Home›Schools›The Patriotic Asylums
Last modified: 27 October 2026 · Build 1
This page is in progress. After the Crimean War the Royal Patriotic Fund built two orphan schools on land bought from Earl Spencer on the west side of Wandsworth Common: first the Asylum for Girls (foundation stone laid by Queen Victoria on 11 July 1857, opened 1859), then the Asylum for Boys (opened 1872). The boys’ building became Emanuel School in 1883; the girls’ building survives as the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building.
— The Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum for Girls — 1859–1939, with Simon McNeill-Ritchie’s history, pictures, Charlotte Bennett and the newspaper sources
— The Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum for Boys, 1872–1882 — B.V. Slater’s history of the boys’ school that became Emanuel School
— The Great Wall across Wandsworth Common
— Newspaper articles on the Asylums and the Patriotic Fund, in date order
— Chronicles, July 2021 — the foundation stone, 1857
— Chronicles, November 2021 — a third of the site rented to the Neals
— Chronicles, December 2021 — orphans of later wars
— Chronicles, September 2022 — the architect, and the first boys’ school on East Hill
— Chronicles, December 2022 — the boys’ farewell supper, 1881
— Chronicles, February 2024 — the sale of the boys’ school, 1882
— Emanuel School — which took over the boys’ building
Can you add anything, or correct anything here? Please let me know.