Prior's Field School
Encyclopedia
Prior’s Field is an independent girls boarding and day school in Godalming, Surrey. It is set in 23 acres of Surrey parkland, 34 miles south west of London and adjacent to the A3. Its original building was designed and developed by Charles Voysey
(1857–1941), an English architect of the Arts and Crafts movement. Prior’s Field was founded in 1902 by Julia Huxley, who was the mother of Julian Huxley
and Aldous Huxley
and who had progressive ideas about the education of girls in Edwardian Britain. The school has always had strong literary ties: W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw
and Lewis Carroll
were family friends.
Today, there are 400 girls at the school, aged 11 to 18, with a third of pupils boarding on either a weekly or full basis.
The Headteacher is Mrs. Julie Roseblade who joined the school in 2006 from St. Helen’s, Northwood and is the 10th Head of Prior’s Field. Prior’s Field pupils typically take nine or ten GCSEs in Year 11 and have a choice of over 20 A-levels in the Sixth Form. In 2010, 76% of girls achieved A*-B grades, 94% A*-C grades and the pass rate was 100%. The school is in the top 1% of all schools nationally for value-added achievement at A-level and in the top 0.8% (placed fifth) for value-added at GCSE. The Good Schools Guide 15th Edition, published in 2010, concludes that “For parents who...seek a more balanced approach to life and learning for their daughter, Prior's Field provides a refreshing option”. The school motto "We live by Admiration, Hope and Love" is from The Excursion
by William Wordsworth
.
. The Huxley Family
is interesting historically for the achievements of several of its members across the fields of science, medicine, literature and education. Julian Huxley
would go on to become a biologist, the first Director of UNESCO and a founder member of WWF. Aldous Huxley
was the eventual author of Brave New World
, published in 1932.
Starting with a five-acre plot and a moderately-sized house, designed by Charles Voysey, Julia Huxley opened her school with one boarder, five day girls, a wire-haired terrier and her seven and a half year-old son, Aldous.
Julia Huxley was married to Leonard Huxley, a biographer and writer. She died in 1908 at the age of 46, after only six years as Headmistress, and was succeeded by Mrs. Ethel Burton-Brown who was Head from 1908-1927. The school magazine was published for the first time in June 1908, when there were 85 pupils and 86 Old Girls.
The design of Prior’s Field’s rose garden was inspired by the work of Gertrude Jekyll
and includes herbaceous borders, dry Bargate stone walls, a dipping pond and rock garden. In the early years, the care of the gardens was in the hands of lady gardeners who trained at Swanley Horticultural College.
, a Nobel prize-winner and younger son of Leonard Huxley, by his second marriage to Rosalind Bruce.
Charles Voysey (architect)
Charles Francis Annesley Voysey was an English architect and furniture and textile designer. Voysey's early work was as a designer of wallpapers, fabrics and furnishings in a simple Arts and Crafts style, but he is renowned as the architect of a number of notable country houses...
(1857–1941), an English architect of the Arts and Crafts movement. Prior’s Field was founded in 1902 by Julia Huxley, who was the mother of Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
and Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
and who had progressive ideas about the education of girls in Edwardian Britain. The school has always had strong literary ties: W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
and Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
were family friends.
Today, there are 400 girls at the school, aged 11 to 18, with a third of pupils boarding on either a weekly or full basis.
The Headteacher is Mrs. Julie Roseblade who joined the school in 2006 from St. Helen’s, Northwood and is the 10th Head of Prior’s Field. Prior’s Field pupils typically take nine or ten GCSEs in Year 11 and have a choice of over 20 A-levels in the Sixth Form. In 2010, 76% of girls achieved A*-B grades, 94% A*-C grades and the pass rate was 100%. The school is in the top 1% of all schools nationally for value-added achievement at A-level and in the top 0.8% (placed fifth) for value-added at GCSE. The Good Schools Guide 15th Edition, published in 2010, concludes that “For parents who...seek a more balanced approach to life and learning for their daughter, Prior's Field provides a refreshing option”. The school motto "We live by Admiration, Hope and Love" is from The Excursion
The Excursion
The Excursion: Being a portion of The Recluse, a poem is a long poem by Romantic poet William Wordsworth and was first published in 1814 . It was intended to be the second part of The Recluse, an unfinished larger work that was also meant to include The Prelude, Wordsworth's other long poem, which...
by William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
.
History
Prior's Field School opened on 23 January 1902. It was founded by Julia Huxley who was the mother of Julian and Aldous Huxley, the niece of the poet Matthew Arnold and the grand-daughter of Dr. Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby immortalised in the novel Tom Brown's SchooldaysTom Brown's Schooldays
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a novel by Thomas Hughes. The story is set at Rugby School, a public school for boys, in the 1830s; Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842...
. The Huxley Family
Huxley family
The Huxley family is a British family of which several members have excelled in scientific, medical, artistic, and literary fields. The family also includes members who occupied senior public positions in the service of the United Kingdom....
is interesting historically for the achievements of several of its members across the fields of science, medicine, literature and education. Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
would go on to become a biologist, the first Director of UNESCO and a founder member of WWF. Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
was the eventual author of Brave New World
Brave New World
Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of...
, published in 1932.
Starting with a five-acre plot and a moderately-sized house, designed by Charles Voysey, Julia Huxley opened her school with one boarder, five day girls, a wire-haired terrier and her seven and a half year-old son, Aldous.
Julia Huxley was married to Leonard Huxley, a biographer and writer. She died in 1908 at the age of 46, after only six years as Headmistress, and was succeeded by Mrs. Ethel Burton-Brown who was Head from 1908-1927. The school magazine was published for the first time in June 1908, when there were 85 pupils and 86 Old Girls.
Architecture
Prior's Field, originally called Prior's Garth, was designed by Charles Voysey in the Arts and Crafts style. Many of the original features designed by Voysey – such as stylised keyholes, door handles, air vents, and fireplaces – can still be seen in the school today, for instance in the Oak Hall, the Senior Common Room and the Bursary offices. The additions to the original house – formerly known as Private Side – were designed by Voysey’s pupil, Tom Muntzer.The design of Prior’s Field’s rose garden was inspired by the work of Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...
and includes herbaceous borders, dry Bargate stone walls, a dipping pond and rock garden. In the early years, the care of the gardens was in the hands of lady gardeners who trained at Swanley Horticultural College.
Centenary
To mark the school’s centenary in 2002, a £1.2m sports hall was built. Designed in the style of Voysey and named the Centenary Sports Hall, it was opened by Sir Andrew HuxleyAndrew Huxley
Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley, OM, FRS is an English physiologist and biophysicist, who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his experimental and mathematical work with Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials, the electrical impulses that enable the activity...
, a Nobel prize-winner and younger son of Leonard Huxley, by his second marriage to Rosalind Bruce.
Notable former pupils
- Enid BagnoldEnid BagnoldEnid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, CBE , known by her maiden name as Enid Bagnold, was a British author and playwright, best known for the 1935 story National Velvet which was filmed in 1944 with Elizabeth Taylor....
, playwright and author of works including The Chalk Garden and National Velvet - Margaret YorkeMargaret YorkeMargaret Yorke is an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson .-Life and work:Born in Compton, Surrey, she spent her childhood in Dublin, moving to England in 1937. During World War II she worked as a hospital librarian, then at eighteen she joined the WRNS as a driver...
, crime writer who received the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award in 1999 - Baroness Mary Warnock, educationalist and philosopher
- Victoria HamiltonVictoria HamiltonVictoria Sharp is an English actress who performs under the stage name Victoria Hamilton.-Early life:Hamilton was born on 5 April 1971 in Wimbledon, London, England, and grew up in Godalming, Surrey. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.-Career:Hamilton is best known for her...
, actress - Thetis Blacker, singer and artist
- Sir Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's daughter, Mary, was one of its earliest pupils.