BLACKHEATH SCHOOL OF ART
Blackheath Conservatoire of Music was established at 41 Bennett Park in 1881 by William Webster (1856-4 March 1910), son of wealthy building contractor William Webster (May 1819–1 February 1888). In 1896 it moved to new premises with the established Blackheath School of Art, its official title was the Blackheath, Lee and Lewisham Government School of Art. The school’s first principal John Howard Hale (16 June 1863-15 April 1955) enrolled noted teachers of the day who included Reginald Charles Brill, Arthur Thomas Holloway, Harold Edward Hughes Nelson (22 May 1871-25 February 1948), Robert Sargent Austin (23 June 1895-18 September 1973), Alfred de Sauty (1870-1949) and James Arthur Woodford (25 September 1893-8 November 1976). The school had three hundred pupils attending a variety of fine art and crafts courses that included sculpture, ceramics, wood carving, sculpture, and graphics. The school was closed during the First World War and the building was used by the Army Pay Corps while the school relocated to Lee Terrace where they remained until 1921.The School of Art flourished until the outbreak of the Second World War, when in September of 1940 it was taken over by the Army and remained in government hands as office accommodation. Suffolk artist students included Cecil Ross Burnett, Penelope Mary Goodman, Florence Kate Kingsford and Norman Henry Sillman. In 1941 the school finally ceased to exist as a free-standing art school and effectively merged with Goldsmiths College. Blackheath Art School reopened as a non-governmental business in 1983 but proved financially unviable.