St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usually taken around the age of 13) to gain admission to leading

public schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

, and to provide an introduction to boarding school life.

History

St Cyprian's was founded in 1899 by Lewis Vaughan Wilkes and his wife Cicely Comyn, a newly married couple in their twenties. It originally operated in a large house in Carlisle Road, but by 1906 had grown sufficiently to move into new purpose-built facilities with extensive playing fields behind Summerdown Road. The school ran with the prevailing ethos of

Muscular Christianity Muscular Christianity is a philosophical movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, masculinity, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. The mov ...

which had typified private education since the time of

Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wid ...

of Rugby, and placed much emphasis on developing self-reliance and integrity ("Character"). In these and many other respects St Cyprian's was little different from the other leading prep schools of the time. The school submitted itself annually to an independent academic assessment, conducted by Sir Charles Grant Robertson fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. The school uniform was a green shirt with a pale blue collar, corduroy breeches and a cap with a

Maltese Cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which develop ...

for a badge. The high success rate in achieving scholarships to leading public schools including Eton and

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

attracted ambitious parents. However, the Wilkeses appreciated that public school scholarships were really intended for talented children from less well-off families, and so they provided places at St Cyprian's at significantly reduced fees for deserving cases, in the hope that they would attain these scholarships. Two further features distinguished St Cyprian's. The first was the proximity to

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the ea ...

, which was fully exploited to give opportunities to the boys for running wild, studying natural history, walking, picnics, riding and even golf on the adjacent links. The second was the overwhelming impact of Mrs Wilkes (known as "Mum"). She was in total control of the school and in the days before female emancipation this made a great impression on her charges. The resulting ambivalence was exacerbated by a fiery temper and by the way her mood flipped between firm discipline and generous indulgence. Mrs Wilkes was a great believer in history teaching and saw the

Harrow History Prize The Harrow History Prize or the Townsend Warner Preparatory Schools History Prize is an annual history competition for children at British Preparatory school (UK), preparatory schools. It currently attracts around 800 entrants each year. History ...

as an opportunity to bring it into the classics-dominated curriculum. Mrs Wilkes also taught English, and stimulated generations of writers with her emphasis on clear, high quality writing. In addition to Mrs Wilkes, a major influence was the second master R. L. Sillar, who joined the school staff soon after it opened and stayed for 30 years. With his interest in natural history, his skill at shooting, his art teaching and his magic lantern shows he broadened the curriculum considerably and is revered in Old Boy's accounts. In its fortieth year, the school building was gutted by fire on 14 May 1939, and a housemaid died in a fall from an upper window. Emergency accommodation was arranged at

Ascham St. Vincent's School Ascham St Vincent's School was an English preparatory school for boys at Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usually taken around the age of 13) to gai ...

, the buildings of a preparatory school in Eastbourne which had recently closed. On 20 July 1939, St Cyprian's moved to Whispers, near

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

in West Sussex. It stayed there for 18 months until the building was requisitioned by the army during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. As a result of this double blow, numbers dwindled and after a brief combination with Rosehill School in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

the remaining boys went with the then-headmaster, W. J. V. Tomlinson (Bill), to join the old rival Summer Fields School, in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. The school playing fields were sold to

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson. Overv ...

. In April 1997, Eastbourne Civic Society (now The Eastbourne Society), in conjunction with the County Borough of Eastbourne, erected a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

at the house in Summerdown Road which was connected with the school and which was Mrs Wilkes's residence in later years.

Former pupils

The school was attended, among others, by: *Sir

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Academy Awards, Oscar–winning stage design, stage and costume de ...

(1904–1980) – photographer, stage designer * Douglas Blackwood (1909–1997) –

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended ...

fighter pilot, publisher * Derwent Hall Caine (1891–1971) – actor, publisher and Labour politician *

Walter John Christie Walter Henry John Christie CSI, CIE, OBE (17 December 1905 – 25 August 1983) was a British colonial civil servant (Indian Civil Service) who played a key part in the independence of India and provided administrative continuity after independ ...

(1905–1982) –

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

civil servant *

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tr ...

(1928–1999) – military historian, Conservative politician and diarist *

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine '' Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote '' Enemies of Promise'' (1938), which comb ...

(1903–1974) – literary critic and writer * John Edmondson, 2nd Baron Sandford (1920–2009) – naval commander, clergyman, politician (

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) *

John D. Eshelby John Douglas Eshelby FRS (21 December 1916 – 10 December 1981) was a scientist in micromechanics. His work has shaped the fields of defect mechanics and micromechanics of inhomogeneous solids for fifty years and provided the basis for the q ...

(1916–1981) – scientist in micromechanics ("Eshelby's Inclusion") * Henry R B Foote, VC (1904–1993) – Major-General; awarded the Victoria Cross for World War II service in North Africa * Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale (1897–1974) – World War I veteran, who lost his eyesight at the Somme; Chairman of St Dunstan's Charity; MP; BBC Governor; first Life Peer * Dyneley Hussey (1893–1972) – war poet, music critic * Alan Hyman (1910-1999) – author, journalist and screenwriter * Alaric Jacob (1909–1995) – journalist, writer * David Kindersley (1915–1995) – stonecutter, letterer, typographer *

Henry Longhurst Henry Carpenter Longhurst (18 March 1909 – 21 July 1978) was a British golf writer and commentator. For 45 years, he was golfing correspondent of the ''Sunday Times''. During World War II, Longhurst was also a member of parliament (MP) for Act ...

(1909–1978) – MP, golfer, golf correspondent * Rupert Lonsdale (1905–1999) – World War II submarine commander/POW, Anglican clergyman *

Seymour de Lotbiniere Seymour Joly de Lotbiniere (21 October 1905 – 6 November 1984) known as "Lobby" was a Director of the British Broadcasting Corporation and pioneer of outside broadcasts. He is recognised as developing the technique of sports commentary on radi ...

(1905–1984) – BBC Director of outside broadcasting who initiated Test match commentary and masterminded the televising of the 1953 Coronation *

Patrick de Maré Patrick Baltzar de Maré (also De Mare, de Mare, ; 27 January 1916 – 17 February 2008) was a British consultant psychotherapist with a special interest in group psychotherapy. He published several works on psychotherapy. Maré was born in Londo ...

(1916–2008) – British Army psychiatrist; consultant psychotherapist who specialized in group psychotherapy * John Marsden (1915–2004) – British intelligence officer, Eton schoolmaster and sculler *

Gavin Maxwell Gavin Maxwell FRSL FZS FRGS (15 July 19147 September 1969) was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book '' Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) about how he brought an otte ...

(1914–1969) – naturalist, writer * E. H. W. Meyerstein (1889–1952) – writer, scholar * Anthony Mildmay (1909–1950) – amateur steeplechase jockey who rode in the Grand National *

Russi Mody Rustomji Homusji Mody, known to most as Russi Mody (17 January 1918 – 16 May 2014) was a chairman and managing director of Tata Steel and a leading member of the Tata Group. Early years Russi was born on 17 January 1918 in Bombay (now Mum ...

(1918-2014) – Indian businessman *Sir

Cedric Morris Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his port ...

Bt. (1889–1982) – artist, horticulturalist *

Jagaddipendra Narayan Sir Jagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, (15 December 1915 – 11 April 1970) was Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, in India. He served in British forces during World War II and ceded full ruling powers to the Government of India in 1949. Early li ...

(1915–1970) –

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great Monarch, king" or "high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Em ...

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in t ...

*Sir

Hugh Norman-Walker Sir Hugh Selby Norman-Walker (17 December 1916 – 28 August 1985) was a British colonial official. He served in India from 1938 to 1948. Joining the Colonial Office in 1949, he successively served as an Administrative Officer and an Assistant ...

(1916–1985) – Colonial Office official whose posts included Governor of the Seychelles and Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong * Toby O'Brien (1909–1979) – public relations expert who led Britain's efforts to counter Nazi Germany's propaganda * David Ogilvy (1911–1999) – Advertising executive – known as the "Father of Advertising" *Sir David Ormsby-Gore, KCMG (1918–1985) – politician; British Ambassador to the USA *

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalita ...

(né Eric Blair) (1903–1950) – writer, journalist, Spanish Civil War loyalist, author of ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...

'' *

Kenneth Payne Kenneth Martin Payne (8 September 1912 – 24 April 1988) was a British rower who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics. Payne was the son of Dr John Ernest Payne, a surgeon, and his wife psychoanalyst Sylvia Payne. His father had rowed for Ca ...

(1912–1988) – Olympic rower * Alec Pearce (1910–1982) – cricketer for Kent CCC, MCC and Hong Kong *

Geoffrey Pidcock Air Vice Marshal Geoffrey Arthur Henzell Pidcock, (6 November 1897 – 12 February 1976) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. After becoming a flying ace in the First World War, credited with six aerial victories, he remained in the ne ...

(1897–1976) – World War I RAF ace * H. Q. A. Reeves (1909–1955) – engineer (

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secret weapon) *

Charles Rivett-Carnac Charles Edward Rivett-Carnac (August 31, 1901 – July 18, 1980) was a Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Biography Early life A descendant of Sir James Rivett-Carnac, Rivett-Carnac, was born in Eastbourne, Sussex, England ...

(1901–1980) – Commissioner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) * Robert de Ropp (1913–1987) – biochemist, cancer research, writer on spiritual enlightenment * James Collingwood Tinling (1900–1983) – RAF Officer, who co-built the first jet engine *Sir Charles Hyde Villiers (1912–1992) – Businessman; one-time Chairman of British Steel *Sir

Lashmer Whistler General Sir Lashmer Gordon Whistler, (3 September 1898 – 4 July 1963), known as "Bolo", was a British Army officer who served in both the world wars. A junior officer during the First World War, during the Second World War he achieved senior ...

(1898–1963) – General in British Army at El Alamein, Normandy landings and Operation Market Garden * John Vaughan Wilkes (1902–1986) – Warden of Radley College and clergyman * Richard Wood, MP (1920–2002) – Conservative politician and minister *

Philip Ziegler Philip Sandeman Ziegler (born 24 December 1929) is a British biographer and historian. Background Born in Ringwood, Hampshire, Ziegler was educated at St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne, and went with the school when it merged with Summer Fie ...

(born 1929) – historian

Former teachers

Charles Edgar Loseby Charles Edgar Loseby (1881 – 1970) was a captain, lawyer and United Kingdom, British politician being Member of Parliament for Bradford East (UK Parliament constituency), Bradford East. Before World War I, he was a teacher at St Cyprian's Sc ...

– National Democratic and Labour Party MP

Accounts and recollections

The school's three most prominent writers included accounts of the school in their works. Connolly recalled his time at St Cyprian's in ''

Enemies of Promise ''Enemies of Promise'' is a critical and autobiographical work written by Cyril Connolly first published in 1938. It comprises three parts, the first dedicated to Connolly's observations about English literature and the English literary world of ...

'', published in 1938 with the name of the school disguised as "St. Wulfric's". With wry humour, he mocked the Wilkes and the ethos of "Character building", writing ''"We called the headmistress Flip and the headmaster Sambo. Flip, around whom the whole system revolved, was able, ambitious, temperamental and energetic."'' Connolly questioned the practice of British parents sending young children to boarding preparatory schools but concluded ''"Yet St yprian'swhere I now went was a well run and vigorous example which did me a world of good."'' His friend,

, disagreed and wrote disparagingly and bitterly of the school in the quasi-autobiographical essay '' Such, Such Were the Joys'', first published in the ''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated Joh ...

'' (Sept.- Oct. 1952). By Orwell's own admission this was too libelous to print and under British libel laws could not be published while the people described in it were still living. It appeared in print in the United States in 1952 with the name of the school changed to "Crossgates", but not in the United Kingdom until after the death of Mrs. Wilkes. The thrust of Orwell's criticism was directed at the system of boarding school education that sent children away from their homes when they were no more than 7 or 8 years old, and at the unreflective elitism and classism of Britain before the First World War. This is evident from one of the closing passages of Orwell's essay.

''"How would St Cyprian's appear to me now, if I could go back, at my present age, and see it as it was in 1915? What should I think of Sambo and Flip, those terrible, all-powerful monsters? I should see them as a couple of silly, shallow, ineffectual people, eagerly clambering up a social ladder which any thinking person could see to be on the point of collapse."''

Orwell attacked the presence of "nouveaux riches" and aristocrats at the school, who he thought received preferential treatment. In contrast, Gavin Maxwell's parents had chosen the school because it was less elitist and aristocratic than older prep schools. Maxwell found the school tough, but left primarily because he felt he was the target of resentment because of his aristocratic parents with their Scottish estates. Longhurst, who had great admiration for the school and for Mrs. Wilkes, described these authors' accounts of the school as unrecognizable, and would frequently defend ''"a very fine school"'' in response to reviewers of Orwell's work. His views were shared by W J L Christie, Indian Civil Service, who wrote a riposte to Orwell in defence of the school in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 18 ...

'' (owned and edited by Douglas Blackwood). Both were particularly incensed by what in their opinion were totally inaccurate accusations against the Wilkeses. Cecil Beaton, who was at the school with Orwell, had a different reaction, describing the work as ''"Hilariously funny – but exaggerated"''. Orwell's essay has been dissected in detail and its reliability questioned by Pearce. Nearly all accounts of former pupils declare that the school gave them a good start in life but views of Mrs. Wilkes vary. David Ogilvy is critical, but Alaric Jacob praises her teaching, and Foote, Rivett-Carnac, and Wright refer to her with great affection. It was Connolly who, after reading his parents' papers, wrote apologetically: ''"The Wilkes were true friends and I had caricatured their mannerisms ... and read mercenary motives into much that was just enthusiasm"'' and he described Mrs. Wilkes as ''"a warm-hearted and inspired teacher"''.Cyril Connolly, ''The Evening Colonnade'' (1973) Walter Christie's cap and other items are currently displayed at the Chalk Farm Hotel in Willingdon.

References

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External links