Pierrepont School, Frensham
Pierrepont School, Frensham | |
---|---|
Location | |
Independent | |
Motto | A posse ad esse (From possibility to actuality) |
Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England[citation needed] |
Established | 1947 |
Closed | 1993 |
Gender | Boys, co-educational from 1970 |
Former pupils | Old Pierrepontians |
Pierrepont School, Frensham, originally known as Pierrepont House School, was a
History
Pierrepont House School was founded in 1947 as an independent school for boys by its first headmaster, Thomas Joyce Parry. The following year Parry established a school
The school's main building was a 19th-century country house designed by the architect Richard Norman Shaw around an earlier house. In 1973 this was listed as Grade II*.[2]
The school's aim for its boys – and for its girls from 1983 onwards – was to give them a good all-round education while developing character through sports and other outdoor activities, and its syllabus included adventure training, leadership, and personal survival.[1] Like most British independent schools, it was divided into houses, all with names recalling military history: Agincourt, Trafalgar, and Waterloo.[3] Day houses took the names of men associated with the school's architecture and design: initially there were two, Shaw and Combe Houses, and later a third day house, Birch, was added.[citation needed]
In the late 1980s the school ran into financial difficulties. In 1989 it took over St George's Preparatory School, Farnham, and at about the same time built a new craft, technology and design centre, but these added to its financial problems.[1]
In the economic downturn of the 1990s, parental opinion lost confidence in the school's focus on character-building at the expense of academic studies. In 1992, in an article entitled "The public schools that come bottom", The Independent reported that -
Pierrepont School charges
A-levels".[4]
The school closed in 1993.[1] Pierrepont School Trust Limited, an educational charity connected with the school, was created in 1966 and dissolved in 1996.[5]
The school's former premises were bought by Ellel Ministries International and became the home of the new Ellel Pierrepont Centre.[6]
Motto
The school's motto, a posse ad esse, is drawn from the Latin philosophical principle "Ab esse ad posse valet, a posse ad esse non-valet consequentia", meaning "It is valid to conclude from actuality to possibility, but not from possibility to actuality".[7]
Headmasters
- 1947–1955: Thomas Joyce Parry
- 1955–1962: Nicholas A. Dromgoole, later Ballet correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph, married Lesley Collier, Principal ballerina of the Royal Ballet[8] in Q4. 1977 in London[9]
- 1962–1983: Anthony George Hill (7 April 1926 - Q1, 1983)[9] (died in office)[3]
- 1983–1992: John Payne
- 1993: Nigel Taylor
Notable Old Pierrepontians
- Michael Baden-Powell, 4th Baron Baden-Powell and Scouting Leader
- Sir Merrick Cockell, Conservative politician[10][11]
- Jonny Wilkinson, rugby player[12]
- Mark Williams-Thomas, Investigative TV reporter
References
- ^ a b c d "Pierrepont School, Frensham". Exploring Surrey's Past. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ Historic England (3 May 1973). "Pierrepont School (Grade II*) (1188515)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ a b "Pierrepont School, Frensham, 1947–1993". Exploring Surrey's Past. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ Crequer, Ngaio; Nelson, Dean (30 August 1992). "The public schools that come bottom". The Independent. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ Pierrepont School Trust Limited at opencharities.org, accessed 5 July 2011
- ^ "Ellel Pierrepont". ellelministries.org.
- ^ Jakob Peter Mynster, Mynster's "Rationalism, supernaturalism" and the debate about mediation (2009 edition), p. 363
- ^ "Dromgoole". ancestry.com.
- ^ a b "Welcome to FreeBMD".
- ^ 'COCKELL, Sir Merrick (Richard)’, in Who's Who 2011 (London: A. & C. Black, 2011)
- ^ Hetherington, Peter (26 July 2011). "A new champion for local government". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
- ^ "Old Haunts". Jonny Wilkinson. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
External links
- Pierrepont School, Frensham, c. 1965, at francisfrith.com (photograph)
- Historic Environment Record, with aerial photograph, at exploringsurreyspast.org.uk