Douai School was a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

(

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

) school run by the

Douai Abbey Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton ...

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

community at Woolhampton,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, until it closed in 1999.

History

1615–1818

The monastic community was founded in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1615 and moved to

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

taking over the former buildings of the community of

St Gregory Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

. The monastery provided educational opportunities from the beginning, but had no formal school in its first decades of existence. A boarding school later emerged in a dependent priory at La Celle.

1818–1903

Following the move to Douai in 1818, and the refoundation of the community by Richard Marsh, a more recognisable school emerged and by 1823, there were 28 boys on the roll. Around that time, the fees for students were being advertised at £32 a year or £30 for church students. Links with the Roman Catholic dioceses in England were crucial to the school's survival. In the 1880s the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshire ...

was sending seven boys a year to the school. Rather than the vertical

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

of English schools, Douai retained the horizontal divisions of 'Rhetoric', 'Poetry', 'Grammar' and 'Syntax' throughout the nineteenth century, and even for a time in its new home in England.

1903–1999

The modern school in Woolhampton, Berkshire was formed by the site's pre-existing St Mary's College's merging with the school of the incoming

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

community that moved from

in June 1903 as a result of

Waldeck-Rousseau Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served as the Prime Minister of France. Early life Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Brittany. His father, René Wa ...

's Law of Associations (1901). Former pupils lobbied the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...

to raise the matter of the expulsion in Parliament. However it was Roman Catholic English Tories who espoused the cause: Lord Edmund Talbot in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

and 11th Lord Herries of Terregles in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

. The merger produced a school of 109 boy boarders, which had fallen to only 63 by 1911. Its long history in France and its monastic influence meant that Douai, although an independent boarding school, had in large part escaped the influence of the public school ethos that had developed in 19th-century England. However, in 1920, Douai was admitted to membership of the

Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Uni ...

. In the 1930s David Matthew, later Apostolic Delegate for Africa, congratulated the headmaster,

Ignatius Rice William Ignatius Rice (1883–1955), known in religion as Dom Ignatius Rice, O.S.B., was an English Benedictine monk of Douai Abbey, a headmaster of Douai School (1915–1952), and a first-class cricketer. He was reputedly "the only monk whose ...

, on the fact that: "no Catholic school has been so free from the influence of Arnold of Rugby as Douai has been." Day boys were admitted from the early 1960s, when annual boarding fees were £360. By 1984, there was a record number of 333 pupils. The school became

co-educational 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 ...

in 1993.

post closure

In November 2017 a former House Master at Douai, Father Michael Creagh, was found guilty at

Reading Crown Court Reading Crown Court is a judicial facility in Reading, Berkshire. It is a Grade II listed building. History The building, which was designed by the county surveyor, John Clacy, in the Baroque revival style and built at a cost of £21,644, was ...

of two counts of child abuse offences which were committed while he was at the Boarding School.

Headmasters

The first headmaster was not appointed until 1909, replacing the older system of a Prefect of Studies and a Prefect of Discipline jointly managing the school under the oversight of the Abbot. A series of headmasters followed in quick succession, before stability was provided by Fr

(headmaster 1915–1952).

was a friend of G. K. Chesterton whose

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intui ...

novels were based on Father O'Connor, a mutual friend, and he was influential in Chesterton's conversion to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1922. In his younger days he played cricket for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

during the summer holidays and for some years enjoyed the distinction of being the only monk whose cricket performances were chronicled in Wisden. In 2005, Edmund Power (headmaster 1993–97) was elected Abbot of the

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls ( it, Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in th ...

in Rome.

List of Headmasters

* Fr Adrian Coughlin OSB (1909–1911) * Fr Laurence Powell OSB (1911–1915) * Fr Antony Richardson OSB (1915) * Fr

OSB (1915–1952) * Fr Alphonsus Tierney OSB (1952–1973) * Fr Brian Murphy OSB (1973–1975) * Fr Wilfrid Sollom OSB PhD DIC (1975–1987) * Fr Geoffrey Scott OSB PhD FSA FRHistS (1987–1993) * Fr Edmund Power OSB PhD (1993–1997) *

Peter McLaughlin Peter McLaughlin (born 1956) is an Irish academic, historian, and educator. He is the CEO of Max Learning Limited, the educational arm of the Max Group. He was Headmaster of The Doon School. Before joining Doon in 2009, he served as Headmaster ...

PhD (1997–1999)

Buildings

In 1786 the

Earl of Fingall Earl of Fingall and Baron Fingall were titles in the Peerage of Ireland. Baron Fingall was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The seat of the title-holders was, from its establishment until 1953, Killeen Castle in County Meath, Ireland ...

, the squire of Woolhampton sold his Woolhampton estate and moved to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. His family had been

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

Roman Catholics and had maintained a chapel and chaplain at Woolhampton House (now

Elstree School Elstree School is an English preparatory school for children aged 3–13 at Woolhampton House in Woolhampton, near Newbury in the English county of Berkshire. The school has announced plans to become fully co-educational from September 2020. H ...

). On leaving the neighbourhood he left his chaplain to minister to the local Roman Catholics and endowed him with some of lands and some cottages. Three of these cottages stood on the site of the entrance tower, and in one of these, Woolhampton Lodge, the priest lived and had a chapel. The oldest part of the current buildings date from around 1830. The main entrance and tower were constructed in 1888 in the Tudor Gothic style; the architect was Frederick Walters. In 1829 Fr Stephen Dambrine was appointed to Woolhampton. He embarked on a building programme which included a chapel in the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

opened in 1833 to replace the chapel in Woolhampton Lodge, and which itself was replaced by the present St Mary's in 1848. The cricket pavilion was built in 1922 to honour the 56 Old Boys of both Douai and St Mary's College who were killed in the First World War. In the early years at Woolhampton, the school was seen as an appendage to the monastery and it was only with the foundation of a separate abbey church in the 1930s and the creation of distinct school and monastic refectories in 1944 that a degree of separation emerged. The Monastery was greatly expanded in the 1960s with the building of the new monastery designed by

Sir Frederick Gibberd Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd (7 January 1908 – 9 January 1984) was an English architect, town planner and landscape designer. He is particularly known for his work in Harlow, Essex, and for the BISF house, a design for a prefabricated counci ...

. Haydock Hall, the study hall, was briefly converted into a film set for the shooting of the dormitory scenes in the 1990 film ''

Three Men and a Little Lady ''Three Men and a Little Lady'' is a 1990 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino. It is the sequel to the 1987 film '' Three Men and a Baby''. Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson reprise the leading roles. Plot Peter, Michael ...

''. The former school buildings were also used as a location for the 2002 television film of '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips''. After the closure of the School, the site was developed by Bewley Homes. The theatre block, swimming pool, science laboratories and Ditcham house were demolished, and were replaced by new housing. The main school buildings were redeveloped as private housing. The gatehouse, hall and three blocks of buildings are grade II* listed. In July 2017, a clubhouse for Old Boys and a museum was opened on the site of the former cricket pavilion.

Houses

In 1951, the school was finally divided into houses, each under a monastic housemaster: Samson House, named after Abbot

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

of medieval Bury St Edmunds; Faringdon House, named after the martyred last abbot of Reading Abbey Hugh Faringdon; Walmesley House, after Bishop Charles Walmesley, the eighteenth-century member of the Community who had been a mathematician and astronomer. In 1980, a new house was created Gifford House, to commemorate Archbishop

Gabriel Gifford Gabriel Gifford OSB (also known as Dom Gabriel of St Mary or french: Gabriel de Sainte-Marie) (1554 – 11 April 1629) was an English Roman Catholic Benedictine monk who became Archbishop of Reims. Life Born William Gifford in Hampshire t ...

. Faringdon ceased to exist in 1992, again leaving just three Houses.

Former pupils

Former pupils are known as Old Dowegians and are eligible to join the Douai Society, founded in 1868. Notable former pupils include:

La Celle

Patrick Cary Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

(c.1623-57), poet * Rev Francis Fenwick (1645–94), monk * Henry Howard (1757-1842), historian * Henry Swinburne (1743-1803), travel writer * Sir John Swinburne, Bt (1762-1860), Whig MP

St Edmund's College, Douai

* Most Rev James Billsborrow (1862–1931), Archbishop of Cardiff *

William Canton William Canton (27 October 1845 – 2 May 1926) was a British poet, journalist and writer, now best known for his contributions to children's literature. These include his series of three books, beginning with ''The Invisible Playmate'', written for ...

(1845–1926), author * Rt Rev Bernard Collier (1802–90), Bishop of Port-Louis * Rt Rev William Cotter (1866–1940), Bishop of Portsmouth * Rt Rev Joseph Cowgill (1860–1936), Bishop of Leeds *

Edward Micklethwaite Curr Edward Micklethwaite Curr (25 December 1820 – 3 August 1889) was an Australian pastoralist, author, advocate of Australian Aboriginal peoples, and squatter. Biography Curr was born in Hobart, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land), the e ...

(1820-1889), Australian settler *

Gustave Doyen Gustave Doyen (1836 in Festieux – 1923 in Fontainebleau) was a French painter working during 19th and 20th centuries in France. He was educated at St Edmund's College in Douai and trained by William Bouguereau. He exhibited his paintings ...

(1836-1923), French painter * Rt Rev Robert Fraser (1858-1914), Bishop of Dunkeld * Rt Rev Matthew Harkins (1845-1921), American Bishop of

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

* Michael A. Healy (1839–1904), US Coast Guard commander * Most Rev Dr Frederick Keating (1859-1928), Archbishop of Liverpool * Most Rev John McIntyre (1855-1935), Archbishop of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

* Rt Rev John McNulty (1879-1943), Bishop of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

* Monsignor John O'Connor (1870-1952), priest * Most Rev Benedict Scarisbrick OSB (1828-1908), Archbishop of

Cyzicus Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...

* Rt Rev Thomas Pearson OSB (1870-1938), Bishop of Lancaster * Fr Ignatius Rice OSB (1883-1955), headmaster *

Luis Subercaseaux Luis Subercaseaux Errázuriz (10 May 1882–1973) was a Chilean diplomat and athlete. He is claimed to be the first Chilean and Latin American sportsman to have competed in the Olympic Games, at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Biography Bo ...

(1882-1973), Chilean athlete and diplomat * Pedro Subercaseaux (1880-1956), Chilean painter and priest * Georges Tattegrain (1845-1916), French lawyer and poet

St Mary's College, Woolhampton

* A.M. Burrage (1889–1956), author * Rt Rev Arthur Doubleday (1865-1951), Bishop of Brentwood

Douai School, Woolhampton

* Juan Edgardo Angara (1972– ), Filipino politician *Adrian Dally (1966- ), former senior civil servant, including private secretary to two cabinet ministers, and currently Director of Motor Finance and Strategy at the Finance and Leasing Association * Anthony Bertram (1897–1978), art historian and novelist * Michael Blower MBE (1929–1999), architect * Sir Daniel Brabin MC QC (1913–75), judge * Pablo Casado Blanco (1981- ), Spanish Leader of the Opposition * Sir Edward William Dutton Colt, Bt (1936– ) * Simon Craven (1961–90), 8th

Earl of Craven Earl of Craven, in the County of York, is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1664 in favour of the ...

* J. A. Cuddon (1928–96), writer * Tristan Davies (1956– ), journalist *

Christopher Derrick Christopher Hugh Derrick (12 June 1921 – 2 October 2007) was an English author, reviewer, publisher's reader and lecturer. All his works are informed by wide interest in contemporary problems and a lively commitment to Catholic teaching. Li ...

(1921–2007), writer *

Michael Derrick John Michael Derrick (3 January 1915 – 5 August 1961) was a leading figure in Roman Catholic journalism in mid-20th-century England. Life Derrick was the son of the cartoonist Thomas Derrick, and older brother of the writer Christop ...

(1915–67), journalist and Liberal politician *

Brian Andre Doyle Brian André Doyle was a lawyer who was Attorney General of Fiji and Chief Justice of Zambia. He served in Fiji as Solicitor General from 1948 to 1951, and as Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorne ...

(1911-2004), Chief Justice of

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

* Brigadier Hedley Duncan (1944– ), Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod * Ben Emmerson QC (1963– ), human rights lawyer * Guy Farley (1963- ), composer * Michael Geoghegan CBE (1953– ), Chief Executive of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tr ...

Gerard Goalen Gerard Thomas Goalen (16 December 1918 – 2 January 1999) was a British architect who specialised in church architecture and was influenced by continental models and the Liturgical Movement. He was one of the most important architects of the C ...

(1919- ), architect * David Gold (1979- ), bridge player * Sir Brandon Gough DL (1937–2012), businessman * Lord Harvington (Sir Robert Grant-Ferris) (1907–97), Conservative politician * Rev Professor Adrian Hastings (1929–2001), historian *

Dominic Hill Dominic Hill is Artistic Director at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow. He took up post in October 2011. Early life Hill was born in Wimbledon on 22 April 1969. Career From 2008 to 2011 he was artistic director at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh ...

(1969– ), theatre director * Paul Jennings (1918–98), journalist and humorist *

P. J. Kavanagh P. J. Kavanagh FRSL (6 January 1931 – 26 August 2015) was an English poet, lecturer, actor, broadcaster and columnist. His father was the ''ITMA'' scriptwriter Ted Kavanagh. Life Patrick Joseph Kavanagh worked as a Butlin's Redcoat, th ...

(1931–2015), poet *

Frank Keating Francis Anthony Keating II (initially born as David Rowland Keating) (born February 10, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003. , Keating is one of only five governors in Okl ...

(1937–2013), journalist,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

* Colonel Chris Keeble DSO (1941– ) soldier, Parachute Regiment. * Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1982– ) *

Norbert Lynton Norbert Casper Lynton (22 September 1927 – 30 October 2007, Brighton, England ) was Professor of the History of Art at the University of Sussex. From 1998 - 2006 he was Chairman of the Charleston Trust. He has published on architecture ...

(1927–2007), art historian * David Mackay (1933–2014), architect *

Patrick Malahide Patrick Gerald Duggan (born 24 March 1945), known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a veteran British film, television and theatre actor, author and producer, known, amongst other things, for his roles as Inspector Alleyn in ''The Inspect ...

(1945– ), actor * Paul Mahoney (1946- ), judge * Most Rev Joseph Masterson (1899–1953), Archbishop of

* Professor Henry Mayr-Harting (1936– ), historian * Vice Admiral Sir Timothy McClement KCB OBE (1951– ) * Senator Edward McGuire (1901–92), Irish politician * Squadron Leader Robin McNair DFC (1918–96), RAF pilot and businessman * Hamish Miles (1925-2017), art historian * Tim Miller (1940- ), financier and founder of

Charter88 Charter 88 was a British pressure group that advocated constitutional and electoral reform and owes its origins to the lack of a written constitution. It began as a special edition of the ''New Statesman'' magazine in 1988 and it took its name f ...

Anthony Milner Anthony Francis Dominic Milner (13 May 1925 – 22 September 2002) was a British composer, teacher and conductor. Milner was born in Bristol, and educated at Douai School, Berkshire. He was awarded a bursary to attend the Royal College of Music ...

(1925–2002), composer * Professor D.P. O'Brien (1939– ), economist * Terry Oldfield (1949- ), composer * David Peacock (1924-2000), theatre manager * James Pelly-Fry DSO (1911–94), RAF pilot * Kevin Porée (1965– ), composer and producer * Michael Randle (1933– ), peace campaigner * Christopher Rudd (1963– ), cricketer * Cecil Stafford Northcote OBE KSG (1912-2003),

High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...

* Colonel 'Tod' Sweeney MC (1919–2001), soldier and charity director * James Theunissen (1981- ), cricketer * Geoff Usher-Somers MBE (1950- ), explorer * Monsignor Gerard Tickle (1909–94), Bishop of the Forces * Michael Tuffrey (1959– ), Liberal Democrat politician * Sir Stephen Wall GCMG LVO (1947– ), diplomat *

Louis Wharton Louis Edgar Wharton (18 January 1896 – 31 December 1957), played first-class cricket in 12 matches in English cricket in the period from 1920 to 1922. He appeared once for Oxford University in 1920, and then 11 times for Somerset in 1921 and ...

(1896–1957), cricketer Fictional characters include: * Henry Meadows, the protagonist in 'Turbulence' by

Giles Foden Giles Foden (born 11 January 1967)George Stade and Karen Karbiener (eds), ''Encyclopaedia of British Writers, 1800 to the Present'', 2nd edn, Infobase Publishing, 2010, p. 176. is an English author, best known for his novel ''The Last King of S ...

The Douai Society tie is black with thin multiple stripes of yellow, red, yellow, navy, yellow.

Sport

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

was introduced to the "old" school in the late 1880s. Before this, football was played to particular rules which allowed the use of hands and forbade any kicking backwards.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

had been played for many years in the old quad, but in 1885 a new pitch was laid at Douai's country house in Planques. External fixtures, which were unknown at old Douai, were soon organized after the move to England.

and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

were played at the new school from 1905, and from 1918 to 1919

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

replaced

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

as the main winter sport (soccer returned as a minor sport in 1962). In 1920, the Trinidadian

became Douai's first

Oxford University 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 ...

cricketer, having won a

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

for soccer the previous year. He went on to play cricket for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

. After the war the

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

all-rounder Alan Peach was cricket coach, succeeded by Frank Shipston of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. An indoor swimming pool was built in 1937. A group of spectators (at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

) associated with the school is credited with introducing the song

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African-American spiritual song and one of the best-known Christian hymns. Originating in early oral and musical African-American traditions, the date it was composed is unknown. Performances by the Hampton Singer ...

as an English rugby union anthem.

Uniform

In the 1890s mortar boards were introduced but this innovation was soon abandoned. Eton collars were worn until the 1920s together with a blue cap surmounted by the arms of St Edmund or a

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

. For daily use, boys wore a morning suit. In the summer, the uniform consisted of an

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 ...

grey suit and a boater. Uniform gradually became more casual and, after 1945, a variety of grey suits was recognised uniform, with blazers worn in the summer. In the early years, members of the Douai cricket XI would wear full ties around the waist and half ties from their collars.

Junior School

In 1948 a preparatory school (Douai Junior School) was opened at Ditcham Park, in the South Downs near Petersfield in Hampshire. The house was formerly a convalescent home requisitioned by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

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 ...

. Boys joined the school at aged 8 and after taking the Common Entrance Examination, aged approximately 13, joined the 'Big School' in Woolhampton. In 1976 the boys from the junior school moved to the Woolhampton site and a new Ditcham House was added to Samson, Walmesley, Faringdon and Gifford Houses. In 1976 a non-denominational school was opened at Ditcham Park.

Douai Foundation

In 2019, a charitable foundation was established to promote

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

education at home and abroad, with the Duchess of Somerset as its Patron, and Emma Catherine Rigby, Pablo Casado Blanco and Robin Dyer among its ambassadors.

Footnotes

External links

Douai AbbeyDouai FoundationDouai SocietyOld Dowegians Cricket Club1998 performance tables
{{authority control Defunct schools in West Berkshire District Educational institutions disestablished in 1999 Schools of the English Benedictine Congregation Educational institutions established in the 1610s 1615 establishments in England Defunct Catholic schools in the Diocese of Portsmouth 1999 disestablishments in England Frederick Walters buildings Grade II listed buildings in Berkshire Schools in Nord (French department) Woolhampton Defunct boarding schools in England