The Building of St Edward's School: A Chronology (1870 - 2020)

P AGE N O : 12 Three new Chapel windows are installed ( Charles Eamer Kempe design ) representing the ‘Holy Eucharist’, presented by Frederick Noel, ‘Baptism, and ‘Confirmation’, both presented by W. Bates and R.J. Bates in memory of William Bates, a member of the Cricket XI, who had died of Tuberculosis while still at the School in 1882 (Hill, 1963). 1883 - Meadow below Cricket Ground converted into a Sewage Farm The Outdoor Swimming Pool’s annual drainage and cleaning proves interesting as it continues to show an increasing weight of the fish. ‘Unfortunately some of the finest always get knocked on the head, but some Tench have been returned which put on half a pound to their weight since last time’! (March Chronicle) ‘The bathing-place is full again. The springs ran slowly from want of rain, but the water was of an exquisite cleanliness, such as we seldom see in the Low Countries. The fish, unfortunately, have not prospered as had been hoped. There are a good many small ones, but the neighbourhood of Summertown seems unfavourable to the growth of larger specimens.’ (April 1884 Chronicle) New stops added to the Chapel Organ (Hill, 1963). 1884 - Two new stained-glass windows ( Charles Eamer Kempe Design ) are added to the Chapel on the South side of the Chancel, one representing ‘Holy Matrimony’ (presented by the Warden and Mrs. Simeon on the occasion of their marriage) and the second ‘Christian Burial’, presented by the Warden, W. Bulstrode and Mrs. W.A. Athawes - parents of pupils who had died while at the School - also W.C. Hopton and H. Packe, both O.S.E. The Chronicle gives the cost of each window as £40 each (£6,560 today) (Hill, 1963) School leases a Boathouse at Hermes Lake, measuring 25ft by 115ft, for a 14-year period (Box 15) School Prospectus emphasises the ‘seven acres of sporting fields and the outdoor bathing place’ (Oxley, 2015). 1885 - Further Kempe stained-glass window installed in the Chapel, a joint gift from existing members of the School, representing ‘Christ, The King of Glory, exalted upon the Cross, triumphing by his death over death’ (October Chronicle). This window filled the Eastern lancet (central) window. 1886 - Warden’s House completed, including the new western extension consisting of a New Dining Room, new entrance and new bay ( Harry Wilkinson Moore design ). ‘From the Quadrangle the addition is an unqualified success; it gives mass and solidarity to the main building of the School, and enhances the dignity of the whole wonderfully. From the (Woodstock) road it is not so good!’ (October Chronicle) With the completion of the Warden’s House ‘came accusations from the uncharitable that the School now possessed four Chapels: - Big School and The Reverend Olive’s Common Room in the New Buildings being the others not generally recognised’ (Hill, 1963) School purchases the plot of land on which the ‘Hollies’ (then a School Sick-house) stands from the estate of the Reverend Cannon Bull now deceased’ (Box 15) ‘The Dining Room in the Warden’s House only catered for six people, and the upstairs accommodation was in every way too limited for a growing family’, this was prior to the extension (Cowell December 1931 Chronicle) The Gymnasium built and opens on the north wall perimeter, standing in the ‘Warden’s Garden’ and constructed of brick and timber with a boarded roof. Measuring 56ft by 28ft with a gallery at the west end and ‘heated with hot water’. Lit by skylights in the roof with windows in the east and west gables. It ‘will contain everything necessary for a first class Gymnasium’. Thomas Adams is hired as Gym