The original old building we can see here used to be Nunthorpe Court, built in 1856 and part of an estate of 33 acres belonging to Colonel Richard Frederick Meysey-Thompson. He trained horses and was a member of York Race Committee. His wife Charlotte was a famous horsewoman. Also living in the house according to the 1911 census were eight staff – a cook, four maids, two grooms and a cowman.
As an old soldier, Meysey-Thompson had commanded the 4th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, in campaigns on Africa’s Gold Coast. He spoke forcefully about the duty of enlisting and was very scathing about conscientious objectors, saying they should be dressed in red and made to stand in front of the trenches. But he wasn’t quite so patriotic when it came to his campaign to prevent the conscription of his cowman, Walter Porter, whom he employed to tend to the three cows which supplied his household. York Military Tribunal went on strike over this, eventually prevailing and the cowman was sent to war. We don’t know who milked the cows after this! Walter Porter survived the war.
Charlotte Meysey Thompson volunteered at the depot in Coney Street, making absorbent dressings from sphagnum moss. We know that she contributed 7200 hours there between 1917 and 1919. We also know that during the York Zeppelin raid in 1916 she took refuge in the basement of Nunthorpe Court, with the servants and local residents.
In 1920 the house and 11 acres were sold to York City Council, to create Nunthorpe Court Secondary School for boys, which later amalgamated with Mill Mount Secondary School for girls and became the Millthorpe School we know today.
With the plaque behind you, walk down Southlands Road. The houses to your right and the estate behind them, the Nunthorpe Estate would not have been built at the time of the First World War. Continue straight on to the cream and red coloured brick church with 2 squat towers, at the bottom of the road on the left.
