Mount House School, Tavistock

Mount House School
Tavistock
Information
Type	Independent school Day and boarding school Co-educational
Motto	Ut Prosim (That I May Serve)
Religious affiliation	Church of England
Established	1881
Founder	Miss Parker and Miss Tubbs
Closed	2014
Head Master	Paddy Savage
Gender	Co-educational
Age	3to 13
Colours	Black, White, Grey
Publication	Fanfare
Former pupils	OMH

Mount House was a coeducational preparatory school situated in the outskirts of Tavistock, Devon. In June 2014, the school formally merged with Kelly College to form Mount Kelly School. ^[1]

The school had fifty acres, including playing fields, set on the edge of Dartmoor and including a stretch of the River Tavy.

History

Mount House School was founded in 1881 by Miss Parker and Miss Tubbs at Alton House, Tavistock Hill, Plymouth. In 1890 the school moved location to North Hill, Plymouth (now the site of St Matthias church hall ^[2] ), moving in 1900 to larger premises at Mount House, Approach Road, Plymouth (Tubbs's birthplace). Plymouth was heavily bombed in World War II and the school re-located to a 50-acre site at Mount Tavy in 1940. The school was considerably developed from 1955 onwards by its last 'owner headmaster' H.P. 'Tony' Wortham (1919-2004) who made it over to a charitable trust on his retirement in 1984. The school subsequently became co-educational in 1996 with a pre-prep established for 3 to 7-year-olds.

The nearby public school Kelly College had often been a destination at age 13 for some Mount House pupils, ^[3] and the two institutions merged in 2014.

Facilities

Facilities that were available at Mount House:-

• All-weather pitch
• 6 grass pitches for rugby, football, cricket and rounders
• 700 square metre indoor sports hall
• 2 squash courts
• Out door cricket nets
• 3 cross country courses
• Netball court
• Tennis court
• 9 hole golf course
• 25m heated outdoor swimming pool
• Theatre
• Boating lake

Notable former pupils

• William Child Villiers, 10th Earl of Jersey, film and TV producer
• Ed Bye, film and TV producer and director
• Philip de Glanville, ^[4] former England Rugby captain
• Christopher Hitchens, ^[5] journalist
• Peter Hitchens, ^[6] author and writer
• Lord David Owen, ^[7] former Foreign Secretary and Leader of the SDP
• Lewis Pugh, endurance swimmer and ocean advocate
• David Somerset, chief cashier, Bank of England
• Paul Tyler, Liberal Democrat MP for Bodmin

References

1. "Bristol Live - latest local news, sport & business from Bristol".
2. "Category:St Matthias' Church, Plymouth - Wikimedia Commons". commons.wikimedia.org. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
3. "Fanfare — Mount House School 2007/2008". Yumpu. Archived from the original on 16 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
4. "Union marks beginning of new era".
5. www.whataboutawebsite.co.uk. "The Mount House School Association".
6. "Two of the Westcountry's most prestigious schools to merge". 17 March 2014.
7. "The University of Liverpool ~ SC&A ~ Home".