WHAT a delight to read Phil Grant's letter in the Daily Echo (July 11) regarding the former Grammar School for Girls building which was taken over by Taunton's College in 1993.

It is a beautiful pseudo-Georgian design carefully placed on the plot of land. The original architects had wanted to site it facing Hill Lane but the then headmistress, Miss Platt, spent hours with them siting the building so that it had a southerly aspect for maximum light for the pupils and to leave maximum space for games.

The present day architects have fallen into the same trap and the awful black façade faces Hill Lane with the three three-storey blocks denied the same good light she fought for.

Its placement cuts out so much of the sports field which I understood was a priority in the modern educational scheme of things. Fresh air and exercise are vital as a balance to heavy study.

Jonathan Prest, the principal, describes our school as a 1930s factory. That "factory" turned out students going on the qualify as doctors, pharmacists, librarians, dentists, radiographers, physiotherapists, agriculturitsts, horticulturists, research chemists, company secretaries, professional musicians, teachers and nurses etc for the benefit of society.

The local residents regard it as a landmark having blended in with their neighbourhood and its neighbour, King Edward VI College. That same college has managed the transition to co-ed without the need for demolition but with the aid of extensions so why can that not happen at Taunton's?

Not only are the local residents and Old Grammarians and Hill College students alarmed but I believe some of the staff are not happy with the proposed changes either.

It seems to be a lot of money to squander and why must we be obsessed with pulling down classic buildings if we cannot replace them with something more beautiful as well as practical?

Having only just written the history of the Grammar School for Girls I am devastated that it should be treated this way and so are many Old Grammarians who meet there every year for their re-unions.

Also so many Old Tauntonians who married Old Grammarians must be feeling totally embarrassed at what is being perpetrated in their name. Please, please Taunton's College think again.

MRS HAZEL HOBBS, Southampton.