A Brief History of Mowden Hall School (1935-1958)

written by the Founder, F.H. Marchbank, July 1975

The Start

It originated at a ladies' bridge party in Gosforth in 1935. A Darlington lady told Mrs Marchbank's mother that there was no prep school in the Darlington district.

I was then one of three partners in a prep school in Winchester but I had thought for some time it would be more satisfactory to have one's own school. Some days after the party - we were staying with our relations in Gosforth - we called at an estate agent's office, told him of our idea of starting a school and asked if there were any suitable houses on the market. The agent was surprised. He had recently had another schoolmaster in his office with the same idea. "I'll show you the places I showed him," he said. Mowden Hall was quite the best house but seemed frightfully grand in its seven acres and dauntingly empty inside. Driving back to Gosforth, Mrs Marchbank and I agreed that it was too big a risk to take - then decided that if we were doomed to go bust we might as well do it in style. That was in April. I took the photo on the preliminary prospectus on our way south to Winchester. Mowden Hall looked even bigger and emptier that day and we were now committed to have it furnished and equipped as a school in September.

1935-1939

At the opening there was one 8-year-old boarder (who must be kept happy at all costs!), one 10-year-old day boy who wanted to go to Dartmouth RNC and ten other day boys aged from 5 to 9. The Froebel mistress took the under-8s, I took the rest and dealt with the Dartmouth boy separately. We had to get boarders quickly and it was not an attractive set-up for parents to consider. We were saved by the fact that many day boys found home rather dull compared with Mowden Hall's seven acres and changed into weekly or termly boarders. John Lungley had won his Dartmouth cadetship and others were leaving for their public schools. We owed an immense amount to local parents: the Spaldings, the Paynes, the Stubbs, the Kirks and many more. Sir Alfred and Lady Pease sent their boys to Mowden which was a Pease house. This helped a lot. We had begun to show that the boys were being successfully taught but were still a soft touch at games. When watching a test match on the telly, I still sigh with relief as England reaches double figures!

1939-1945

At Easter 1940 we had a holiday at Windermere - it was still the 'Phoney War' period - and from a boat we noticed a 'To Let' sign on a lawn sloping down to Bowness Bay. This was Fallbarrow and I thought it was worth paying the owner to have first refusal of renting it for a funk hole in case Hitler got tough. He soon did and, with help from relations, we took Fallbarrow. Just in time as many other schools wanted it. Fears of bombing and an invasion made some parents wish to send their boys westwards and in June with three of the staff Mrs Marchbank went to Fallbarrow with a dozen boys who were soon joined by more. I stayed at Mowden. At the end of the term I went over to Fallbarrow where many boys were staying throughout the holiday. Soon afterwards I received a telegram to say that Mowden Hall had been taken over by the Air Ministry. I went back to find RAF trucks on the tennis court and a sentry at the door. A schoolmistress agreed to teach the younger boys at her house and most of the rest came to Fallbarrow which my relations very decently left to make room for the school.

We had been inspected and 'Recognised as Efficient' and, as you can see from the Honours Board, in the next three years Mowden boys won three scholarships at Dartmouth, David Spark's 1st at The Leys, several other honours and in 1944 my nephew, A.M. Carrick, won our first Winchester Scholarship. (From Winchester he won a History Scholarship at King's College, Cambridge.) So we had now become known in the prep school world.

It was very hard to find good members of the staff as so many were 'called up' if they had not already volunteered. Four whom I remember with gratitude were:- 'Gilly' (Mr Gillespie), a kind of gentle Kojack (if you can imagine that!); Pat Hare, an excellent Maths teacher who was short-sighted and very delicate (his motto for a prep school was 'hard work and high jinks' - pretty good); Ethel Joss, the best cubmaster I have known, who left us to become a headmistress; and Daphne Jones who took the top English and spent hours in the lake teaching boys to swim. She was killed in a cycle accident. The domestic situation was just as bad and Mrs Marchbank had endless troubles keeping the school fed and cleaned and dealing with ration books and official forms.

1945-1958

We had to clear out of Fallbarrow at the end of the War as the owner wanted it back. We did not know when Mowden Hall would be released, a housing estate was creeping round the perimeter fence and a by-pass was planned to run 100 yards from the school. It seemed wise to consider a third home for Mowden.

I had often thought what a marvellous school Newton Hall would make. It belonged to family friends. Mr Harry Tully, a Newcastle shipowner, lived there alone in a few rooms he had been allowed to keep when the hall was taken over as a hospital.

I wondered if he would think of letting the Hall with some ground. It seemed pretty good cheek but I wrote and asked. He replied that he would not rent anything but he would sell me the whole estate. This was an astonishing offer. He had sent me details of the land and rents but even after a visit there was much we did not know - the number of cottages, for instance! His solicitors warned me I would have to accept without asking for more details or risk having the offer withdrawn.

So it was the 1935 situation all over again but on a much bigger scale. We accepted. it was a bad time to sell a country estate but even so Mr Tully asked a modest price - he could have got more - but it was a tremendous amount for us. We were deeply in debt when we moved there. The move itself was difficult as petrol rationing was limited our visits and we had to be granted licences before doing any alterations to Newton. I had been ill so Mrs Marchbank had to do more than her share.

There were 12 cottages and the agent's house; this had a bath and a flush lavatory. The cottages had one tap - water was heated on the kitchen range. They had no damp course so the walls became wet in bad weather. The septic tank (drains) had not been intended for a school and had to be enlarged in a hurry when this became unpleasantly obvious! Our first winter was the coldest this century. The central heating boiler burst. A factory stove, glowing red, made the dining hall just bearable. In the Christmas Term 1946 our daughter developed polio and the boys had to be sent home in a hurry. There was a private electric plant in the stable yard. It lit the hall and a few cottages but no radiators could be used. The 27 h.p. engine was started by compressed air. Only a splendid estate worker, Thomas Pigg, could work it. I had the details typed out in case of accidents and, soon after, Thomas cut off his thumb in the sawmill. So for months two boys and I went to start it after breakfast. The operation took 20 minutes and we returned smelling of diesel oil!

We had a plague of rats - I remember seeing Mowden's first rugger international, John Brash, killing one in the dining hall before lunch. The 1947 summer was the hottest for years, the lake was covered with slimy weed and we had a plague of toads. They hopped into cottages and slid under the front door to meet us in the hall.

But water - or lack of it - was a worse trouble. The main supply was not available in my time. Mr Tully had generously paid for a new pump by the cricket field and this should have supplied the whole estate. Matron would rush to find us with the dread news: 'The green dorm haven't had their baths and there's no water!' I used to think it would be pleasant to teach without constantly being called out to deal with some emergency.

Then there was dry rot. One winter term we had a pile of cement in the hall and the front door open for weeks. I had to sell personal treasures and chunks of the estate to pay for this and other essential repairs and maintenance.

But at last we were being joined by the right type of master. Major Len Coulson - a distinguished wartime commando - taught Maths successfully and coached games magnificently. Mrs Coulson was a brilliant producer of plays. Laurie Cooke raised the standard of Latin and in 1956 (I think) Dennis Sullivan arrived and began to teach French as though it was a living language!

Mrs Marchbank had become ill with a serious and painful form of arthritis in 1950. The same year I flaked out on - of all days - 5th November! I did it again some three years later. It was obvious that we must have some official help in running the school and being responsible for it. Mr Dakin came in 1956 with the idea of becoming my partner after two years if we both agreed. We thought of establishing the type of Trust that Mowden now has and Mrs Marchbank and I went to the Temple in London to see the IAPS solicitor who valued the various bits of the school and said it could be arranged without trouble. But it would have meant staying on as headmaster for some years at least. It was a horrible problem because whatever we did entailed hurting somebody.

In the end I asked Mr Dakin if he would like to take over the school from me instead of becoming my partner and he seemed to think this a good idea if it could be arranged. The arrangement was not easy and involved dividing off part of the estate for the school and I know the boys thought I was horrible for doing it! But I am sure they would all now agree with the last paragraph of my 'Notice to Parents' of 18th August 1958.