Symington Hall

Prior to construction of the new Maclaren Hall in 2004, the dining hall at Ashbury College was called Symington Hall. The school’s existing dining hall was refurbished and extended with funding from the Symington family after the death of their son, Captain James Symington, who died on May 6, 1945, the last day of fighting in Europe in the Second World War. James attended Ashbury from 1927 to 1933. The room was completed and dedicated in 1947; the Summer 1947 issue of The Ashburian yearbook was also dedicated to James Symington. A portrait of Symington hung in the dining hall for many years and a plaque was erected after the dedication. An additional memorial to him in the form of a framed memory box hangs on the wall of the school’s Heritage Room.