Site map

Blog entries are arranged in chronological order by date of posting, which doesn't make for convenient reference. I've now provided a site map to give an overview of what's here and enable you to find particular topics more easily. There's a link to the site map in the right pane.

History of the school

This is largely based on information from Nicholas Barton's A history of Stouts Hill (2006, 128 pages), as mentioned by Alan Davis, which I bought in 2007 from the Stouts Hill Cotswold Timeshare.

The Stouts Hill site was occupied in the 13th century by a family called Stut or Stout; hence the name. However, Timothy Gyde inherited the place from his father in 1743 and built the main building that we know now, perhaps using some parts of whatever building had been there before.

Timothy Gyde had expensive tastes and died insolvent; the place was bought by William Lloyd Baker in 1786. A descendant of his, Olive Lloyd-Baker, was still in possession in 1935 when Robert Angus was looking for a place to start a school. At that time the property “had been empty for two years and had no electricity or main drainage (only septic tanks)”, so Miss Olive Lloyd-Baker asked a modest rent for it.

Stouts Hill School thus started in 1935 with 12 pupils, Mr and Mrs Angus, two other teachers, and a matron. By 1939 it had 60 pupils. At that point war broke out and Mr Angus joined the Army. He was released from the Army to return to the school “at the request of influential parents”, upon which he joined the Uley Home Guard.

By the 1960s, the school had about 120 pupils aged from 6 to 13; some boys stayed on an extra year, reaching 14.

Barton reports that Mr Angus bought the property from Miss Lloyd-Baker in the early 1970s and made it into a charitable trust. In fact the 1964 Stouts Hill Magazine reports that the school was already a charitable trust at that time; it seems to have happened during the 1963/64 academic year.

The Angus Wing or New Wing was added to the school in 1968 (after I left), containing classrooms, dormitories, and staff bedrooms. Beech House and South Bend in Uley were no longer needed.

Mr Angus retired in 1969 and moved into a new bungalow constructed in the grounds; Mr Cromie took over as headmaster. Later, a new assembly hall was built (now used for badminton and other games).

The school closed after the first term of 1979, and the property was taken over by the present owners, the Stouts Hill Cotswold Timeshare. Barton reports that the number of pupils had declined to 80 because times were changing and the school hadn't changed with them sufficiently. In particular, he thinks that parents were becoming unhappy with single-sex education and felt somewhat less need for boarding schools. (I was sent to boarding schools because my parents lived in Nigeria and didn't think I'd get an adequate education there.)

I've heard rumours of some kind of financial scandal around the time that the school closed, but I don't know the details.

The Angus Wing was demolished in 2000 as it was “always considered an eyesore by visitors to the timeshare”.

Photos 2004

Emile Farhi has contributed eight photos of Stouts Hill taken in December 2004, and I've added them to Flickr with the others—please use the Stouts Hill photos link in the right pane.

These are relatively small photos (640 × 480), but nice to have. I don't have many modern colour photos of the place. You can also see Emile here, looking quite recognizable from forty years earlier.

Mr Bruce

Stephen Fry mentions a Scottish master called Jim Bruce who taught history with a Scottish emphasis, and divinity. He had been a prisoner of the Japanese during the Second World War, and died in about 1995.

According to the 1966 Stouts Hill Magazine, he was due to arrive at the school in September 1966, so he was there throughout my final year; but I don't remember him, I suppose because he never taught me.

John has provided this link to a 36-page PDF file written by Mr Bruce about his experiences as a teenage prisoner of the Japanese. He was apparently born in about 1926.

Timothy Sawdon

Timothy Sawdon (known as Soggy) was one of Mrs Angus's two brothers. He could be seen around the school but at the time I never understood who he was nor what his function might be. Occasionally he would give a music appreciation class, which would be a disaster because he was completely incapable of controlling a class, and furthermore because few boys (of my generation, and at that age) are disposed to appreciate classical music.

As well as being helpless in front of boys, he had a nervous twitch that boys would unkindly mimic.

He used to come into the library sometimes to play Mozart on the piano. I didn't recognize the music at the time, but years later I was reminded of that library on hearing Mozart. He didn't mind sharing the library with me because I didn't cause trouble: I read my book, he played his music, all serene. Perhaps he imagined that I enjoyed his music, but in fact I was concentrating on my book and wasn't kind enough to think of complimenting him. I was a boy, after all.

John says that he was an Old Blundellian: he went to Blundell's School in Devon, as John and I both did after leaving Stouts Hill.

Reginald Sawdon

Reginald Sawdon was one of Mrs Angus's two brothers, who lived at the school throughout its existence until he died suddenly of a heart attack on the 12th of June 1967 (according to the 1967 Stouts Hill Magazine).

He was almost completely deaf and dumb, and David remembers that masters used to communicate with him using sign language.

David also remembers that he was very fond of his red motorcycle (around 1950), although later on he acquired a car and seems to have been equally fond of that.

Julian says he was said to have made the two model battleships that were displayed in glass cases outside the blue dining room.

Unfortunately I seem to have no memory of him. Sigh. My memory is like a colander.

Date the photo

John says this aerial view of the school is pre-1967. I reckon it's probably pre-1963. Have a look at it at a larger size (it goes up to 2184 × 2080) and tell us if you know better.

Photos 1969-1974

I'm in the process of adding a large batch of photos from 1969 and onwards, kindly contributed by John Morris. John scanned these from fairly small prints, so the quality leaves something to be desired.

At the same time, I've reorganized the photos into three separate time periods. Please use the link in the right panel to reach them.

Mr Flood

John Flood had a room at the bottom of the hill near the shooting range, and as far as I remember we always went there to be taught by him, instead of staying in our normal classroom.

According to the 1957 Stouts Hill Magazine, he joined the school in 1956.

According to the 1968 Stouts Hill Magazine, he taught science, geography, and scripture, thereby covering a considerable amount of ground. I don't remember whether he taught me scripture, but (coming from a non-religious family) I was never very receptive to that subject. I do remember that we touched on the subject of biology once — and we went to the lake to look for specimens — but I think that was only for a short period of time.

He was mainly memorable for taking us sailing. On Sundays he would take a few senior boys in his car to Frampton, where we sailed on a lake that was part of a wildlife sanctuary. The lake wasn't very large, but it was larger than the school's own lake, and had a couple of islands in the middle, which made it more interesting. We used to hope for bad weather, because in good weather there was no wind and we'd have to paddle slowly around the lake.

Apart from the sailing, the other attraction of Frampton was the packed lunch, which was different from regular school food and therefore greatly enjoyed.

Mr Flood had a small printing press with movable type, which was used to print some notices for the school. Boys who felt interested could participate in using it.

It was kind of him to give up his Sundays to take us sailing, and we appreciated it as a treat at the time. I was a bit wary of him because he came down rather sharply on any misbehaviour; but I suppose that's fairly normal for schoolmasters.

I wrote to Mr Flood in December and received a long and pleasant reply in January, most of which I've added as a comment to this post because it seems too long to add as an indented quotation. He seems to have prospered well enough over the years.

Mrs Flood

It's clear from the Stouts Hill Magazines that Mrs Flood was teaching at the school during my time, but I'm afraid I don't seem to remember her. Perhaps she taught only the younger boys.

I was already nine and a half when I arrived at the school in autumn 1963, and with my poor memory I remember very little of the early years.

According to the 1957 Stouts Hill Magazine, she joined the school in 1954 (two years before Mr Flood), at which time she was Miss Edwards.