Ladycross School
50°46′28″N 0°07′56″E / 50.7745°N 0.1323°E
 | This article possibly contains original research. (February 2011) |
Ladycross was a Catholic preparatory school based in Seaford, East Sussex, overlooking the downs with trenches which led up to the cliffs. Founded in 1891, more than 2,000 pupils attended it before its closure in 1977.
History
In 1941 the school was temporarily evacuated to Salperton Park, Gloucestershire. After the sale of the school by the Ropers (the founding family) in the 1950s, the school was owned by a Birmingham stockbroker and classicist called Michael Feeny.
Feeny, alas, had no educational experience and standards quickly deteriorated amid staff defections, dwindling pupil numbers and low morale. Eventually, while trying to make a fast buck during the mid 70's property boom, he got his timing wrong and managed to bankrupt the school, which forced to close down.
Notable former pupils
Among the pupils was David Auldjo Jamieson, who won the Victoria Cross.[1] The children of the actor Richard Harris attended the school, so did Charles Sturridge (film dir/prod). Also pupils were members of the Dutch Brenninkmeijer family, founders of the C&A retail empire; children of the Wates family, owners of the construction company Wates Group; Simon, Dominick and Richard Elwes; John Addington-Sidmouth; Tremayne Rodd-Rennell; An important foreign colony studied there, mostly from the French aristocracy : duc de Brissac, duc de Mac Mahon, duc Decazes, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville, duca d'Aosta.
School life
The school motto was "Vox vocis sonat, vox exempli tonat" (also a school anthem which roughly translates as "The voice of the voice sounds, the voice of example thunders"). A yearbook called The Red Book provided a summary of annual sports and academic achievements, photos, stories and news, from and for parents and old boys.
Daily mass in a small but charming Chapel, was optional but spiritual cleanliness was upheld by substituting morning mass for cold showers (a wake-up call for mass preceded general wake-up by 15 minutes).[2]
References
- ^ "Maj David Jamieson VC CVO". Retrieved 2008-02-20.
- ^ Collective Memories of Keeling and Crean family pupils 1963-1977
- Leinster-Mackay, Donald (1984). The Rise of the English Prep School. Taylor & Francis. p. 297. ISBN 0905273745.
(1977 closure)
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