Medical dates:

Medical character:

In 1920 West Ham Borough Council had opened a school in Knox Road for some 200 mentally and physically defective children.  In 1926 the Council established the Crosby Road Open Air School, which shared the same site as the Knox Road School.

The Open Air School initially had places for 60 delicate girls but, in 1932, it was extended to serve 30 boys as well.

After WW2 the Open Air School closed in 1946 and thereafter the Council sent all delicate children to Fyfield Open Air School.

Present status (July 2013)

The name 'Crosby Road Open Air School' remains a minor mystery.  The Knox Road School fronted onto Knox Road, but maps show no access to it from Crosby Road, on the east, would have been possible at the time as there was a continuous terrace of older houses.  Perhaps the name was chosen to distinguish it from the Knox Road Special School.

The Knox Road Special School was renamed Gurney Special School in 1949 and continued at the site.  It appears to have been rebuilt in the 1960s, at the back of its original location, that is, on the site of the Open Air School.

Gurney School closed down in 1995 and the site was redeveloped as a private housing estate - Old School Crescent.