Downside School

The College of St. Gregory the Great at Downside
Location
Stratton-on-the-Fosse , Somerset England
Information
Type	Independent school
Motto	Apud bonos iura pietatis (For good people, loyalty is the lawgiver)
Religious affiliation(s)	Catholic
Established	1606 in Douai, northern France; arrived in Downside in 1814
Founder	English Benedictine Monks in exile
Department for Education URN	123910 Tables
Chair	Abbot Aidan Bellenger
Head Master	Dom Leo Maidlow Davis, MA, BD, STL
Staff	c. 100
Gender	Coeducational
Age	11 to 18
Enrollment	425
Houses	Roberts, Barlow, Smythe and Powell for boys, with girls in Caverel and Isabella
Colour(s)	Maroon   and gold
Former pupils	Old Gregorians
Website	http://www.downside.co.uk/

Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey. The current headmaster is Dom Leo Maidlow Davis.

The school

Downside was founded in 1606 in Douai, France and is run by lay staff and the Benedictine monks of Downside Abbey. The Headmaster, Dom Leo Maidlow Davis OSB, and several other monks work in the school as teachers and chaplains. Currently one Housemaster in the school is a monk. The school is controlled by trustees who are the Abbot and six monks from Downside Abbey.

The school is divided into seven houses; five senior houses and two junior houses, with both day pupils and boarders in the same houses. Each house takes its name from the Community's martyrs or benefactors:

Plunkett House is the Junior House for 11 to 13 year olds. It is named after St Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh. The boys in Plunkett are housed in Ullathorne House (named after Bishop William Bernard Ullathorne) and the girls in Ramsey House (named after Dom Leander Ramsay). Powell House although in the senior school is a Junior House for all boys in Third Form before they join their senior house in Fourth Form. It is named after the Martyr Blessed Philip Powell, a monk of St Gregory’s at Douai.

Barlow House (Boys) is situated on the south-side of the main quad. It is named after the Martyr, Ambrose Barlow who was also a monk of St Gregory’s at Douai. The house colours are black and white.

Caveral House (Girls) was formerly a boys' house but was re-furbished and changed to a girls' house following the admission of girls to Downside in September 2005. Caveral is named after the Benefactor, Abbot Philip de Caverel. The house colours are green and white.

Isabella House (Girls) was founded in 2007 as a second girls' house in the senior school. The house is situated in a purpose built building in the south-east of the school grounds. Isabella is named after a Benefactor, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain and Portugal. The house colours are gold and blue.

Roberts House (Boys) is situated in the north and west sides of the main quad. It is named after the Maryr and monk of St. Gregory's in Douai, St. John Roberts. The house colours are red and white.

Smythe House (Boys) is situated in the east side of the main quad, and is named after the major Benefactor Sir Edward Smythe. The house colours are yellow and black.

History

Monks from the monastery of St Gregory’s, Douai, in Flanders, came to Downside in 1814. In 1607, St Gregory’s was the first house after the Reformation to begin conventual life with a handful of exiled Englishmen. For nearly 200 years St Gregory’s trained monks for the English mission and six of these men were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Two of these monks, SS John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow, were among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Imprisoned then driven from France at the Revolution, the community remained at Acton Burnell in Shropshire for 20 years before finally settling in Somerset in 1814. The Monastery was completed in 1876 and the Abbey Church in 1925, being raised to the rank of a minor basilica in 1935 by Pius XI.

Attached to the Monastery, the School provides a Catholic boarding education for boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 18 years. During the 19th century Downside remained a small monastic school. It was Dom Leander Ramsay who founded the modern Downside and planned the new buildings that opened in 1912 and now form two sides of the 'Quad'.

The 20th century brought about changes for Downside in the expansion of the school buildings and school numbers — over 600 boys at one point. Over the decades the number of pupils had been falling but development drives and renewed demand for boarding education has seen numbers rise.

As part of the renewal, girls were admitted in 2004. Since then, numbers of both boys and girls have been increasing every year. Since the opening of Isabella House in 2007, approximately 65% of the pupils are boys and 35% are girls.

Air Disaster

On Saturday 15 May 1943 a Royal Navy Hawker Sea Hurricane registration V6760 of Fleet Air Arm took off from RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) for a airshow at Downside Abbey with two other Hawker Sea Hurricane. At about 15:30 the two Sea Hurricanes began circling the Downside Abbey school grounds at what witnesses described as a very low altitude. One of the planes went out of control while turning steeply, clipped a tree, and crashed into a crowd of boys watching a cricket match. The pilot and nine people on the ground were killed, along with 14 people injured in the accident.

Child abuse

In January 2012, Father Richard White, a monk who formerly taught at the school, was jailed for five years for gross indecency and indecent assault against a pupil in the late 1980s. White, 66, who was known to pupils as Father Nick, had been allowed to continue teaching after he was first caught abusing a child in 1987 and was able to go on to groom and assault another pupil in the junior school. He was placed on a restricted ministry after the second incident but was not arrested until 2010. Two other Downside monks, also former teachers, received police cautions during an 18-month criminal trial.

Department for Education officials were said to be taking an urgent interest in child protection arrangements at the school. Inspection reports refer specifically to seven monks who have worked at the school at different times and whose behaviour has been “a cause for concern”. The Independent Schools Inspectorate had previously criticised a lack of urgency in making improvements to child protection. The Charity Commission has also sent a compliance team to work with the school on this, which it is treating as “a high-risk case”. The Abbot responded by apologising to parents and reported that 50 years of confidential school records indicated that four of the monks had faced police action, two had restrictions imposed on them, and one was cleared and returned to monastic life. A review of school governance was already taking place.

Sports

Sport is played at Downside with members of the school competing in a range of sports from rugby, football, netball, hockey, cricket, golf, polo and even the Downside Ball Game, a variation on Fives played on a purpose built outdoor court. Sport is played most afternoons at Downside with every pupil expected to participate at least three times a week.

Downside has historically been a rugby-playing school. There is a long-standing rivalry with Sherborne School, which often sees the whole school, 'Old Gregorians' (old boys/alumni) as well as a contingent from Sherborne on the sidelines.

Cricket ground

The first recorded match on the school's cricket ground was in 1898, when the school played Lansdown. In 1934, the ground hosted a single first-class match between Somerset and Glamorgan. In May 1943 a training flight crashed into the cricket ground while a game was being played, resulting in the deaths of 9 boys and the pilot.

Music

Downside is also renowned for its music. The Schola Cantorum (Choir) plays a major role in Downside's music. Not only singing for High Mass, the Schola Cantorum also holds public performances on a termly basis. It has recently performed a concert of twentieth century choral music, including music by Britten, Lauridsen and the Chichester Psalms by Bernstein. The summer term is always ended with a musical. Productions in recent years have included Oliver!, Grease, Guys and Dolls, High Society, Anything Goes and most recently the opera of Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Jazz in Downside is popular. The jazz band Slaughterhouse Seven has performed in Australia, Fiji, Canada, the United States, Malta, Gibraltar, Hong Kong and other places.

Press coverage

In the late 1990s, the release of a number of Gregorian chant records attracted much attention, with some controversy over the association with the Virgin brand.

In 2002, Father Antony Sutch OSB, then Head Master, featured heavily (including front page of The Daily Telegraph) when he attacked the 'geek culture' that is overwhelming schools and teachers due to government-imposed bureaucracy. He is frequently quoted on Catholicism and educational matters and has contributed to BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day since 2003.

In 2003, Downside was the setting for a controversial experiment whereby a teenager from London, Ryan Bell, who had been repeatedly expelled from state schools was sponsored to Downside by a TV production company to see if a 'difficult' student would do better in the independent sector. After excelling in his Latin set and on the rugby field, Bell was however eventually expelled after being caught drinking.

In 2004, a Benedictine monk was jailed for 18 months after taking indecent images of schoolboys and possessing child pornography when he was a teacher at Downside. In 2011, four monks from Downside were investigated by police. One of them, a former teacher, was arrested and charged with several counts of indecent assault and gross indecency against a pupil at the school in 1988 and 1989.

Notable alumni

For alumni, known as Old Gregorians, see List of Old Gregorians.

Former teachers

Former teachers include John Crockett, who set up his own theatre company and directed some episodes of Doctor Who before becoming Art master, and Ralph Prouton, who played cricket for Hampshire and football for Swindon Town before joining the teaching staff.

Jon Callard was a P.E. and Science master at Downside in the 1990s before becoming a professional Rugby Union player. He was an influence on Hugh Vyvyan, who went on to captain Saracens.

Richard Runciman Terry was organist and director of music at Downside between 1896 and 1901, before being appointed the first Director of Music at newly-built Westminster Cathedral and becoming a notable composer of church music.

External links

• Official website
• Music Department
• Old Gregorians