1926
Built
1963
Kindergarten closed
2010
Restored
2023
Reopened
A Brief History
Built in 1926, this small cottage once housed the kindergarten of Ying Wa Girls’ School. When the kindergarten closed in 1963, it was left largely idle and semi-derelict for long periods of time. What is its story? How did it survive the years before it was restored during the school development in the 2010s and finally repurposed in 2023 to become a place to share the school’s living story?
Stories of the 1926 Block
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Original Architecture and Restoration
How an Arts and Crafts cottage was protected, repaired and brought back to life.
Original Architecture & Restoration
The architecture of this pre-World War II structure is in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style, an English style popular in those days.
Exhibits
Twelve exhibits, each with a short video introduction.
Guided Tour @1926
We warmly welcome graduates and parents of present and past students to come on a specially designed journey to experience the rich history of Ying Wa Girls’ School (YWGS) – a guided tour of 1926 Heritage Block.
The former kindergarten block (1926-1963) was purposefully preserved and restored during our latest school redevelopment, completed in 2019. This precious legacy of Ying Wa, now a Grade 3 Historic Building, has been transformed into a mini museum to feature the Ying Wa Story. Carefully curated, the exhibition showcases precious historical documents and artifacts that manifest the core values and collective memories of the school community.
In this engaging 90-minute tour, visitors will be escorted by our alumna docents and student ambassadors to explore, and may even re-learn about, the historical significance and remarkable development of Ying Wa as a pioneer of women education in Hong Kong.
Selected highlights of our display include:
- A decennial (10-year) report hand-written by school founder Ms Helen Davies to the London Missionary Society in January 1901 where the birth of Ying Wa in 1900 was reported
- The first ever mention of YWGS (in the name of our predecessor, The London Missionary Training Home for girls) in the official record of the Hong Kong Government
- A bilingual Bible dated back to a century ago , given to Ms Silcocks by school founder Ms Davies and Ms Hutchinson in 1927
- Two books of Principal’s Diary (1925 to 1960) that have miraculously survived the occupation years in WWII
- A pair of baby socks knitted by Ms Davies in 1898 for an infant girl that would become a pupil, teacher and school council member of Ying Wa
- The only authentic artefact of the kindergarten block that has remained intact in the building
A 90-minute guided tour led by alumna docents and student heritage ambassadors.
