It was also to be an environment where mutual respect between staff and pupils was highly valued and pursued. In the memoir, Olive Willis and Downe House, Anne Ridler notes Downe was to be a place “where life should be normal” and “the girls would not rush about in a feverish attempt to be like the boys,” instead it would offer something better than the average private school of the time, preparing girls for a university education.

Downe House is named after it’s first location, a house belonging to Charles Darwin in Kent. The school remained at Biggin Hill with Darwin as landlord until 1922 when the growing number of students, starting with three and growing to eighty-three, outsized the beautiful house.

Olive Willis purchased the school site in Cold Ash, for £1376, from The Order of Silence, “an esoteric cult which drew heavily on Eastern religion and emphasised meditation, vegetarianism and inner light.” The original site had been created in 1912 and consisted of two farms and a 17th century house. Miss Willis was drawn to the “splendid position on the top of a hill.” 60 acres of woodland, meadow and orchard, and the good train service between London, Newbury, Didcot and Hermitage made it a highly attractive location for a boarding school.

The Main House, now Aisholt, had thirty rooms that each accommodated two beds, cupboards, shelves and a writing desk for each pupil. The Cloisters had originally been designed by James Maclaren Ross and completed in 1915 for the Order. They made excellent classrooms for the students of Downe House. The central door on the western side led to what was the Warden’s House, now the History Block. Ancren Gate and The Lodge at the entrance to the school were used as accommodation for the staff and boarding houses until 1979 when the House system introduced four main houses: Aisholt, Ancren Gate, Holcombe and Tedworth.

The first new building put up at Cold Ash was a Sanatorium, “the luxury of a coal fire compensated for the rigours of illness.” The San later moved over into the building that is now Tedworth and in 2005, to a new building between what was now AGS and AGN, becoming the Palmer Centre in memory of Miss Elizabeth Palmer, past pupil, member of staff and benefactor to the school.

Over time, more buildings were rebuilt, having been moved over in pieces from Kent by ex-marines, under the instruction of Miss Nickel, who joined as a Geography Teacher but soon became architect for the growing school. Into the Cloisters were built the Concert Room and the English and Classics rooms. These rooms are S P Q and R named for Senatus Populus que Romanus, the Senate and the People of Rome, a nod to the classical civilisation of Rome.

When the chapel was rebuilt in 1925, a belfry was added and Old Seniors who had been at Downe House in Kent made a gift of the bell. There was a fire in the chapel in the 1930 and in restoration, the nave was extended and the organ gallery and staircase added.

Since 1922, the school has continued to develop and expand. Many buildings have been added, but the central part of the school remains much the same, familiar to generations of girls who have lived and been educated here. It is a truly special place with a rich history and a line of strong, independent and trailblazing women.

Read more about our other inspiring alumnae in our latest Cloisters magazine