Combe Bank School Audiobook

Combe Bank School Audiobook: an interview with Emma Margrett

We were delighted to have the opportunity to interview OC Emma Margrett, Headmistress of Radnor House Sevenoaks Prep School and former Mayfield teacher, about an audio book for children on the history of Combe Bank School that is currently being compiled:

Q: You are the Headmistress of Radnor House Sevenoaks Prep School, could you tell us about your connection with Mayfield?

A: I worked at Mayfield between September 2011 and August 2013 when I was a Sixth Form tutor, Teacher of Religious Studies and Drama, and Head of Astor House. I was drawn to working at Mayfield due to its connections with the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and because I am a Catholic myself. I was an old girl of Combe Bank School, and when I was looking for a new teaching role, the symbol of the Holy Child Jesus in both logos made me feel an instant connection with Mayfield. Then I visited the School and felt immediately ‘at home’. I thought (and still think) that the buildings are wonderful – my children felt that they have more than a whisper of Hogwarts about them! I particularly enjoyed spending time in the beautiful grounds – there are so many places to be quiet and contemplate, and in the Chapel. I found praying to Cornelia Connelly very helpful when my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. On a personal note, I am so pleased that Cornelia has been allowed to stay in Mayfield to inspire future generations of girls.

Q: What was your best memory of Mayfield?

A: I have many extremely fond memories of Mayfield and it is very hard to pick one! I particularly enjoyed working with the Actions Not Words group which I set up to build a connection between Mayfield and Grove Park School Sixth Form. The awards ceremony, which we held in the Courtyard at the end of the year with a black tie dinner, was really special. Seeing our pupils and the pupils from Grove Park Sixth Form delighting in each other’s company and celebrating their mutual achievements was lovely. Obviously Live Crib was a particular highlight too, and so was watching my fantastic tutor group celebrate their successes at their Sixth Form Leavers’ Ball. I made the celebration cake for it. I am still in contact with a number of my past pupils, and I am always so delighted when one of them chooses to share news of their personal successes with me via email or LinkedIn.

Q: What did you do after Mayfield?

A: I was appointed Deputy Head Academic at Lingfield College Prep School. I took on a prep school role as I had thought that one day I would like to be Head of a school spanning the 2 to 18 age group. However, I really enjoyed teaching the younger children and have stayed working in prep schools ever since, although I wouldn’t rule out a return to senior school teaching again in the future as I particularly enjoy the challenge of teaching my subject at GCSE and A Level. Whilst I was at Lingfield, I completed my doctorate on adolescent mental health, something which I had started to research when I was at Mayfield and which I feel has become more and more important in today’s society. Following on from my time at Lingfield, I was Head of the Junior School at St Edmund’s Canterbury, working with children between the ages of 7 and 13, and taking on the role of Headmistress for the Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral. In September 2019, I was appointed as a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. I moved back home to Edenbridge in 2020 for family reasons and took on the role of Head of the Prep School at Radnor House in September 2020.

Q: Could you tell us a bit about the history of Combe Bank School?

A: The Combe Bank estate has been through a number of ownerships, as many an estate. The grade 1 Palladian house by Roger Morris was built for Colonel John Campbell and modelled on the Argyll family seat of Inverary. It became the boyhood home of Henry, later Cardinal, Manning, and later of William Spottiswoode, the King’s printer in the early 19th century.

In 1907 the estate was purchased by Ludwig Mond of the British chemical engineering giant ICI. During the difficult economic climate of the 1920s, the 518 acres of the estate was divided and sold. The House and grounds were purchased by the Society of the Holy Child Jesus so as to found the convent and school.

In the World Wars, Combe Bank provided convalescence for the

“ I was an old girl of Combe Bank School, and when I was looking for a new teaching role, the symbol of the Holy Child Jesus in both logos made me feel an instant connection with Mayfield.”

wounded, latterly under the British Red Cross and St John of Jerusalem, the school having evacuated first to Torquay and latterly to Coughton Court in Warwickshire. Combe Bank was a convent boarding and day school from the 1920s, and was subsequently re-founded in 1973 as an independent girls’ day school.

Science, religion and learning are recurring themes in the history of Combe Bank. As a Fellow and later President of the Royal Society, William Spottiswoode, a mathematician, undertook research on light, publishing in 1874 ‘The Polarisation of light’, and ‘Lecture on Electrical discharge’ in 1881. Among those who visited Combe Bank at this time were literary figures such as Oscar Wilde and Matthew Arnold, and scientists T H Huxley, Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday.

Each of the eras in the estate’s history has seen extension and remodelling of the property. Significant among which must rank the stable block of 1809, becoming part used in the 1900s as garaging for the Mond’s motor vehicles as keen ‘automobilists’, and later as laboratories for Robert Mond in his work on carbonyls. Later, as St Anthony’s, the stables (which is now the location of the Prep School) provided accommodation for the Order. In the House, the work undertaken by Walter Crane of the Arts and Crafts movement in the 1880s on ‘The Saloon’ can be seen, and that of Walter Cave, President of the Royal Society of British Architects, effecting a design by Adam for the ‘Adam Room’ ceiling, again in the 1900s. A major extension to the north added ‘The Long Gallery’ giving the Mond family a ballroom and space for amateur theatricals. Wartime needs saw the creation of nine wards providing 73 recuperation beds. The Order’s major extension was completed in 1931 and provided a dining room, hall, and classrooms above, and made the ‘Long Gallery’ their Chapel. Subsequent developments included a gym, swimming pool and sports hall.

Q: Is your school still linked with Mayfield now?

A: No, Combe Bank School was taken over by Radnor House in 2015 and on 1st September 2016, the school name was officially changed from Combe Bank to Radnor House Sevenoaks. Today, it is no longer a Catholic girls’ school. It is a secular co-educational day school.

Q: We understand your Friends’ Association and Chair Liz Baker are planning to produce a children’s audiobook about the history of Combe Bank. Could you explain?

A: The book marks the 300 year anniversary of Combe Bank House and will be written by Lisamarie Lamb, a parent at Radnor House School, an old girl of Combe Bank and Old Cornelian herself. Q: What is the purpose of this book?

A: The book and audiobook seeks to show children the wonderful history of Combe Bank House with tie-ins to eventful times in history, as well as being an exciting read. It is hoped that the sale of the book will provide muchneeded funds to support the charities chosen by the school community.

Q: How can Old Cornelians support you with that?

A: When I heard about the audio book project from The Friends of Radnor House, I knew it made sense to get in touch with Antonia Beary and reach out to the Old Cornelian network. The Friends of Radnor House would love to hear from anyone with a memory or an interesting fact about the owners of Combe Bank House, the people who worked there or the local area, it doesn’t matter if this is a large or small detail. Everything helps to add more authenticity and to weave the final story together. We know that there are many ex Combe Bank pupils who are parents of current Mayfield girls, and we know that the Old Cornelian magazine has a wide reach to people who have a history with the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, which also founded Combe Bank School. Friends of Radnor House may be reached directly at friends@radnor-sevenoaks.org if you have any information you would like to share with them.

Thank you.