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EspañolBEAUMONT COLLEGE
'Beaumont College' was a Jesuit public school in Old Windsor, Berkshire, England. In 1967 the school closed and the building was borrowed for one academic year by the Sisters of Loreto on account of delays to their own new teacher training college, affiliated to Nottingham University. The building was subsequently used as a training centre by a British computer company (International Computers Ltd., later ICL, eventually absorbed into Fujitsu). The property is now occupied by a commercial conference centre.
The estate was originally known as Remenham, after Hugo de Remenham, who owned the land at the end of the 14th century. After a period of ownership by the Tyle family, the estate was occupied in turn by John Morley, Francis Kibblewhite, William Christmas and Henry Frederick Thynne (clerk to the Privy Council under Charles II) in the 17th century.
In 1714, Thomas Thynne, who was then given the title Lord Weymouth, inherited the estate. Thirty years later, Sophia, Duchess of Kent, bought it again. In 1751, the Duke of Roxburghe purchased the land for his eldest son, the Marquis of Beaumont (then a boy at Eton College), and renamed it Beaumont.
In 1786, Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, acquired Beaumont Lodge at the cost of £12,000. He lived at Beaumont for three years. In 1789 the estate was sold to Henry Griffith, an Anglo-Indian.
In 1805, the Beaumont property was bought for about £14,000 by Viscount Ashbrook, a friend of George IV. Even after his death in 1847, his widow continued to reside there until 1854, when she sold it to the Society of Jesus as a training college.
For seven years it housed Jesuit novices of the English province and then on 10 October 1861 became a Catholic boarding school for boys, with the title of 'St. Stanislaus College, Beaumont'. This was, along with Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, one of two public schools maintained by the English Province of the Jesuits.
On 15 May 1961 Queen Elizabeth II visited Beaumont to mark its centenary.
In 1888, a preparatory school was opened on Priest's Hill above the main school, in the direction of Englefield Green, and named St. John's, in honour of St. John Berchmans. After an initial period of uncertainty following the closure of Beaumont, in 1970 the governors of Stonyhurst College accepted responsibility for St. John's, which still serves as a preparatory school for Stonyhurst.
The buildings were laid out attractively, the main drive curving round an open field to a rendered 18th-century mansion known as the White House, and most of the ancillary buildings being concealed by trees. The science laboratories were a single-storey 1930s block to the left of the main house. Other outbuildings ran backward from there, including the ambulacrum and tuck shop, but without obtruding unduly on the agreeable garden dominated by a specimen cedar tree, to one side of which lay a war memorial.
Behind the war memorial, woodland ran down the edge of the estate, where there was a path leading to Windsor Great Park, much used by the pupils for walks and cross-country runs. In the angle between the woodland and the garden was the cricket pitch. A boathouse lay on the Thames just outside the gates, and playing fields for rugby football were a little further down river on Runnymede. Beyond the cricket pitch was a home farm which supplied the school with milk and other products, and beyond that St John's.
Beaumont was easy of access from London, and, being where it was, rapidly developed an awareness of being the "Catholic Eton": a tag at the school was "Beaumont is what Eton was: a school for the sons of Catholic gentlemen." A similar claim is now made for Ampleforth College. Although all the boys at Beaumont were boarders, the school's nearness to London meant that, unlike at Stonyhurst or Ampleforth, many parents could fetch boys away for weekends during term; the number of such "exeats" was limited.
Beaumont was not organised in “houses” as many British boarding schools are (cp Hogwarts), but in various other ways: in this respect it resembled the other English Jesuit public school, Stonyhurst, but not St Aloysius' College, Glasgow. The main grouping was by year-class, the names of the classes being reminiscent of the mediaeval ''trivium'': Rudiments, Grammar, Syntax, Poetry, and Rhetoric. There was also a broader age-division between the “Higher Line” and “Lower Line” (the cut-off being around the beginning of the sixth-form). Finally, all boys were on admission assigned either to be “Romans” or “Carthaginians”: these two groups earned points during each term on the basis of the academic progress and behaviour of their members, and at the end of term there was a day’s holiday at which the winning group earned a special tea (this last tradition lost force over the years and by the 1960s attracted little interest from the boys).
Inevitably the school had its own song, put together in the late Victorian period in rather poor Latin:
The school had its own arms, with the motto ''Æterna non Caduca'' (''The eternal, not the earthly'').
After the Second World War, the English Province of the Jesuits (which also had responsibilities to discharge in Rhodesia and British Guiana) suffered from an increasing shortage of priests, and the financial viability of a school of only 280 pupils became more and more precarious. A decision was made in 1965 to close the school, and it was officially closed in 1967. After the closure, most of the current pupils transferred to Stonyhurst.
The old boys’ association, known as the Beaumont Union, continues through the efforts of Guy Bailey, a member now resident in the South of France, with an annual newsletter and an annual formal dinner at the East India Club in St. James' Square in London. The Beaumont Union also arranges an annual service each Armistice Day at the Beaumont War Memorial, and an annual pilgrimage to Lourdes.
★ David Hoy, SJ. ''The Story of St John's Beaumont 1888-1988, St. John's Beaumont, Old Windsor, 1987.
| Contents |
| History of the estate |
| History as a school |
| Character of the school |
| End of the school |
| References |
History of the estate
The estate was originally known as Remenham, after Hugo de Remenham, who owned the land at the end of the 14th century. After a period of ownership by the Tyle family, the estate was occupied in turn by John Morley, Francis Kibblewhite, William Christmas and Henry Frederick Thynne (clerk to the Privy Council under Charles II) in the 17th century.
18th century view of Beaumont Lodge: the artist has placed it closer to the river than it now is, whether because the river has moved or by artistic licence
In 1714, Thomas Thynne, who was then given the title Lord Weymouth, inherited the estate. Thirty years later, Sophia, Duchess of Kent, bought it again. In 1751, the Duke of Roxburghe purchased the land for his eldest son, the Marquis of Beaumont (then a boy at Eton College), and renamed it Beaumont.
In 1786, Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, acquired Beaumont Lodge at the cost of £12,000. He lived at Beaumont for three years. In 1789 the estate was sold to Henry Griffith, an Anglo-Indian.
History as a school
In 1805, the Beaumont property was bought for about £14,000 by Viscount Ashbrook, a friend of George IV. Even after his death in 1847, his widow continued to reside there until 1854, when she sold it to the Society of Jesus as a training college.
For seven years it housed Jesuit novices of the English province and then on 10 October 1861 became a Catholic boarding school for boys, with the title of 'St. Stanislaus College, Beaumont'. This was, along with Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, one of two public schools maintained by the English Province of the Jesuits.
On 15 May 1961 Queen Elizabeth II visited Beaumont to mark its centenary.
In 1888, a preparatory school was opened on Priest's Hill above the main school, in the direction of Englefield Green, and named St. John's, in honour of St. John Berchmans. After an initial period of uncertainty following the closure of Beaumont, in 1970 the governors of Stonyhurst College accepted responsibility for St. John's, which still serves as a preparatory school for Stonyhurst.
Character of the school
The buildings were laid out attractively, the main drive curving round an open field to a rendered 18th-century mansion known as the White House, and most of the ancillary buildings being concealed by trees. The science laboratories were a single-storey 1930s block to the left of the main house. Other outbuildings ran backward from there, including the ambulacrum and tuck shop, but without obtruding unduly on the agreeable garden dominated by a specimen cedar tree, to one side of which lay a war memorial.
Behind the war memorial, woodland ran down the edge of the estate, where there was a path leading to Windsor Great Park, much used by the pupils for walks and cross-country runs. In the angle between the woodland and the garden was the cricket pitch. A boathouse lay on the Thames just outside the gates, and playing fields for rugby football were a little further down river on Runnymede. Beyond the cricket pitch was a home farm which supplied the school with milk and other products, and beyond that St John's.
Beaumont was easy of access from London, and, being where it was, rapidly developed an awareness of being the "Catholic Eton": a tag at the school was "Beaumont is what Eton was: a school for the sons of Catholic gentlemen." A similar claim is now made for Ampleforth College. Although all the boys at Beaumont were boarders, the school's nearness to London meant that, unlike at Stonyhurst or Ampleforth, many parents could fetch boys away for weekends during term; the number of such "exeats" was limited.
Beaumont was not organised in “houses” as many British boarding schools are (cp Hogwarts), but in various other ways: in this respect it resembled the other English Jesuit public school, Stonyhurst, but not St Aloysius' College, Glasgow. The main grouping was by year-class, the names of the classes being reminiscent of the mediaeval ''trivium'': Rudiments, Grammar, Syntax, Poetry, and Rhetoric. There was also a broader age-division between the “Higher Line” and “Lower Line” (the cut-off being around the beginning of the sixth-form). Finally, all boys were on admission assigned either to be “Romans” or “Carthaginians”: these two groups earned points during each term on the basis of the academic progress and behaviour of their members, and at the end of term there was a day’s holiday at which the winning group earned a special tea (this last tradition lost force over the years and by the 1960s attracted little interest from the boys).
Inevitably the school had its own song, put together in the late Victorian period in rather poor Latin:
Concinamus gnaviter
Omnes Beaumontani
Vocem demus suaviter
Novi, veterani;
Etsi mox pugnavimus
Iam condamus enses,
Seu Romani fuimus,
Seu Carthaginenses.
Numquam sit per saecula
Decus istud vanum:
Vivat sine macula
Nomen Beaumontanum!
The school had its own arms, with the motto ''Æterna non Caduca'' (''The eternal, not the earthly'').
End of the school
After the Second World War, the English Province of the Jesuits (which also had responsibilities to discharge in Rhodesia and British Guiana) suffered from an increasing shortage of priests, and the financial viability of a school of only 280 pupils became more and more precarious. A decision was made in 1965 to close the school, and it was officially closed in 1967. After the closure, most of the current pupils transferred to Stonyhurst.
The old boys’ association, known as the Beaumont Union, continues through the efforts of Guy Bailey, a member now resident in the South of France, with an annual newsletter and an annual formal dinner at the East India Club in St. James' Square in London. The Beaumont Union also arranges an annual service each Armistice Day at the Beaumont War Memorial, and an annual pilgrimage to Lourdes.
References
★ David Hoy, SJ. ''The Story of St John's Beaumont 1888-1988, St. John's Beaumont, Old Windsor, 1987.
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