Carmel College was founded in 1948 as a British,

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for boys, modelled on British public schools. In later years it was, to some extent, co-educational, and there were a few non-Jewish day pupils. It closed down in 1997. Carmel College alumni are known as "Old Carmelis"; in 1973 the school was referred to as the "Jewish Eton" by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' correspondent, Chaim Bermant.

History and general information

The school was founded in 1948 by Rabbi Dr Yaacov Kopul Rosen; "there were about 25 pupils." It was first situated at

Greenham Common Royal Air Force Greenham Common or more simply RAF Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the English county of Berkshire. The airfield was southeast of Newbury, about west of Lo ...

near

Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in West Berkshire, England, in the valley of the River Kennet. It is south of Oxford, north of Winchester, southeast of Swindon and west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is also where West Berkshire Council is hea ...

, and then at Mongewell Park near

Wallingford, Oxfordshire Wallingford () is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, north of Reading, south of Oxford and north west of Henley-on-Thames. Although belonging to the historic county of Berkshire, it ...

. When it moved, it had "about 200 pupils." It was then one of the UK's three Jewish boarding schools, the others being in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

and Whittingehame College in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. It was closed in July 1997, mainly owing to diminishing pupil numbers and financial difficulties, having been affected by the proposed termination of government assisted places by the new Labour government and the rise of the

Jewish Day School A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jews, Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiat ...

Movement. The grounds were sold to

property developers Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

for an undisclosed sum. The sale was overturned by the

Charity Commission The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...

, however, following significant pressure from parents and former students who claimed the land was undersold. The distinctive concrete synagogue, with its stained glass windows created by Israeli artist

Nehemia Azaz Nehemia Azaz (), also Nehemiah, Henri or N H Azaz (9 October 1923 – 27 October 2008), was an Israeli sculptor, ceramicist and architectural artist, who spent half of his working life in the UK. Best known in Israel as founder of the Department ...

, the

dining hall A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a schoo ...

, and the

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, designed by local architect Thomas Hancock, are Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s; the Julius Gottlieb gallery and

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

, designed by Sir

Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...

, is Grade II* listed. When it closed, the school was attended by children from the age of 11 to 18 – although earlier there had been a preparatory school which took children from around the age of 8. Later a girls' school was built about a mile from the main campus, although the buildings were never actually used for this purpose. Instead, it was turned into a

junior school A junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at an infant school, which covers the age range 5–7. Since both infant and junior schools provide pri ...

in the late 1960s for children up to the age of 13, when they moved to the main school. The junior school was closed down several years before Carmel, and the buildings sold. Girls were later admitted into the main school, starting at the sixth form in 1968. Daughters of teachers at the school had been admitted before this, including the daughter of Rabbi Kopul Rosen. The principals or headmasters were: the founder, Kopul Rosen, until his death in 1962; David Stamler, 1962–71; Kopul Rosen's eldest son, Jeremy Rosen, 1971–84; and Philip Skelker, until the school closed. Boarding fees in 1996 were £10,000 per school term, £30,000 per year. From 1990 it was the most expensive boarding school in the country. There were many students from abroad, especially in later years, and some scholarships. Many students went on to university, including major universities in Britain and overseas. When the school closed, many pupils were transferred to a boarding school in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

, which until May 2005 had a Jewish boarding house. The school practised a mainstream

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

, more Orthodox than the practice of most of the pupils' families. The aim was to turn out students who were authentic Jews, but also aware of secular modes of thought. The school was strong in mathematics and science subjects, with a chemistry department developed by the innovative chemistry master Romney Coles, author of ''Chemistry Diagrams'', a book illustrating industrial chemical processes. Coles had the position of Headmaster when Kopul Rosen was Principal. Mongewell Park

There is a history of the school's early days: ''Carmel College in the Kopul Era: A History of Carmel College, September 1948-March 1962''. In October 2015 former housemaster Trevor Bolton was convicted of abusing boys at the school over a period of 20 years.

Location

The school grounds in Mongewell Park had the straightest run of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

flowing past it, and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

made full use of this during their preparation for the annual

Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

Notable people connected with Carmel College

* Spencer Batiste, MP, later Immigration Appeal Tribunal chairman * Jeremy Coller, financial executive * David Dangoor DL, businessman and philanthropist *

Raymond Dwek Raymond Allen Dwek Order of the British Empire, CBE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, FRSC (born 10 November 1941) is a scientist at the University of Oxford and co-founder of the biotechnology company Ox ...

, scientist * Matthew Engel, journalist, formerly Editor of ''Wisden'' *

Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman, and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. In May 2 ...

, British businessman, owner of the

Arcadia Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (B ...

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (; born 17 November 1945) is an English film and television film director, director, Film producer, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the critically-acclaimed films ''The Killing Fields (film), The Killing Field ...

, English-French film director *

Harvey Lisberg Harvey Brian Lisberg (born 2 March 1940) is an English talent manager and impresario, best known for discovering Herman's Hermits in 1963. In 1965, he signed songwriter Graham Gouldman, a founder member of 10cc, who Lisberg also managed, along w ...

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager, or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of Entertainer, artists within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to ove ...

and

impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...

Edward Luttwak Edward Nicolae Luttwak (born 4 November 1942) is an American author known for his works on grand strategy, military strategy, geoeconomics, military history, and international relations. He is best known for being the author of '' Coup d'Éta ...

, strategic analyst and historian * Houda Nonoo, Ambassador of Bahrain to the United States from 2008 to 2013 * Murray Roston, teacher at Carmel College, later professor at Bar-Ilan University, Israel * Ray Singer, record producer * Kenny Wax, theatre producer

In popular culture

The Mansion House was an old

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

with particular significance.

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

(who lived nearby in Wallingford) used it as the basis for the mansion in her 1952 play ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The play opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemi ...

''. The headmaster's study was also the room used for the final briefing of the

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

mission following the Dam Busters raid. There is a pillbox on the school grounds, beside the river. A scene in the 2011 film ''The Iron Lady'', where

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

is perfecting her prime-ministerial voice, was shot on location in the synagogue of Carmel College. In 2013 and 2014

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

and the

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...

shot videos in the school's

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

. In the 2016 film, '' Mindhorn'', the Carmel College synagogue is used as the location for scenes depicting the exterior and interior of fictional civic hall offices on the Isle of Man (approx timestamp 00:53:40 and 01:08:40). The science fiction film, ''

Annihilation In particle physics, annihilation is the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle to produce other particles, such as an electron colliding with a positron to produce two photons. The total energy a ...

'' (2018), starring

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

, uses the Carmel College swimming pool and other areas for scenes involving the Fort Amaya military base (approx timestamp 00:42:05-00:49:05). In 2017, the library of the mansion house was used for filming interior scenes of Stalin's living quarters in the film ''

The Death of Stalin ''The Death of Stalin'' is a 2017 political satire black comedy film written and directed by Armando Iannucci and co-written by David Schneider and Ian Martin with Peter Fellows. Based on the French graphic novel '' La Mort de Staline'' (20 ...

''. In 2018, the art room in the teaching block, the interior of the Julius Gottlieb Gallery, the exterior and interior of the mansion house, the lake and the ruined church were used in scenes from

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's production of

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

's '' The Little Drummer Girl''. In 2020, the pool was used for the cover of the album '' Build a Problem'' by Dodie, as well as in photoshoots.

References

External links