Ashdown House is a country house near

Forest Row Forest Row is a village and a large civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located three miles (5 km) south-east of East Grinstead. History The village draws its name from its proximity to the Ashdo ...

, in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. One of the first houses in England to be built in the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

architectural style, it was built in 1793 as the second independent work of

Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...

, and his last work in Britain prior to his emigration to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Latrobe's domes at Ashdown have been described by scholars as 'miniature prototypes' for his domes at the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

. Described by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

as 'very perfect indeed', the building served as a co-educational prep school from 1886 to 2020, educating many notable alumni.

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 Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 1843 as a boys' school and moved to Ashdown House in 1886. It first became co-educational in 1975. The last head teacher, from September 2019 to June 2020, was Hilary Phillips, previously of Monmouth School Girls' Prep.

Historic abuse allegations

Historical allegations of physical and sexual abuse in the 1970s by multiple former pupils, investigated by law firm

Slater & Gordon Slater & Gordon Lawyers is a law firm in Australia. The firm was founded in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1935 by a barrister and solicitor from Irymple, Victoria, Hugh Lyons Gordon, and Labor politician Bill Slater. The firm is one of Australia' ...

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

caning Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or ha ...

s. Abuse at the school is much of the subject of former pupil Alex Renton's book ''Stiff Upper Lip'' and his BBC Radio 4 documentary ''In Dark Corners'', and is referred to in the memoirs of

Andrew Mitchell Andrew John Bower Mitchell (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton Coldfield since 2001. A member of the Conservative Party, Mitchell was previously the MP for Gedling from 1987 to 1 ...

Notable former pupils

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (born 3 November 1961), styled as Viscount Linley until 2017 and known professionally as David Linley, is an English furniture maker, a former chairman of the auction house Christie's UK, ...

, furniture maker * Thomas Cholmondeley (1968–2016), Kenyan farmer *

Nicholas Coleridge Sir Nicholas David Coleridge (born 4 March 1957) is a British former media executive, author, and cultural chair. He is chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum, chairman of the Prince of Wales' Campaign for Wool, chairman of the Gilbert Trus ...

, publisher *

Charlie Cox Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in several projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, including lead roles in the television series ''Daredevil'' (201 ...

, actor * James Innes, author *

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

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Jo Johnson Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, (born 23 December 1971) is a British politician who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from July to September 2019, as well as previously from 2015 to 2 ...

, politician *

Rachel Johnson Rachel Sabiha Johnson (born 3 September 1965) is a British journalist, television presenter, and author who has appeared frequently on political discussion panels, including '' The Pledge'' on Sky News and BBC One's debate programme, ''Questi ...

, writer and journalist *

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...

, actor *

Nick Macpherson Nicholas Ian Macpherson, Baron Macpherson of Earl's Court, (born 14 July 1959) is a former senior British civil servant. He served as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2016. Macpherson was Permanent Secretary to three Chan ...

, civil servant *

, politician * Alex Renton, journalist and author * Joseph Simpson (1909–1968), Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police *

Fischer Watson Rear Admiral Fischer Burges Watson, (3 September 1884 – 14 August 1960) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Division. Naval career Born the eldest son of Rear Admiral Burges Watson and Marie Thérèse F ...

(1884–1960), Royal Navy officer

References

External links

* Defunct schools in East Sussex School buildings completed in 1794 Benjamin Henry Latrobe buildings and structures Grade II* listed buildings in East Sussex 1886 establishments in England Grade II* listed houses 2020 disestablishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2020 Forest Row {{EastSussex-school-stub