Ashdown House, East Sussex

Last updated

Ashdown House School
Ashdown House - geograph.org.uk - 1691918.jpg
Ashdown House, East Sussex
General information
Type English country house
Architectural style Greek Revival, Ionic
Town or city Forest Row, East Grinstead
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Construction startedJune 1793;230 years ago (1793-06)
Completed18 March 1795
Design and construction
Architect(s) Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764–1820)
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameAshdown House School
Designated26 November 1953
Reference no.1286907

Ashdown House is a country house and former school near Forest Row, East Sussex, England, a Grade II* listed building.

Contents

One of the first houses in England to be built in the Greek Revival architectural style, it was designed in 1793 as the second independent work of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, his last work in Britain before emigrating to the United States. Latrobe's domes at Ashdown have been described by scholars as 'miniature prototypes' for his domes at the United States Capitol. [1] Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as 'very perfect indeed', the building served as a prep school from 1886 to 2020, educating many people, of whom several became notable. [2]

In August 2021 the property was sold to a property developer for £5 million. Richard Eden confirmed that the owner, Cothill Trust, had exchanged contracts with the developer, whose name was not disclosed. The next highest bidder was reportedly an educational establishment that offered the trust £4.5 million. [3]

History

Ashdown House was given its name by John Trayton Fuller upon his purchase of the site, by Act of Parliament, for £10,000 in 1793. The land had previously comprised the Manor of Lavertye, first recorded in 1285. In 1597, it was part of the Buckhurst estate, a house of brick and Horsham stone with "... several courtyards, gardens, orchards, closes, rooms, two old dwelling houses, and a great barn."

As a school

The school was founded in Brighton in 1843 as a boys' school and moved to Ashdown House in 1886. It first became co-educational in 1975. [4] The last headmaster, from September 2019 to June 2020, was Hilary Phillips, previously of the prep school of Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls.

Historic abuse allegations

Allegations of physical and sexual abuse in the 1970s by multiple former pupils, investigated by law firm Slater & Gordon in 2013, were followed by widespread recollections from former pupils that the regime at the school in the late 20th century had been spartan and unforgiving, with boys or entire classes regularly punished with canings. [5] Abuse at the school is much of the subject of former pupil Alex Renton's book Stiff Upper Lip [6] and his BBC Radio 4 documentary In Dark Corners, [7] and is referred to in the memoirs of Andrew Mitchell. [8] [9]

In July 2014, Clive Williams, who was headmaster from 1975 to 2003, was interviewed by Sussex Police following allegations of sexual assault and child neglect. A computer and documents were taken from his home for examination. He was released on bail the same day, until 11 November, and was understood not to have been charged. The police said their investigation spanned the period from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. [10]

In January 2023 David Price, 76, who had taught at the school in the 1980s, was charged with three counts of indecent assault in the 1980s and was due in court in the following month. He was arrested after an 11-page account detailing alleged abuse was submitted to Cape Town police by a former pupil of Western Province preparatory school in the city. The complainant came forward after claims were made against Price and other former teachers by Alex Renton. [11]

Notable former pupils

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Academy</span> Public school in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Edinburgh Academy is a private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is on Arboretum Road to the north of the city's Royal Botanic Garden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammerwood Park</span> Country house near East Grinstead, Sussex, England

Hammerwood Park is a country house in Hammerwood, near East Grinstead, in East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building. One of the first houses in England to be built in the Greek Revival architectural style, it was built in 1792 as the first independent work of Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as a 'demonstration of primeval force', the house was owned by Led Zeppelin from 1973 until 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fettes College</span> School in Edinburgh, Scotland

Fettes College is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In 1978 the College had a nine-hole golf course, an ice-skating rink used in winter for ice hockey and in summer as an outdoor swimming pool, a cross-country running track and a rifle shooting range within the forested 300-acre grounds. Fettes is sometimes referred to as a public school, although that term was traditionally used in Scotland for state schools. The school was founded with a bequest of Sir William Fettes in 1870 and started admitting girls in 1970. It follows the English rather than the Scottish education system and has nine houses. The main building, called the Bryce Building, was designed by David Bryce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culford School</span> Public school in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England

Culford School is a co-educational private boarding and day school for pupils age 1–18 in the village of Culford, 4 miles (6.4 km) miles north of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. The head is traditionally a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Prep School head is a member of the IAPS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnard Castle School</span> Public school in County Durham, England

Barnard Castle School is a co-educational private day and boarding school in the market town of Barnard Castle, County Durham, in the North East of England. It is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). It was founded in 1883 with funding from a 13th-century endowment of John I de Balliol and the bequest of the local industrialist Benjamin Flounders. The ambition was to create a school of the quality of the ancient public schools at a more reasonable cost, whilst accepting pupils regardless of their faith.

St Benedict's School, usually referred to as St Benedict's, is a British co-educational independent Roman Catholic day school situated in Ealing, West London. A Benedictine Roman Catholic school, it accepts and educates pupils of all faiths.

The New Beacon Preparatory School is an independent all-boys preparatory school, located at Sevenoaks in the English county of Kent. It admits both day students and boarders aged between 4 and 13. The school also now offers a co-educational nursery for children 3 years of age and over. The school was founded in 1863, and has been on the current site since 1900. It had 62 students in 1913, and had grown to 400 students by 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldicott School</span> Preparatory school in Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire, England

Caldicott Preparatory School is a prep school for boys aged 7–13 in southern Buckinghamshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finborough School</span> Independent day and boarding school in Great Finborough, Suffolk, England

Finborough School is a co-educational independent school. It is situated in and around Finborough Hall, in the village of Great Finborough, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pitsford School</span> Co-educational independent school in Pitsford, Northamptonshire, England

Pitsford School, established 1989, is a co-educational, 3-18 independent school in Pitsford, Northamptonshire. Originally called Northamptonshire Grammar School, the school changed its name to Pitsford School in September 2011. Pitsford School is run by the Northamptonshire Independent Grammar School Charity Trust, set up on 27 July 1998. The trust was registered with the Charity Commission in August 1988 to promote and provide for the advancement of education. On 6 September 1989, the school opened with 47 boys admitted across three year groups, Y7-9. The founding Headmaster was Malcolm Tozer, the current headmaster is Craig Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Woodyer</span> English architect (1816–1896)

Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witham Hall</span> Preparatory day and boarding school in Witham on the Hill, Bourne, Lincolnshire, England

Witham Hall is an independent boarding and day school situated in Witham on the Hill, Lincolnshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Aubyns School</span> Preparatory day and boarding school in Brighton, East Sussex, England

St. Aubyns School was a boys' preparatory school in Rottingdean, East Sussex, England, which in its final years became co-educational and taught children of both sexes between the ages of three and thirteen. The school was founded in 1895, taking over the premises of another school which had been founded in the 18th century by Thomas Hooker, the local vicar who was also reputedly a lookout for the local smugglers.

Wispers is a Grade II listed British country house in the parish of Stedham with Iping near Midhurst, West Sussex. The house was built in 1874–1876 by architect Richard Norman Shaw, in the Tudor Revival style, more commonly known as "Mock Tudor". It has been added to considerably since. It was a private house from its construction until 1939; from 1939 onwards it has housed several schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherborne Preparatory School</span> Private preparatory day and boarding school in Sherborne, Dorset, England

Sherborne Preparatory School is a non-selective co-educational preparatory school in the town of Sherborne, Dorset in southern England. It is an independent preparatory school which merged with Sherborne School in April 2021. It continues to benefit from close links with the nearby Sherborne Girls. Pupils generally go on to other independent schools with a large proportion moving onto the Sherborne Schools as well as other schools, predominantly in South West England.

Several allegations of child sexual abuse have been made against clergy, members of religious orders and lay members of the Anglican Communion for events dating as far back as the 1960s. In many cases, these allegations have resulted in investigations, trials, and convictions.

Alexander James Torr Renton FRHistS is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of several historical and investigative books, including Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class (2017) and Blood Legacy: Reckoning With a Family's Story of Slavery (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sompting Abbotts Preparatory School</span> Independent school in West Sussex, United Kingdom

Sompting Abbotts Preparatory School is a historic West Sussex independent school in Sompting, near Worthing and Steyning. It educates children of both sexes aged 2 to 13. The school sits in parkland of 30 acres, which includes woodland, chalk grassland slopes and a pond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Evill</span> English architect and draughtsman (1873–1958)

Norman Adolphus Evill FRIBA was an English architect and draughtsman, apprenticed to Edwin Lutyens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Pincher scandal</span> 2022 political controversy in the United Kingdom

The Chris Pincher scandal was a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip, Chris Pincher. In early July 2022, allegations of Pincher's misconduct emerged, including allegations that pre-dated his appointment as Deputy Chief Whip.

References

  1. ↑ Fazio, Michael W.; Snadon, Patrick A. (2006). The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe. JHU Press. pp. 141–180. ISBN   9780801881046.
  2. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1965). Nairn, Ian (ed.). Sussex (2001 ed.). London: Penguin Books. pp. 62, 505. ISBN   9780300096774.
  3. 1 2 3 Coke, Hope (24 August 2021). "End of an era: Boris Johnson's prep school sold to developer for £5 million". The Tatler . Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  4. ↑ Ashdown House - History Archived October 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine "Ashdown House School". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Kennedy, Dominic (24 December 2013). "Prep school faces claims of physical and sexual abuse". The Times. p. 5.
  6. ↑ Anthony, Andrew (10 April 2017). "Book review: Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class". The Guardian.
  7. ↑ Renton, Alex (2022). In Dark Corners, episode 1: Ashdown House (Audio, 28'). BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Beyond a Fringe review - the rise and fall of Andrew Mitchell". The Guardian . 17 October 2021.
  9. 1 2 Pugh, Tom (11 July 2014). "Former head of Boris Johnson's prep school arrested over sex abuse". The Independent. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  10. ↑ Meikle, James (11 July 2014). "Boris Johnson's former school head held on suspicion of historical sex abuse". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  11. ↑ Weaver, Matthew (9 January 2023). "Retired teacher arrested in South Africa after BBC show on school abuse claims". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  12. ↑ Andrew Mitchell, Beyond a Fringe: Tales from a reformed Establishment lackey (London: Biteback Publishing, 2021), p. 5

51°06′09″N0°03′46″E / 51.1025°N 0.0629°E / 51.1025; 0.0629

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.