I went to an Anglican convent school, St. Agnes and St. Michael's which was run by the sisters from St. Margaret's convent. I was there for a massive 13 years. At the beginning of November I discovered that there had been an article on the convent in the Country Life magazine of November 4th.
I phoned a couple of chain stores and neither of them stocked it but one recommended a small card and magazine shop. They do stock it and said they would put one aside for me but they were not expected for a couple of months. Last week I got the call that the magazine had arrived and went and purchased it. The article is here.
The actual school was next door to the convent with two houses having been converted and added to for the Junior School, Dormitories and Dining. The Secondary School was the other side of the Convent so we had to walk through the grounds four times a day for boarders as we went back to the main building for lunch. Here are some photos of the Convent.
Both the school and Convent closed some time ago with the Sisters moving to a Convent in London, so both school and Convent are now apartments.
It looks like a beautiful peaceful place to have gone to school. I shall enjoy reading the article.
ReplyDeleteThe school was not in this building but it is beautiful and we walked through the grounds four times a day in senior years.
DeleteThe architecture is one thing but as a pupil myself from 1956-1958 I do not have good memories of this Convent School. The radical Catholic Anglican church imposed its strict discipline on the nuns but also on the children. It was not a happy place. The teaching was low standard and the bigotry was unbearable. Wednesday Mass was the worst part of the weekly programme where for 3 hours we were forced to kneel with our backs straight while the Latin ritual and chanting was conducted by a male celibate priest. Girls were fainting left right and centre. Meals were served at long tables with no talking allowed. I remember that sister Marina a member of Sir Douglas Hume's family was my French teacher. I very much wanted to learn French but her pedagogy was demagogical and I still remember how unjust was her severe reprimanding for the smallest mistake. I had an argument with some of the nuns about 'faith'. Although only 10 years old I couldnt 'believe' all the things they said about God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. They said I was evil and would go to hell if i didnt have faith. Fortunately I passed the compulsory 11 plus exam and was sent to another school. This experience transformed me from a carefree child to a cynical sceptic and rebel.sorry to be sour grapes.
DeleteI was there from 1948 to 1961so would have been there at the same time as you.
DeleteThat's a very interesting building. My mother worked in a convent school for a few years and found it was a lot more fun than she'd expected, many of the nuns being very fond of playing practical jokes on each other!
ReplyDeleteYes, the nuns could be quite fun.
DeleteWhat a beautiful school. It sounds like you have good memories of school. Did you board there or, as we say here, a day tripper?
ReplyDeleteI was a day "tripper" until my last year when I boarded as my parents moved to the coast. Prior to that we lived in a village 5 miles away.
DeleteI went to a private Convent school for a couple of years, but my memories are not happy ones.
ReplyDeleteI was not particularly happy at school.
DeleteSeems everything gets turned into apartments anymore.
ReplyDeleteYes, and all the green space around the convent is now built up as well.
DeleteDid you find that the nuns were mean or nice? My mum and her sisters went to Catholic schools they said they weren't very nice, I don't know if that was a sign of those times or what but hopefully these days they are alot nicer.
ReplyDeleteMost of our teachers were not nuns but the nuns were lovely.
DeleteI don't remember it like that at all; it's amazing. All I remember was the view from the road. My old Prep' school, The Abbey, is now also apartments.
ReplyDeleteYou could not see the convent from the road just the school which was built in between 2 houses.
DeleteMy wife's good friend André Norman was at St A & St M's. I wonder if her name rings a bell? She's no longer with us, she always had serious health issues.
DeleteThe name does not ring any bells but if she was the same age as your wife she would have been six years younger than me, quite a difference at school.
DeleteBom dia gostaria de agradecer a Deus nosso senhor Jesus Cristo por me abençoada junto com as virgens Maria eu peço oração para mim minha família é irmãs é irmãos amigos é vizinhos peço oração para aqueles que tenham me ajudando é aqueles que precisam também
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely old buildings. I'm glad they are still being used, so hopefully they will last many more years yet.
ReplyDeleteHope you are keeping well, Mxx