Key Highlights
- Dame Helen Mirren’s education in Essex started at Hamlet Court School.
- The school was demolished to make way for a car park on London Road.
- Mirren credits her English teacher, Mrs Welding, as a major influence in her career.
- St Bernard’s High School For Girls is still standing and operates as a convent school.
Dame Helen Mirren: From Essex School to Hollywood Stardom
You might think this is new, but…
The long-gone Essex school that once taught Dame Helen Mirren now a car park. The school was sadly demolished in the 1980s to make way for road widening and a car park on London Road.
Education’s Impact
School is often the place that shapes us as we grow up. And for many celebrities, schools right here in Essex is where it all began that shaped their futures in their industries. Helen Mirren is arguably one of the most famous people to have come from Essex.
Early Beginnings
Mirren first got her acting chops at Hamlet Court School in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. According to history website Southend Timeline, she played the Virgin Mary in a school nativity play and also appeared as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel.
St Bernard’s High School For Girls
When she was older, Mirren would attend St Bernard’s High School For Girls. She continued to act in school productions there. In 2008, Mirren told the Daily Mail that one of her teachers at St Bernard’s was a huge inspiration for her career: “My greatest influence at St Bernard’s was my blessed English teacher, Mrs Welding. I wonder if I would ever have managed to become an actress if it were not for her.”
The School That Shaped Her
Hamlet Court School – situated at the junction between London Road and Hamlet Court Road – is now just a car park and a few shops. While the main school buildings were removed decades ago, some remnants, such as a gate, were still noted in the area in 2016.
Essex’s Connection to Mirren
The land where the school once stood is now nothing more than a car park and a few shops. However, St Bernard’s High School For Girls still stands as a convent school. Helen Mirren has kept a connection to Essex.
She returned to her childhood bookshop in Leigh-on-Sea in 2007 to sign copies of her autobiography. Mirren also lent her shoes to a ‘Snapping The Stiletto’ exhibit in 2019, which sought to muddy the ‘Essex girl’ stereotype, highlighting footwear of ‘strong women’ from Essex.
