Breek's Memorial school, Ooty, the heritage building was designed by Engineer Morant and Robert Chisholm

Navrang India September 29, 2022

Breeks Memorial Anglo Indian Higher Sec School,Ooty. Alamy.com 

Breeks Memorial Anglo-Indian Higher Sec
 School, Ooty, hellomyexpert.com

The red-colored castle like building with a clock tower is, no doubt, a friendly land mark in Ooty town and no visitor can  miss it and it is now a part of the Nilgiris District Court complex. The fine European styled building  with a unique clock tower which is one of the oldest in Tamil Nadu, was originally  part of Breeks Memorial School (Now known as Breeks Memorial Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School). The school came up in 1774  in memory of  James Wilkinson Breeks (who died in 1872), the first Commissioner (District Collector) of the Nilgiris according to his wish.     

Breeks Memorial Anglo Indian Higher Sec Schoolindiatimes.com

Breeks Memorial Anglo Indian Higher Sec SchoolOoty
Justdial.in
As the government needed the  original building to run the subordinate Court House, school management agreed  and shifted to Church  Hill where they had built a new building. The  cost of school building about Rs.38180  was met through public subscription and debentures. The government  provided funds to the tune of Rs.13682.  Constructed in 1886  initially the school catered to the children of Europeans and Eurasians. After 12 years functioning at the original building, the school shifted to the present location  Charing Cross near the Adams Fountain in 1886. The Breeks All-India Hr Sec School, opened in 1974 (centenary commemoration year), is  functioning on the same campus and follows the Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE syllabus.  This school is managed separately.

The school was started in a heritage building, which is now a part of the Nilgiris District Court complex. The district court, with its impressive tall clock tower  is one of the oldest in Tamil Nadu and  was originally a part of Breeks Memorial School. It was then moved to Charing Cross near the Adams Fountain in 1886. 

The special architectural features are the cloister vault roof (looking like a hat), the arched masonry decorations seen above many of the rectangular doors and windows and  gable decoration above the central building. Yet another attraction is a fine wooden stairway in this two-story structure.  This building was renovated a decade ago.   

Both Chisholm and Morant,  District engineer of Nilgris and  contemporary of Chisholm worked together on many buildings including the Lawrence school buildings and the old Breeks School (now the Court complex).  Morant made a solid contribution in the construction of ''Nilgiris Mountain railways'' (now a UNESCO recognized Mountain railway) and was instrumental in constructing many buildings on the hill resort. When the local administration was at a loss as to what to do with  the surplus funds that became   available due to cancellation of  visit by  then Prince of Wales  in the wake of  cholera epidemic, it was Morant who in 1878 suggested that a clock tower  could  be  added to the court building. 

https://nilgiridiscoverycentre.com/index.php/2021/11/14/an-ardent-engineer-who-created-several-nilgiri-landmarks/