The Cottesloe School

"I went there, I managed to get a great education...until they tried to set me on fire whilst I was asleep"

~ Uncle Monty on "The Cottesloe School"

"We didn't start the fire!"

~ Billy Joel on the 1967 Borstal Bash

"The Biggest Lie in Buckinghamshire"

~ John Bercow on Wing County Youth Detention Centre

Overview of the borstal school...

The Cottesloe Borstal, formerly known as "Wing County Youth Detention Centre" and officially known as "The Cottesloe School" (for a brief time in 1986), was a Youth Detention Centre located on the outskirts of Wing, Buckinghamshire, England

The Cottesloe "School" occupied a large prison-like entrance with views of the countryside in one direction and overlooking Wing village and its Saxon church in the other. The borstal took children from the age of 3.5 through to the age of thirty-seven. The borstal had a mere 73 students, of which over 4 were located in the Torture Chamber (C Wing).

The borstal served a large catchment of clown bastards in the north of Buckinghamshire, as well as parts of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Stockport. From 1962 to 1976 the borstal was packed full of 2650 inmates. This led to the Great Stampede of 1973...5 inmates died as a result of this incident. Due to the Government deciding to close down establishments like these, the Cottesloe Borstal supposedly shut down in 1981, although it stayed open until 1986 under illegal practices such as renaming the establishment to The Cottesloe School.

The reasons for the official closure of The Cottesloe Borstal were due to a horrific fire in which the entire members of staff had sadly passed away. This was caused by Larry Williams (a 14 year old arsonist). He decided to set fire to the B Wing by spraying Petrol over his dormitory. He underestimated the effects of his wrongdoing and coincidentally set fire to the entire Borstal.

History

The Cottesloe Borstal opened in 1951 to roaring success! Everyone loved it! However during the 1950s and '60s, things took a major turn for the worse as inmates were rioting every Saturday night and things went so out of hand that the local Thames Valley Police had to get involved. The torment had become unbearable for the staff even to the point of some succumbing to madness.

Take for instance the 1967 Borstal Bash: An event that made national news. 17 people were injured and 12 fires had taken place during the event.

The Borstal had to close down in 1986 due to an act of Arson.