Charmandean School - a step back in time
Charmandean House spent many years since 1927 as a school, and we have found photos showing what it was like. We hope to be able to add to this page as more information becomes available, and stories from ex-pupils! Contact us
School Timeline:
1927-1931 The Rev. Talbot Hindley - St Michael`s, becomes Charmandean School
1936 - 1954 Miss Charlotte West - Charmandean School for Girls (with a gap during the war years)
The postcards and photos on here are from a variety of sources, including the West Sussex Past Project, which is doing a fantastic job categorizing thousands of postcards and images for posterity.
We have also now discovered that these postcards, like the one above, were handed out to pupils of the school - not one each sometimes, but if two siblings were pupils, one postcard to share! Many thanks to Catherine Jones for this snippet, who was a pupil at Charmandean School 1951-53. Read more about Catherine's story below.
St. Michael's School moves to Charmandean
When the executors of Thomas Dyer Edwards, the last resident of Charmandean, sold the lower slopes of the estate for building, the remaining 30 acres of land, the mansion, and outbuildings was purchased for use as a school.In May 1927, St. Michael`s school moved from Bath Place, Worthing, to Charmandean, and the Principal of the school, the Rev. W. Talbot Hindley, M.A., had the intention to convert Charmandean into a Public School with an Evangelical Church of England outlook.
The below article from 11th May 1927 was published in the Worthing Gazette:
An Interesting Relic
This article from 21st May 1927 is interesting as it refers to the mullioned window from Broadwater Church re-built as a 'ruin' in the grounds of Charmandean, but it is unknown where it was located.This has been shown as an article, and not just historical facts extracted, as it is interesting how this was written at the time.
It looks like this photo was taken on the East Lawn, so south of the Yew Walk as one can see the house in the background between the yew trees.
The Worthing Herald reports on Saturday, May 30th, 1931 'Local Loss - some regret must be felt in Worthing at the coming transference of Charmandean School, Broadwater, on its amalgamation with Seaford College. The transference is to be effected next September, when the senior house boys and the majority of the staff will go to Seaford with the Headmaster who has accepted the headmastership of Seaford College'.
One of the current Seaford College 'houses' is named after Charmandean, so his time at Charmandean must have left an impression!
Charmandean School for Girls
In 1936, Miss C. E. West took over Charmandean, as a new location for her school from Southsea. We now know Miss West (Charlotte, or 'Lottie'), founded Mayville High School in 1897 and in 1936 she left Mayville and started 'Charmandean School for Girls', where she remained as Principle until the school moved to Buckinghamshire in c.1954.The school featured in the Sussex County Magazine in this article:
Life as a Charmandean School teacher
We have also been contacted by the daughter of one of the teachers who was at Charmandean, during it's time as a school. She has kindly provided stories and photos of the time which gives a fantastic insight into the lives and people of Charmandean School.
Many thanks for the effort and contribution to the site made by Miss Elizabeth Woolgar's daughter.
Miss Elizabeth Woolgar (4th from left) was a teacher at Charmandean from the 1950's. This photo we believe is the teaching staff dressed for staff vs. girls netball.
In order (from left ): unknown, Miss Ruby Elaine Bunn (Headteacher, Geography), Miss Caroline Cream (Latin & History), Miss Elizabeth Woolgar (Art), unknown, unknown, Sheila Johnson (French).
Sports at Charmandean
Sports activities was popular at the school; swimming, netball, 7 tennis courts, and the below photo looks like a running track marked out on the grass. This would have been the lower lawn, south of the school.
The line of Yews in the background here is the Yew Walk - much more grown up than when first planted in the 1910's!
The steps shown in the photo would have been one of a set of 2, which were located at the middle and towards the Eastern end of the Yew walk. (Charmandean Lane on the right of this photo, where the larger trees are located)
The same Yew Walk, in 1914, looking South. Even though the Yews in this photo look small, the sheer scale of the Charmandean grounds is decieving - these were 8-12 feet tall!
Netball seemed to feature a lot! The trees in the background could be backing onto Charmandean Lane.
Charmandean School was lucky enough to have an outdoor swimming pool, where swimming galas and events were held, and local girls remember going to Charmandean to use the pool.
We are hoping to be able to tell stories and memories from the local Worthing girls who remember using the pool here.
Despite the quality of the below photos, it gives a feeling of the space the pupils of Charmandean had when they were there. Originally, before the lower portion of the estate was sold for the Avenues, the Estate comprised of 32 acres.
The trees in the background of these photos we believe are the trees bordering Charmandean Lane, now behind Third Avenue and the East side of Longlands.
The photo on the right had the name Pat Giles marked, who we now know was a pupil at the school, and progressed to be Head Girl.
This photo is interesting as one can see the roof and chimney of a house in the background, which would have been Fourth Avenue, as the Tennis courts where located where houses in Longlands exist today:
Charmandean - Pupils and Staff
The following are a selection of photos indicating staff, and some history - Charmandean had some famous pupils over it's time. One that we know about is Barbara Hulanicki, who founded the fashion store Biba. Most of the articles online about Barbara refer to a boarding school in Worthing, which in fact was Charmandean. It is described in her autobiography, A to Biba, and Miss Caroline Cream (teacher) gets a mention. It also refers to soldiers using the house as barracks during the war.
Clockwise from top left: Miss Caroline Cream, Miss Ann Dodd (Music), taken at her home in Ferring, Miss M Blair, Diana Purdy, (taken 1952, b.1924), Miss Elaine Bunn & Miss C West (Headmistress)
Class photos, dated 1941. It looks like one of the pupils is dressed ready for horse riding, with the photo being taken outside the Classrooms block.
The school uniform was brown blazer, brown skirts for the 6th form, cream blouse, pink-beige coats, younger pupils had brown gym tunics, and the tie was brown with pink stripes. Very smart!
Summer attire was a brown checked dress with white collar, and they wore panama's in the summer.
The photo below right is showing Sunday dresses, which were pale green with white collars.
Whiskey, the Staff Cat
Charmandean - School buildings & Grounds
In this section we have included photos received of the buildings used during the time as a school. Some have a description, and some are similar to others found on the site.
Thanks to an ex-pupil of Charmandean, we now know that certainly in c.1951 the upper floors of this block were used as classrooms, and on the ground floor, the Junior Common Room was on the left and the Senior Common Room on the right.
Through the open door, there was a place for coats, and toilets, and also off this corridor was where the school janitor had his rest room.
The door below the stairs was the 'gardener's room'. Considering the size of the Charmandean estate, he had a lot of work to do!
Note the stained glass window on the right of this photo; this is dated 1628 and believed to have been taken to Charmandean from Broadwater Church during it's 1866 renovations by Mrs Thwaites.
This is an interesting photo of the tower at Charmandean, which was located alongside Charmandean Lane. Some of the yew trees alongside the Sussex flint wall (right of this photo) still survive today.
If the stories are to be believed, downed German pilots hid in this tower during WW2. More on this can be found in the Charmandean History News pages.
The refectory was in the original part of the house, at the front, and not in the later additions added to East, West and North by Mrs Thwaites.
Another photo of the front of Charmandean, c.1950's, and the 'Garden Seat', which our research also refers to it as the 'Folly', or 'Italianate Summer House' . This 'Folly' is now the only remaining piece of Charmandean House's buildings still standing, since the East Entrance Gateposts were demolished in 2013.
From a postcard, c.1937, showing pupils dancing on the lawns.
This photo is entitled 'The Percussion Band'.
The building in the background was the classrooms whilst it was a Girls' school, however earlier maps indicate the building as stables.
This aerial shot of the school is interesting as you can see the tower / turret on the Eastern Wall, and Yew Walk in the bottom left.
Below shows one of the Classrooms. Note the picture rail and coving, not bad for a building which was once stables!
This Class are making musical pipes!
Charmandean was a boarding school as well as day pupils; below shows one of the dormitories. From looking at the decor, window mouldings and wooden shutters, (symptomatic of architecture and decor of the time) we believe the dormitories were located in the main house.
Not sure the beds look too comfortable though!
Thanks to Catherine, who was a pupil at the school from 1951-53, we now know this dormitory was called Anemones, as all the dorms were named after flowers. There were 9 pupils in this dorm.
This dorm was located in the West wing of the house, as one can see from the french doors looking south on the left of the photo
Although this photo of Charmandean says 'West front', this is actually the East Elevation (Charmandean Lane behind the photographer, with the sea to the left)
The stepped walls in this photo are still present in some of the gardens of houses in Longlands Spinney.
The 'Tower' at Charmandean, is behind the photographer as they are standing on one of the paths leading to the Tower.
The small window on the North elevation of the wing on the left, is the stained glass window from Broadwater Church as mentioned earlier.
Many thanks to Catherine Jones, who has contacted us and shared her memories of being a pupil at the school from 1951-53; her story provides us with a long-lost insight into what it was like during her time at Charmandean in the early 1950's
What was it like when you first arrived at the school?
My Sister and I were both sent to Charmandean School for Girls in September 1951; I left in 1953, my sister in 1954, and in that time the school was reducing in numbers from approx. 50 to only 30 girls.
We travelled a long way from home to reach Worthing. Upon arrival at Charmandean by taxi, we were dropped at the front of the house, with only our small bags for the journey; our trunks had been sent ahead.
I remember feeling quite daunted as I tried to settle in to a dormitory consisting of 9 beds; the other 8 girls already knew each other. After unpacking our trunks, they were taken down to the cellar by the school janitor.
How much can you remember of the school dormitories?
There were 9 beds in my dormitory, which was called Anemones. All of the school dormitories were named after flowers, and Anemones, was located at the front of the school, above Lottie’s sitting room.
[admin: See the photo above of Anemones dorm]
The other dormitories were Rosebuds (youngest, c.8 yr olds), Anemones (intermediate), and there was a small dorm next door for Seniors, Shamrocks, which was above the staff room.
I think the others were called Marigolds, Buttercups, and Daffodils.
What was the school uniform like?
Our uniform outfitter was Kinch and Lack. The school uniform was brown blazer, brown skirts for the 6th form, cream blouse, pink-beige coats, and younger pupils had brown gym tunics, and the tie was brown with pink stripes. The Sunday dresses were pale green with white collars.
We had a brown checked summer dress with white collar, and we wore panama hats in the summer. We heard stories of when girls leaving the school for the final term they would throw them out of the train windows!
Coloured enamel buttons denoted the house which one attended, named after famous battles. The school houses were Boyne (green), Trafalgar (red) and Flodden (yellow)
The School badge was pink and brown, with 3 tudor roses.
The Charmandean School for Girls Motto was ‘Quid Face Bene Face’, meaning ‘What you do, do well’.
After lunch on a Saturday were allowed to wear own clothes.
How was the school laid out in relation to the old Manor House of Charmandean?
Miss West (Miss Charlotte Elizabeth West, Principal and Owner) had her sitting room in the ground floor West Wing, with a doorway out to the West-facing conservatory.
Behind that, facing West, was the Staff Room which had a bay window and overlooked the West facing door out from the main house, along the pathway North of the conservatory, leading West to the gym, music room and classrooms/common rooms block.
(Admin: this is mentioned as the previous stable block, and would have been where No’s 2, 3 & 4 Longlands Spinney are now)
At the front of the school, in the middle, was the entrance hall, behind that was the refectory, which I believe might have had paneling from Broadwater Church.
Behind that was the kitchens, but I remember long dark corridors.
Was it cold in the manor house or outbuildings at the school?
I don`t think there was any central heating. There was nothing in the house, but there were gas heaters in the common rooms, one in each of Junior, Intermediate and Seniors.
I remember girls used to stand on the pipe which fed each heater, and one lunchtime, the gas pipe sheared off. The flame was coming from the pipe, the on duty teacher Miss Campion (who was the elecution teacher), ‘Poppy’, ran in with the key to turn off the gas. She was very brave and had to put her hand in the flame out of the burning pipe to turn off the gas.
She suffered burns and hospital treatment.
We had a bath rota – there were 3 bathrooms close to the Shamrocks dormitory, and we could only have baths twice a week and most of the time the water was hot depending on how much others had used before your allocated time!
What was the food like?
One of the cooks, Maria, produced really nice food, but wasn`t typical British food and we missed the old classics such as mashed potatos and sausage!
Where you allowed free roaming of the grounds?
No! Pupils were not allowed on the terrace, and when I was there we were not allowed near the Yew Walk or the tower (Charmandean Tower)
If you were found out of bounds, it resulted in being ‘gated’ – if you were ‘gated’, you were not allowed out at all, not even for formal school walks.
If you were ‘gated’, you had to write out 200 lines every day; my sister had to write out 200 lines of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ every day for a month for getting caught scrumping in the kitchen garden!
What about outdoor trips?
We had ‘formal’ school walks which included going to Cissbury or Chanctonbury Ring, and it’s on these walks that we would have walked through the Eastern entrance gateposts then left to go North up Charmandean Lane.
What outdoor sports did Charmandean School for Girls play?
I remember hockey, netball, and the school had matches with The Warren Girls School.
Do you remember the Charmandean Tower being there?
I think I remember the tower still being there when I was a pupil, but not certain, it was over 70 years ago!
We of course were not allowed on the East side of the house nor much of the grounds.
[Admin: this is really interesting as we thought it was demolished during the war, but maybe not. Another Charmandean timeline mystery…)
What did you do at weekends?
Every Sunday, Miss Johnson (French teacher and Deputy Head), walked us out of the West Entrance gates, down Charmandean Lane, and along the Upper Brighton Road to Church Lane where we attended Sunday Church Service at Sompting Church. I remember we had to walk in crocodile fashion (in height order) to preserve the appearance of the school.
On the way each Sunday, I remember seeing a blind man who had a watch to feel the time, and he said if we were late or not!
The Charmandean Girls sat on the left, and Sompting Abbotts boys sat on the right. We were forbidden from talking to each other!
If you were a first-year senior, you were allowed in the games field at the weekend. (Admin: this field is now where the upper part of Longlands is, North of the mansion)
My sister had riding lessons, I think from Rolands Riding School.
We had to write home once a week, under the supervision of a teacher, but the letter had to be unsealed and the supervising teacher would then redact pieces if they were ‘unsuitable’ !
What do you remember about the owner and Principal, Miss West?
Miss West, was known to many of us as ‘Lottie’
Lottie was the Principal and owner, but Miss Ruby Elaine Bunn was the headmistress and Miss Sheila Johnson being the French teacher and Deputy Head.
‘Lottie’ set up the school in Charmandean after founding Mayville High School in Southsea.
[Admin: ‘Lottie’ founded ‘Mayville High School’ in Southsea in 1897 and 1935/36, she purchased ‘Charmandean’ after the Rev Talbot Hindley took his ‘Charmandean’ school to Seaford, where he was headmaster and she started ‘Charmandean School for Girls’ and advertised heavily in the local press [see above]
[Admin: It was Miss West, as owner of Charmandean, who sought approval from 1952 for building on the upper reaches of the Charmandean Estate, originally for a large portion of the estate surplus to the requirements of the school, which was eventually approved by the Minister of Housing and Local Government, as reported by the Worthing Herald on 28th May 1954.
We do not know why ‘Lottie’ then made the decision to sell the remaining Charmandean estate as a ‘whole’, but Miss West decided to move the school to Tile House, Lillingstone Dayrell, Buckinghamshire, after which the remaining Charmandean Estate was purchased by existing residents as reported by the Worthing Herald in September 1954. [see Longlands pages]
Miss
Charlotte West was recognized for her contribution to the Mayville High School
when in 2018 a new Music and Art block was named after her, being Charlotte
West House
Mayville High School website link: http://www.mayvillehighschool.com/120-years ]
To Conclude
Many thanks to Catherine, and her sister, as former Charmandean School for Girls pupils, getting in touch with us and sharing their memories, stories and photos which are now recorded here for a brief history of the past.
[Note: the copyright of some of these photos is unclear and we state that these are not the property of CharmandeanHistory.co.uk, and are purely displayed here for historical purposes only]
Charmandean - A few press articles
A few examples of interesting press articles published about Charmandean over the years.
(All copyright lies with the owners of the artices)
