The main house sits to the left of the drive with the old Water Tower standing at the end with a spectacular wide view down over the valley to the west.  Steam trains could be seen running along the valley on the old Didcot to Southampton line. Upon entering the main house, a staircase sits to the right and straight ahead, the large room was our first Dining Room with round tables and a small kitchen to the left. The Dining Room also served as the first gym; one girl wrote that a great deal of extra exercise was gained by moving the chairs and the tables at the beginning of the lesson and then replacing them at the end of the lesson! On the first floor above the Dining Room was a large sitting room with a loggia looking south over a small Greek Theatre, formal lawns and stone pathways.  The cloisters were joined on the south east by a rose pergola, covered with deep red ramblers. The dormitories for the pupils were on the sides of the first floor and on the second floor of the main building.  Classrooms were in a large building at the western end of the cloisters and were also built onto the outside of most of the cloisters.  Under the terms of the lease of the first Downe House in Kent, buildings could be put up but had to be removed if the lease was terminated, so a chapel, a gymnasium and classrooms were taken down and all the building materials were transported to Cold Ash.  

The chapel was rebuilt alongside the cloister that runs west from the main building.  Miss Willis was happy that it fitted well above the line of the cloisters, “Riding out from the hillside, like a ship’s prow and inside, full of light” she wrote.  

There has always been a certain amount of staff accommodation at the school. In the first years staff lived in St Peter’s, built in the late 16th century, which sits over the brow of St Peter’s Hill with a view towards Thatcham; in Ancren Gate which is just inside the school’s north gate; in the gatehouse and in Cancellor’s* which is the small cottage that clings to the hillside, on the right of Red Shute Hill.   

Miss Willis engaged Beatrix Havergal as the school’s gardener.  Beatrix was a graduate of the Henwick Fruit and Flower Farm horticultural school in Thatcham and our first tennis courts were named after her. She also played cello in the school orchestra.  

The rebuilt chapel was dedicated in 1925 by the Bishop of St Albans, Bishop Furse, and past pupils who had been at the school in Kent presented a bell; it is inscribed ‘Love and Loyalty to tell. Downe House Seniors gave a bell’. In 1929 a new library was opened and in the early thirties the new dining room and the south wing were built as well as the ‘swimming bath’.  

Over the Second World War, Downe House housed Queen’s gate School who had to evacuate their London premises for safety. Our buildings were painted in camouflage and strict blackouts were observed.  Miss Nickel and a band of local workmen put up blackout blinds and two air raid shelters were constructed. Pine trees were felled for the Admiralty and a German parachutist landed in our oak tree. Curious girls and staff greeted him and he was quickly taken into custody at the local Police Station. 

The celebrate the end of the war the girls and staff decorated the school and the main gate (and themselves) and joined in with the local schools on the field for games and picnic teas.  A huge bonfire was lit on St Peter’s Hill and the girls wrote of seeing other beacons into the far distance.  

Over the years the school has continued to grow and develop but Miss Willis’ founding principles remain: Downe House is a strong community where each member is respected and valued for their individuality.  Miss Willis led the school until her retirement in 1946 and a succession of inspiring women followed her in that role.  

Headmistresses 

1907 – 1946 Miss Olive Willis 

1946 – 1963 Miss Nancy Medley 

1963 – 1966 Miss Jennifer Bourdillon 

1966 – 1978 Mrs Pamela Wilson 

1978 – 1989 Miss Suzanne Farr 

1989 – 1996 Miss Susan Cameron 

1997 Mrs Emma McKendrick