Mount House was a

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

situated in the outskirts of

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

; there was an associated preparatory school for primary school children. In June 2014, the school formally merged with

Kelly College Kelly College was a coeducational independent school in the English public school tradition situated in the outskirts of Tavistock, Devon, with around 350 students ranging from ages 3 to 18. There was an associated preparatory school for pri ...

to form

Mount Kelly School Mount Kelly School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition for pupils from 3 to 18, in Tavistock, Devon. History Mount Kelly was established in June 2014 following the merger of two ...

. The school had fifty

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s, including playing fields, set on the edge of

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

and including a stretch of the

River Tavy The Tavy () is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic root "Tam", once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'. It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and the villages o ...

History

Mount House School was founded in 1881 by Miss Parker and Miss Tubbs at Alton House, Tavistock Hill,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. In 1890 the school moved location to North Hill, Plymouth (now the site of St Matthias church hall), moving in 1900 to larger premises at Mount House, Approach Road, Plymouth (Tubbs's birthplace). Plymouth was heavily bombed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the school re-located to a 50-acre site at Mount Tavy in 1940. The school became a charitable trust in 1984, becoming co-educational in 1996 with a pre-prep established for 3 to 7-year-olds.

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 Edward Richard Morrison Bye (born 12 June 1955) is a British film and TV producer and director. He directed the episodes of the Science fiction, science-fiction British sitcom, sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' from List of Red Dwarf episodes, Series I-IV and V ...

, film and TV producer and director * Philip de Glanville, former

England Rugby The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions ...

captain *

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

, journalist *

Peter Hitchens Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 28 October 1951) is an English author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for ''The Mail on Sunday'' and was a foreign correspondent reporting from both Moscow and Washington, D.C. Peter Hitchens h ...

, author and writer * Lord

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...

, former Foreign Secretary and Leader of the SDP *

Lewis Pugh Lewis William Gordon Pugh, OIG, (born 5 December 1969) is a British-South African endurance swimmer and ocean advocate. Dubbed the "Sir Edmund Hillary of swimming", he is the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of th ...

, endurance swimmer and ocean advocate *

David Somerset David Robert Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort GCC (23 February 1928 – 16 August 2017), known as David Somerset until 1984, was an English peer and major landowner. An important figure in the world of fox hunting, he was also chairman of Marlb ...

, chief cashier,

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

Paul Tyler Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, Liberal Democrat MP for

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

References

{{authority control Defunct schools in Devon Educational institutions established in 1881 Educational institutions disestablished in 2014 Boarding schools in Devon Tavistock 1881 establishments in England 2014 disestablishments in England