Clare House Preparatory School History Research page

Norfolk House Downham Market  Norfolk United Kingdom

2nd August 2000 As those who can recall the bright red uniform will recognise, I was a pupil of Clare House Preparatory School at Beckenham in Kent. I went to the School from 1962 to 1965. Please follow this link to my Clare House and Northdown Hill Schools page, which outlines the reasons for my original research into the two schools. Having begun to look into the history of Clare House Preparatory School, I have decided to gather as much information as I can about its history from its beginnings in 1896 to its closure in 1970. If possible, I would like to publish the results of my research in a booklet which relates the key events in the School's history.

Wearing my Clare House Preparatory School uniform in February 1962

If you have any information about the School's history at all, no matter how inconsequential you may think it is, do please send me a message using my on-line mail form. Thank you.

8th August 2000

I spoke to Cliff Watkins, Membership Secretary of the Beckenham Photographic Society. Cliff was able to tell me that Clare House Preparatory School was established in 1892 (for boarding and day pupils), and finally closed due to financial difficulties in 1970. Apparently, in Clare House's early days, Beckenham was an area favoured by service personnel, especially those in the Royal Navy, for sending their sons to school.

This information is all in a book entitled "Beckenham" written by Dr Eric R Inman and the late Nancy Tonkin, published by Phillimore & Co Ltd., 2002, hard cover, 146 pages; ISBN: 1-86077-206-4 [Note 1]. In well written text and with many good quality pictures, this book recounts the growth of Beckenham from a small village in Kent into a burgeoning suburb of London. There is a picture of Clare House Preparatory School on page 71 of this book, taken from a postcard - with an interesting message on the reverse dated 1906, from a father to his son.

The outward appearance of the School had changed little from the 1906 picture to my short time there in 1962-65, although the roadside hedge was much higher in my time, and the trees in the Headmaster's garden (at the corner of Overbury Avenue) were rather larger. I have a few colour photographs taken by my mother in 1963 during the School's Sports Day, which include (me and) some views of the back of the school buildings and parts of the school field.

18th September 2000

I posted a public appeal for information on Clare House Preparatory School on the BromleyNet community Internet site (http://www.bromleynet.co.uk)

29th September 2000 Having made enquiries of the London Borough of Bromley, in Kent, I received some information from Simon Finch of the Local Studies Department of the Central Library in Bromley. He and his colleagues were able to furnish me with some local Press cuttings that trace the development of Oakwood Avenue in Beckenham; the announcement of the closure of Clare House Preparatory School (from the Beckenham Journal and from the Bromley and Kentish Times); and some information about the opening of the new Clare House Primary School in 1976.

The Clare House Preparatory School badge: "Whatever you do, do it well."

They were also able to supply a copy of the letter from the Headmaster, Major A W E Hodges, sent to parents in January 1970 informing them of the impending closure of the School in July of that year; a copy of part of the School prospectus [Note 2]; a copy of a list from 1901 to 1961 - with handwritten additions made by the Headmaster for 1962 - of pupils who were elected to scholarships to various public schools [Note 3]; a copy of a list from 1948 to 1962 of pupils who had passed the Common Examination for Entrance to Public Schools (known as the "Common Entrance").

My thanks go to Simon Finch and his colleagues in the Local Studies Department of the Central Library, Bromley, in Kent for sending me as much information as there is available in the archives there about the Clare House schools in Beckenham, Kent, and for making further enquiries on my behalf.

Clare House Preparatory School was linked to the Abbey School which at one time stood in Southend Road in Beckenham. The Abbey School moved to East Grinstead, in Sussex, to escape the effects of the Second World War, and the Clare House pupils joined the Abbey School pupils there. Unlike Clare House School, the Abbey School did not return to Beckenham after the War.

Both schools were run by the Abbey and Clare House Company Limited. This company was in financial difficulties in April 1969, and the Abbey School closed in July of that year. It was hoped at that time that Clare House Preparatory School could have survived but, as mentioned above, it was unable to do so.

I wrote to the Secretary of the The Historical Association - Beckenham and Bromley Branch to ask if any of their members may have any information about Clare House Preparatory School.  The Secretary very kindly agreed to pass my request to the Editor of the Society's monthly journal - "Beckenham Historian".

I am pleased to report that one reader has contacted me, and another has put a friend in contact with me.  I am grateful to these people for taking the time and trouble to get in touch with me.

I also wrote to the Secretary of the Bromley Association of Retired Teachers along the same lines, in the hope that some of the Association's members may have known some of the members of staff at Clare House, and that they had maintained contact.  The Secretary wrote to me to say that since the membership of the Bromley Association of Retired Teachers consists mainly of teachers who formerly taught in the State sector, this may be unlikely.  Nevertheless, the Secretary kindly agreed to publish my request.

I joined eGroups' "Beckenham_UK" discussion forum, posting an appeal for information on Clare House Preparatory School.  The eGroups' Beckenham_UK list enables people living or working in Beckenham, or who have connections with the town, to communicate and discuss matters of local interest.

3rd January 2001

Mrs Pat Manning wrote to me in response to my request (kindly published in the "Beckenham Historian") with some information she had prepared for the North-West Kent Family Health Service. She mentions that Clare House Preparatory School was founded in 1896 by George Philbrick.  In 1940, the pupils of Clare House School joined those of the Abbey School when the latter moved to East Grinstead, in Sussex. However, when the Abbey School did not return, once that school had closed in 1969, Clare House closed soon afterwards (1970).

Mrs Manning has suggested that there may some information available in the East Grinstead area, so I wrote to the Library Service there.  She has also kindly offered to follow up a number of avenues of enquiry for me, for which I am most grateful.

I received a telephone call from Mrs Pat Grant, whose three sons attended Clare House in the 1960's.  Mrs Grant had learnt about me through a friend who had seen my appeal for information in the "Beckenham Historian".

Mrs Grant is a friend of Major A W E Hodges, the last Headmaster of Clare House School, and she was able to give me some contact information for him.

At the suggestion of Mrs Joan Roberts, Area Librarian, East Grinstead Library, I have also made further enquiries of the County Archivist at the East Sussex Records Office in Lewes and of Mr Stacey, Secretary of the Ashurst Wood Historians. I have also written to the County Archivist at the West Sussex Records Office at Chichester.

I went to see Mr John Hodges and spoke to him at some length. Much of what I have written here is based on his memories. There seems to be very little published information about Clare House School in existence. I would like to appeal to anybody who has had any connection with Clare House Preparatory School in the past, however tenuous, to contact me, please. Thank you.

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