Newells Preparatory School came to

Lower Beeding Lower Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village lies on the B2110, B2115 and A281 roads south-east from Horsham, and is centred on Holy Trinity Church and The Plough public house, where t ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, in 1946. It has been at

Handcross Handcross is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A23 road south of Crawley. At the 2011 Census the population fell within the civil parish of Slaugham. Nymans Garden, of parklands run by the Nation ...

since 1968 and known as Handcross Park School since 1974. It merged with

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

in 2011.

History

The school was originally known as Wykeham Hall. It was founded in 1887 by Rev. William Henry Webb, at Wykeham Hall, Lee-on-Solent. It was taken over by his son Ernest Webb in 1903 and later moved to nearby Seafield Park.Wykeham Hall
/ref> ''Seafield Park'' had been the name of a large Victorian mansion built in 1872 by Sir Henry Sykes on 83 acres of land at Hill Head. It was destroyed by fire in 1948. In 1888 the house and grounds were sold to the Rev.R.W Pain, and in 1890 Seafield Park was registered for scholastic purposes under Mr.Pain and the Rev. Courtney Spencer Foster. In 1903 ownership was transferred to William Hoare and the school was changed to an engineering establishment. In 1907 the property was purchased by W.L. Agnew, and in 1910 the school was converted back to a Boys Preparatory school with W.A.Rix M.A. as headmaster. After Rix had been declared bankrupt, the premises were leased to Ernest Webb who moved his school there from Wykeham Hall. In 1923 ownership was transferred to Ernest's wife, Minnie Louisa Webb. Wykeham Hall was bought by the Fleet Air Arm in 1917 for use as a naval air station,

RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent, (RNAS Lee-on-Solent; or HMS ''Daedalus'' 1939–1959 & 1965–1996 and HMS ''Ariel'' 1959–1965), is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately west of P ...

. On the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when Seafield Park was taken over for the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

, the school moved to Endsleigh House, Milton Abbott, near

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. This house had been built in 1810 and had continued in use as the summer holiday home for successive

Dukes of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Franc ...

. It had been designed by Sir

Jeffry Wyattville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatville ...

as a cottage orne´ for

John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the father ...

. On the conclusion of the War the Admiralty retained Seafield Park for naval use and the Duke of Bedford re-possessed his country home. The school was then moved to Newells,

, Nr

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex.The house at Newells during World War II had been taken over by the Ministry of Defence and was the headquarters for a Canadian Division, prior to the Invasion of Normandy. Captain Peter Hope-Lang took over from Ernest Webb as Headmaster. The school badge was retained but the name of the school changed from Seafield Park to Newells. The school remained at Lower Beeding until 1968 when a disastrous fire destroyed most of the buildings. By necessity the school was then amalgamated with Desmoor preparatory school at Handcross Park. More details on the history and people involved at that time, including photo images, can be seen at the Newells school website ( Address/Link shown below) with images of Seafield Park at Endsleigh and Newells Lower Beeding. Today the school is known by the name Handcross Park School. In 2011 the school became a part of

Badge

The badge in use when the school was at Newells, Lower Beeding continued to be used after the school moved and it had been renamed Handcross Park School. An image of this badge can be seen at the present school's website. The badge is a device comprising an heraldic style shield of gold on a blue background, over the motto, worded in Middle English, "Be Trewe". In 1939, when faced with the conflict with Germany then under the regime of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

whose flag bore some resemblance to the fylfot, the school badge had been varied by putting three

Cross potent A cross potent (plural: crosses potent), also known as a crutch cross, is a form of heraldic cross with crossbars at the four ends. In French, it is known as '' croix potencée'', in German as a ''Krückenkreuz'', all translating to "crutch cros ...

in place of the three heraldic

fylfot The fylfot or fylfot cross ( ) and its mirror image, the gammadion, are types of truncated swastika, associated with medieval Anglo-Saxon culture. It is a cross with perpendicular extensions, usually at 90° or close angles, radiating in the same ...

crosses which had previously been used. The fylfot, symbolising peace and good will, had been in general use in Asia for thousands of years before, as a government spokesman mentioned in Parliament, "it was hijacked by the Nazi party."

Newells, the house

The house occupied by the school when at Lower Beeding had been built c.1869 as a private residence to the designs of Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, as mentioned in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6. From 1855 until 1859

Matthew Digby Wyatt Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Camb ...

was honorary secretary of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

, and in 1866 received the Royal Gold Medal. See also article

Wyatt family The Wyatt family included several of the major English architects during the 18th and 19th centuries, and a significant 18th century inventor, John Wyatt (inventor), John Wyatt (1700–1766), the eldest son of John Wyatt (1675–1742). The fami ...

. Photographic images of the exterior and interior of the house when occupied by the prep. school can be seen at the Newells website. Wyatt's Royal Gold Medal is mentioned in the Oxford DNB.

Notes

References

External links

https://www.newellsschool.co.uk {{Schools in West Sussex Defunct schools in West Sussex