postal address.
10 September, 2022
Swimming Pool
Added two new images of the swimming pool taken in the 60s.
3 September, 2022
Speech Day, 18th July 1959
A new popup page was created to show the Speech Day program that was kindly donated by John Rayner. This can be found via the movie camera link located in the middle of the front sports fields. Previously this link just showed the move clip.
13 July, 2022
Self-guided tours are now open
The virtual tour goes live.
26 May, 2022
Thanks to all the people that got in touch and I'm happy there's a great deal of interest out there.
The project has been on and off over the past several months due to home and work commitments, plus I just recently acquired 3 more photographs that changed the look of a few areas so I had to get back in and redo the modeling.
This picture of Padre Stuart Brindley shows the gravel area in the background is a lot larger than what I had originally modeled. I also misplaced the last two tree's at the end of the path. A bit OTT I'll agree but may as well get it as true to life as possible ;-)
Rendering has started again from scratch and the current count is 15 X 360 degree renders. I also upped the size of each render to 16,000px X 8000px to get the extra detail.
December, 2021
I put the main project on hold as I wanted to make a winter scene based on the this image I found online showing a sunset.
Working out the direction of the shot, it was either taken from the fire escape or one of the windows up in Block 5 which was Caernarvon so I went with the window scene and included items from 1979 / 1980.
You can view the full-size version here and this one allows you to zoom in and out and listen to the recorded audio track of 'Sounds Like Sunday' on the BFBS Radio show.
