Rudgwick’s past, present and future, No6
RudgwickSchools
Did you go to school in Rudgwick? There must be many who went to Rudgwick School in Bucks Green. Among a few celebrated pupils was Eric Thompson, who amongst other things created the script and narrated The Magic Roundabout, the 1960s BBC series. His daughter is the actress Emma Thompson. Recently a visit by Eric’s brother George and sister Jean enabled them to relive their time in Rudgwick as children. George was thrilled to go back to school, courtesy of Ted Brown, the current owner! Eric apparently had got the pupils an afternoon of ‘organised games’ on winning a scholarship to Collyer’s Grammar School (Horsham), back in 1940!
The Early History of Rudgwick Primary School
The Guildford Road schoolin Bucks Green opened in 1880,ten years after the 1870 Education Act had introduced universal education, and in the same year that education up to 10 years old became compulsory. It was built on land acquired from Lynwick Farm, next to the Poor-house (Fox Inn). In 1972, the present school in Tates Way opened. The local secondary schools, The Weald (Billingshurst) and Glebelands (Cranleigh) are now over 50 years old. But the history of education in Rudgwick is not that simple.
Kelly’s Directory, 1859, states of Rudgwick, “Here is a village school supported by the vicar”; adding in 1862that it was also supported by the Bishop of Chichester. We do not know where it met, perhaps in the vestry. The facts are further confused as Miss Caroline Churchman ran a small private school (3 girls living in, aged 8-12) at her home Kings, Rudgwick Street, by 1861. Next door,or perhaps in part of the large house, was Thomas Reddaway, a 42 year old London-born school master, and his two artist brothers. A few doors down was Emily Butcher, a 25 year old local girl, a schoolmistress, living at home with her parents, and then further on down the Street was Susan Overington, a 44 year old widow, also a school mistress. One thing is for sure, education was available in Rudgwick for those who wanted it. Ten years earlier, there was no one with the occupation of schoolmistress or master, although the Redaway family were already at Kings, with no occupation recorded, which may be the enumerator’s error. In 1841, Ruth Puttock described herself as schoolmistress.
The presently-named Jubilee Hall in Church St became Rudgwick’s parochial school in 1863, built for that purpose by James Braby of Maybanks. In 1866, the parochial school became a National School, under the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. In 1870, the ‘mistress’ was Anne Carpenter, followed1871-4 by Sarah Ann Cawthorn and,finally, John Bullivant. Sarah was present in the 1871 census, lodging with a family at Little Kings, a few steps from the school door. She was from Ely in The Fens.
To cope withthe 1870 Act, Vestry Meetings were dominated by matters educational for several years. Events moved quickly. The Rev.Thomas Thurlow owner of the splendid andnearby Baynards Park, Cranleigh, was gratefully thanked for offering to build an extension to his cottages on Lynwick St, to create a larger school, but after he dismissed the mistress there was confusion. Who was in charge? The vicar, the Rev.Drury, threatened to withdraw support. Necessity required that Thurlow continue with his project. His school opened in 1875.Without such patronage, village education would barely have coped, and often didn’t. It is possible that estate children from Baynards benefited too as it was closer, across the hill, than Cranleigh. Once called The Kraal, Thurlow’s property is now named The Old School House. His extension may still be seen.
However, by 1877 the cost of maintaining the school was not being met. There was only one way forward, a vote for change:-
On 24 Oct 1877: “The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council on Education have issued orders this day for the formation of School Boards in the following parishes:- Mawgan in Pyder, Cornwall; Rudgwick, Sussex;….”.
Only those village schools which remained as National Schools would later become VA or VC Church of England Schools, which was never the case in Rudgwick.
Charles Woods was appointed master, overseeing the move to Bucks Green, his wife Tillah sewing mistress. The new secular ‘schools’(above) werepaid for and built on the ratesfor 120 boys and girls,andthere was a house attached, where the Woods raised a family, and stayed until 1912. In 1880, the school leaving age was alsoraised from 10 to 12. On retirement, they lived in the village for the remainder of their lives.
The Churchman sisters continued to “receive pupils” at Kings, in 1871, three under a governess, Sarah Gilbert and in 1881, just one. However it is possible others came from the village, paying a small fee at this genteel establishment.
Schools at Ellens Green, The Haven and Rowhook
There were two additional schools in the outlying parts of the Parish of Rudgwick, and one in Ellens Green (above). Ellens Green School, Ewhurst, took children from the northern end of Rowhook,Rudgwick, as well as fromthe Ewhurst hamlets of Cox Green and Ellens Green. A National School supported by Ewhurst church,it was in use from 1870 until 1911. Now divided into private houses, the structure still stands in Furzen Lane, but little outwardly suggests a school when viewed from the road.
In The Haven,a parochial school was built in 1862, with contributions from Lt Col & Mrs St John of Gaskyns, Slinfold, In 1887, it had 65 attending, and in 1905, by then with Miss J Hocking in charge.By 1911 Miss Hocking had 107 on roll at The Haven, compared with 130 at Bucks Green. In 1915 and 1918 Bucks Green edged up to 150 whilst The Haven, still under Miss Hocking, fell to 78.
It laybetween Cousens Farm and Hurlands on Haven Road, right on the parish boundary, probably to serve outlying parts of three parishes: Rudgwick, Slinfold and Billingshurst. Finally demolished in the 1970s, there is no sign of it today.A ‘mixed’ school, unlike Rudgwick which was ‘boys and girls’, it was a smaller building, but with a small attached house.
Rowhook’s tiny school can still be found, completely derelict,up the lane behind the Chequers Inn. Itexisted in 1856, but a new building was erected in the 1870s when there was talk of uniting Rudgwick, Warnham and Slinfold for educational purposes,and built, to prevent this, by subscription.In 1887, 48 children attended.It wasin the care of Annie Holloway for many years from 1874. By 1905, however, she only had 17 pupils; by the end of the decade the school had closed. The building became a Mission Room for Slinfold parish for some years.
The Schools Today
Today, Rudgwick has two independent schools, Pennthorpe School and the Rikkyo School in England. There is also a pre-school, which uses the Scout Hut. Most children who leave Rudgwick Primary School in Tates Way move on to the Weald School in Billingshurst.There is not space here to detail the recent history of this school.
Pennthorpe, a small Preparatory Boarding School for boys, arrived in Rudgwick during the Second World War, at first taking Gibbons Mill House in The Haven, but after the war removing to its present location , Gaskyns, between Rudgwick and Bucks Green, which had been used by the Canadians during the war, and was unlikely to survive as a private house. It is now a flourishing fee paying co-educational day school for some 360 children aged 2 to 13, most of whom do not live in the village.
The Rikkyo School in England was founded in Rudgwick in 1972, and also took over a large house. Pallinghurst is on the border with Cranleigh, next to the A281. Its ethos, like Pennthorpe’s, is Anglican. It is an offshoot of Rikkyo University and associated schools in Japan, founded by American missionaries. Rikkyo educates Japanese children from families in Europe,mainly to a Japanese curriculum, in a well equipped boarding school built around the older house. The school’s intake has inevitably reduced as Japan’s economy has stagnated but its resilience which in its early years was severely tested by a lack of funds continues to enable it to flourish.
The former Bucks Green schoolis now a private house (below), with the school master’s house also a private home (right in photo). Some of the interior, the exterior fabric and its outbuildings are maintained much as they were in 1972, when it closed. Two classrooms house a private collection of street organs and other mechanical musical instruments. Many Rudgwick residents have memories, fond or otherwise of their time at this school.
All the schools have websites where further information is available.