Downside School

The College of St. Gregory the Great at Downside

Motto	Apud bonos iura pietatis (For good people, loyalty is the lawgiver)
Established	1606 in Douai, northern France; arrived in Downside in 1814
Type	Independent school
Religion	Catholic
Head Master	Dom Leo Maidlow Davis, MA, BD, STL
Chair	Abbot Aidan Bellenger
Founders	English Benedictine Monks in exile
Location	Stratton-on-the-Fosse Somerset England
DfE URN	123910
Staff	c. 100
Students	425[1]
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–18
Houses	Roberts, Barlow, Smythe and Powell for boys, with girls in Caverel and Isabella
Colours	Maroon      and gold
Former pupils	Old Gregorians
Website	downside.co.uk

Coordinates: 51°15′18″N 2°29′42″W / 51.255°N 2.495°W / 51.255; -2.495

Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey. The current headmaster is Dom Leo Maidlow Davis.

The school

Downside was founded in 1606 in Douai, France and is run by lay staff and the Benedictine monks of Downside Abbey.^[2] The Headmaster, Dom Leo Maidlow Davis OSB, and several other monks work in the school as teachers and chaplains. Currently one Housemaster in the school is a monk.

The school is divided into seven houses; five senior houses and two junior houses, with both day pupils and boarders in the same houses. Each house takes its name from the Community's martyrs or benefactors:

Plunkett House is the Junior House for 11 to 13 year olds. It is named after St Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh. The boys in Plunkett are housed in Ullathorne House (named after Bishop William Bernard Ullathorne) and the girls in Ramsey House (named after Dom Leander Ramsay). Powell House although in the senior school is a Junior House for all boys in Third Form before they join their senior house in Fourth Form. It is named after the Martyr Blessed Philip Powell, a monk of St Gregory’s at Douai.

Barlow House (Boys) is situated on the south-side of the main quad. It is named after the Martyr, Ambrose Barlow who was also a monk of St Gregory’s at Douai. The house colours are black and white.

Caveral House (Girls) was formerly a boys' house but was re-furbished and changed to a girls' house following the admission of girls to Downside in September 2005. Caveral is named after the Benefactor, Abbot Philip de Caverel. The house colours are green and white.

Isabella House (Girls) was founded in 2007 as a second girls' house in the senior school. The house is situated in a purpose built building in the south-east of the school grounds. Isabella is named after a Benefactor, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain and Portugal. The house colours are gold and blue.

Roberts House (Boys) is situated in the north and west sides of the main quad. It is named after the Maryr and monk of St. Gregory's in Douai, St. John Roberts. The house colours are red and white.

Smythe House (Boys) is situated in the east side of the main quad, and is named after the major Benefactor Sir Edward Smythe. The house colours are yellow and white.^[3]

History

Monks from the monastery of St Gregory’s, Douai, in Flanders, came to Downside in 1814.^[4] In 1607, St Gregory’s was the first house after the Reformation to begin conventual life with a handful of exiled Englishmen.^[5] For nearly 200 years St Gregory’s trained monks for the English mission and six of these men were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Two of these monks, SS John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow, were among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.^[6]

Imprisoned then driven from France at the Revolution, the community remained at Acton Burnell in Shropshire for 20 years before finally settling in Somerset in 1814.^[5] The Monastery was completed in 1876 and the Abbey Church in 1925, being raised to the rank of a minor basilica in 1935 by Pius XI.^[7]

Attached to the Monastery, the School provides a Catholic boarding education for boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 18 years. During the 19th century Downside remained a small monastic school. It was Dom Leander Ramsay who founded the modern Downside and planned the new buildings that opened in 1912 and now form two sides of the 'Quad'.

The 20th century brought about changes for Downside in the expansion of the school buildings and school numbers — over 600 boys at one point. Over the decades the number of pupils had been falling but development drives and renewed demand for boarding education has seen numbers rise.

As part of the renewal, girls were admitted in 2004. Since then, numbers of both boys and girls have been increasing every year. Since the opening of Isabella House in 2007, approximately 65% of the pupils are boys and 35% are girls.^[1]

Air Disaster

On Saturday 15 May 1943 a Royal Navy Hawker Sea Hurricane registration V6760 of Fleet Air Arm took off from RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) for a airshow at Downside Abbey with two other Hawker Sea Hurricane. At about 15:30 the two Sea Hurricanes began circling the Downside Abbey school grounds at what witnesses described as a very low altitude. One of the planes went out of control while turning steeply, clipped a tree, and crashed into a crowd of boys watching a cricket match. The pilot and nine people on the ground were killed, along with 14 people injured in the accident.^[8][9][10]

Sports

Sport is played at Downside with members of the school competing in a range of sports from rugby, football, netball, hockey, cricket, golf, polo and even the Downside Ball Game, a variation on Fives played on a purpose built outdoor court. Sport is played most afternoons at Downside with every pupil expected to participate at least three times a week.^[11]

Downside has historically been a rugby-playing school. There is a long-standing rivalry with Sherborne School, which often sees the whole school, 'Old Gregorians' (old boys/alumni) as well as a contingent from Sherborne on the sidelines.

Cricket ground

The first recorded match on the school's cricket ground was in 1898, when the school played Lansdown.^[12] In 1934, the ground hosted a single first-class match between Somerset and Glamorgan.^[13] In May 1943 a training flight crashed into the cricket ground while a game was being played, resulting in the deaths of 9 boys and the pilot.^{[14] [15]}

Music

Downside is also renowned for its music. The Schola Cantorum (Choir) plays a major role in Downside's music. Not only singing for High Mass, the Schola Cantorum also holds public performances on a termly basis.^[16] It has recently performed a concert of twentieth century choral music, including music by Britten, Lauridsen and the Chichester Psalms by Bernstein. The summer term is always ended with a musical. Productions in recent years have included Oliver!, Grease, Guys and Dolls, High Society, Anything Goes and most recently the opera of Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Jazz in Downside is popular. The jazz band Slaughterhouse Seven has performed in Australia, Fiji, Canada, the United States, Malta, Gibraltar, Hong Kong and other places.

Press coverage

In the late 1990s, the release of a number of Gregorian chant records attracted much attention, with some controversy over the association with the Virgin brand.

In 2002, Father Antony Sutch OSB, then Head Master, featured heavily (including front page of The Daily Telegraph) when he attacked the 'geek culture' that is overwhelming schools and teachers due to government-imposed bureaucracy.^[17] He is frequently quoted on Catholicism and educational matters and has contributed to BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day since 2003.^[18]

In 2003, Downside was the setting for a controversial experiment whereby a teenager from London, Ryan Bell, who had been repeatedly expelled from state schools was sponsored to Downside by a TV production company to see if a 'difficult' student would do better in the independent sector. After excelling in his Latin set and on the rugby field, Bell was however eventually expelled after being caught drinking.^[19][20]

In 2004, a Benedictine monk was jailed for 18 months after taking indecent images of schoolboys and possessing child pornography when he was a teacher at Downside.^[21] In 2011, four monks from Downside were investigated by police.^[22] One of them, a former teacher, was arrested and charged with several counts of indecent assault and gross indecency against a pupil at the school in 1988 and 1989.^[23][24]

Notable alumni

For alumni, known as Old Gregorians, see List of Old Gregorians.

Former teachers

Former teachers include John Crockett, who set up his own theatre company and directed some episodes of Doctor Who before becoming Art master, and Ralph Prouton, who played cricket for Hampshire and football for Swindon Town before joining the teaching staff.

Jon Callard was a P.E. and Science master at Downside in the 1990s before becoming a professional Rugby Union player. He was an influence on Hugh Vyvyan, who went on to captain Saracens.

Richard Runciman Terry was organist and director of music at Downside between 1896 and 1901, before being appointed the first Director of Music at newly-built Westminster Cathedral and becoming a notable composer of church music.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Downside School". EduBase. Department for Education. http://www.edubase.gov.uk/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=123910. Retrieved 13 February 2011. 
2. ^ "School History". Downside School. http://www.downside.co.uk/School/about_us/downside_school_history.html. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
3. ^ l "House Structure". Downside School. http://www.downside.co.uk/School/boarding_day/plunkett_house.html l. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
4. ^ "Downside School". Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/downside-school. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Archives of Downside School" (PDF). National Archives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/onlinelists/GB1151%20DOWNSIDE.pdf. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
6. ^ "Sermon of Paul VI on the occasion of the canonisation of forty martyrs from England and Wales, 25 October 1970 (largely in Italian)". The Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/homilies/1970/documents/hf_p-vi_hom_19701025_it.html. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
7. ^ "Downside". English Benedictine Congregation. http://www.benedictines.org.uk/abbeys/downside.htm. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
8. ^ "Land Mines and Fighter Plane Crashes!". WW2 Peoples War. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/18/a4056518.shtml. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
9. ^ "Flying Accident, Downside School". They work for you. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1943-05-18a.938.2. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
10. ^ "Downside Tragedy". Catholic Herald. 21 May 1943. http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/21st-may-1943/5/downside-tragedy. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
11. ^ Sporting Life Downside School
12. ^ Other matches played on Downside School
13. ^ First-Class Matches played on Downside School
14. ^ [1]
15. ^ [2]
16. ^ "Music". Downside School. http://www.downside.co.uk/School/music/downside_school_music.html. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
17. ^ Damian Thompson and John Clare (2002-10-07). "Prince condemns disinheritance of pupils". London: The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F10%2F07%2Fnchas07.xml. Retrieved 2006-10-28. 
18. ^ "Conference". AMDIS. http://www.amdis.co.uk/conference.html. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
19. ^ Mary Riddell (2003-05-11). "Young, gifted, but black". London: The Observer. http://society.guardian.co.uk/raceequality/comment/0,,954163,00.html. Retrieved 2006-10-28. 
20. ^ Amelia Hill and Kamal Ahmed (2003-05-11). "Who is to blame for Ryan's fall?". London: The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003/may/11/realitytv.raceintheuk. Retrieved 2010-12-09. 
21. ^ "Priest jailed for collecting internet child porn". The Guardian (London). 3 September 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/sep/03/childrensservices.childprotection. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
22. ^ "Downside Abbey monks investigated over sex claims". BBC News. 13 January 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-12183401. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
23. ^ "Downside Abbey monk accused of indecent assault". BBC News. 21 April 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-13161197. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
24. ^ "Monk accused of sex assault on boy aged 13". Mid Somerset Series. 24 February 2011. http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Monk-accused-sex-assault-boy-aged-13/article-3258824-detail/article.html. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Music Department
• Old Gregorians