Admiral John Byng who'd been executed in 1757 for allowing the French to take Minorca. He was a scapegoat and everyone knew it. Voltaire made a wry reference to Byng's execution in Candide, commenting that: "in this country, it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, in order to encourage the others". Given this historic injustice it was fitting that the Hall should be officially opened by another more celebrated Admiral, Charles Davis Lucas, the very first recipient of the Victoria Cross. As a young midshipman, Lucas had saved many lives though his courage and quick thinking. During the Crimean War a live shell had landed on the deck of his ship in the midst of a fierce artillery exchange with the Russians. Lucas ignored the desperate cries to take cover. Instead of hitting the deck, he ran forward, picked up the still fizzing shell, carried it to the rail and dropped it overboard a fraction of a second before it exploded with a tremendous roar. He later married Lady Byng's niece, and was no doubt more than happy to play his part in restoring the good name of the family. It fell to Skinners' first headmaster Reverend Frederick Knott to lead the vote of thanks for Admiral Lucas' heroism and the Byng family's generosity in funding the building of the Hall. Originally the St John's Church Institute and later part of St John's Primary School, the governors of Skinners' had been hoping to purchase it for many years. It is stylistically very similar to the Main Building and School House and is viable from the front of the school plot. Skinners' received grants from central government and ran an appeal in school and through the old boys network to raise the funds for the buildings purchase and renovation. The final building received a conservation award from the Tunbridge Wells Civic Society for the sensitive restoration which now enables Byng Hall to be used by the music and drama department; school drama productions and music recitals in The Thomson Theatre are prominent features in the school calendar. The Old Gym (1900) The original School Gymnasium was constructed in 1900. It became too small to meet the sporting needs of the pupils and so temporarily acted as a careers office and gallery room for the art department. Until its demolition, the old changing area served as the headquarters