Kmflett's Blog

London Socialist Historians Group

Media Release

4^th August

Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266

Historians say campaign to rename Rhodes Avenue School in London is well founded.

The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, London University, has said that a campaign to rename Rhodes Avenue School in North London due to a link with the imperialist Cecil Rhodes is well founded historically.

Articles in several papers including the Mail on Sunday and the Times have claimed that the school is named after the great uncle of Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), Thomas Rhodes who owned land in the area around Alexandra Palace.

Thomas Rhodes died in 1856 and in due course the area became what is still known today as Muswell Hill Golf Course.

A map dating from 1912 shows the current Rhodes Avenue named as Hampton Rd.

The area was re-developed from 1930 with the Golf club house being relocated. Only at this point was the road renamed Rhodes Avenue and a primary school, still known as Rhodes Avenue School, opened. Later Cecil Rhodes Secondary Modern School was built on the site. This existed until amalgamation with another school from 1964 when it became the first Alexandra Park School.

The appearance of the name of Rhodes from 1930 is the key to the renaming campaign.

While the area had historic links with the Rhodes family these had previously gone unmarked. By 1930 imperial Britain had developed a cult of Cecil Rhodes with public buildings and roads being named after him. This lasted right the way through until the 1950s.

LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, a check on the history shows the campaigners are correct that the Rhodes link is specifically to Cecil because of the period when it arose. The Black Lives Matters movement has rightly given rise to calls, not that such things should be erased from our history, quite the reverse, they need to be remembered, but at the same time nor they should any longer be memorialised. The imperial era is past. That is not Britain in 2020.