National Nautical School

The National Nautical School in Portishead, within the English county of Somerset, was created in 1869 for destitute and neglected boys of Bristol.

[1] Fedden was chairman of the Bristol Board of Magistrates and frequently saw boys brought before the courts on charges of truancy, theft and begging.

However, the repair bill for the ship would have been considerable, and they therefore repetitioned the navy and were eventually leased HMS Formidable.

[6] It had been an 84-gun second rate of the Royal Navy, with ports for guns on upper, main, and lower decks, however was known as a two-decker.

[9] Several boys died on the ship, some from infectious diseases and others from injuries received or by falling overboard.

[2] The ship was damaged in storms and, once the onshore building was ready, HMS Formidable was scrapped.

The land in front of the building was used as a parade ground and then had playing fields close to a jetty and the foreshore.

Other timber was used to make the pulpit of the school's chapel, which was built on land donated by William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke.

[17] A sculpture commemorating the school has been erected in the Port Marine Development in Portishead,[18] and another in the shape of a compass has been installed in North Weston cemetery as a memorial to those who died on the Formidable.