# Greenways School

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox school
| name                  = Greenways School
| image                 = AshtonGiffordfront.jpg
| caption               =
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| motto                 = 
| established           = 
| closed                = 1969
| type                  = [Private](/source/Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom) [prep school](/source/Preparatory_school_(UK))
| religious_affiliation = 
| president             = 
| head_label            = 
| head                  = 
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| r_head                = 
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| founder               = 
| specialist            = 
| address               = 
| city                  = [Bognor Regis](/source/Bognor_Regis) (Until 1940)<br>[Codford](/source/Codford) (1940-1969)
| county                = 
| country               = [England](/source/England)
| postal_code           = 
| local_authority       = 
| ofsted                = 
| staff                 = 
| enrolment             = 
| gender                = Boys
| lower_age             = 7
| upper_age             = 13 or 14
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| website               =  
}}

'''Greenways School''', also known as '''Greenways Preparatory School''', was an English [prep school](/source/preparatory_school_(United_Kingdom)), founded at [Bognor Regis](/source/Bognor_Regis), [Sussex](/source/Sussex), before the Second World War. In 1940 it moved to [Ashton Gifford House](/source/Ashton_Gifford_House), [Codford](/source/Codford), [Wiltshire](/source/Wiltshire), where it remained until it was closed in 1969.

==History==
The school was a prep school for boys, preparing them for the [Common Entrance Examination](/source/Common_Entrance_Examination).<ref>''The Schools of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland'', Volume 37 (1948), p. 393</ref> Boys were divided into two [houses](/source/house_system), called Greens and Blues.<ref name="wiltshire"/>

In 1928, the school was already established at [Aldwick](/source/Aldwick), [Sussex](/source/Sussex), just to the west of Bognor Regis, under Dugald S. Hancock (1897–1963)<ref>'A Tsar's Letter To A Friend. DUGALD S. HANCOCK. Greenways Preparatory School, Aldwick, Sussex.' letter to ''[The Times](/source/The_Times)'', issue 45045 dated 8 November 1928, p. 17</ref> and his brother-in-law Anthony Maurice Bell. A modern linguist born in the [Transvaal](/source/Transvaal_Province), Hancock had been educated at [Corpus Christi College, Oxford](/source/Corpus_Christi_College%2C_Oxford), with Bell, and was a [fellow](/source/fellow) of the [Royal Meteorological Society](/source/Royal_Meteorological_Society).<ref name="corpus">Neil A. Flanagan, ed., ''Biographical Register 1880-1974'' (Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 1988), p. 266: "HANCOCK, Dugald Strangman (1919-21) b Cleveland, Transvaal, S Africa ... HdM, Greenways Sch, Aldwich. Mil ser WW1, 1916-19, Lt, E Kent Regt attd RE Signals; France, N Russia (Arkhangelsk). CCC War Decree 1917; Fail short course Russ 1921. Treasurer, OU Russian Club. FRMetS 1931. HdM, Greenways Sch, Aldwich. Mil ser WW2, Capt."</ref> In 1929, the school advertised itself in ''[The Times](/source/The_Times)'' in the following terms: {{blockquote|ALDWICK, SUSSEX, renowned for its bracing climate, possesses a Modern BOYS' PREPARATORY SCHOOL, Greenways; home atmosphere, health, and good food first consideration; sea bathing, riding. — Write Headmaster.<ref>Classified advertisement in ''The Times'', issue 45182 dated 20 April 1929, p. 1</ref>}}

In 1929, Bell left the school on his conversion to Roman Catholicism. He then became Dom Maurice Bell, a Benedictine monk of [Downside Abbey](/source/Downside_Abbey) and its school Worth Priory, and was headmaster of [Worth Preparatory School](/source/Worth_School) from 1940 to 1959.<ref>[http://www.worthsociety.org.uk/2012/09/18/2012-60-years-on-review/ 2012 Revisiting Worth 60 Years On] at worthsociety.org.uk, accessed 2 May 2017</ref>

In the 1930s the school was still operated in Sussex by Dugald and Vivien Hancock (formerly Bell), both schoolteachers, but in 1940 it was evacuated to Wiltshire, because of the risk of [German bombing](/source/The_Blitz) on the south coast.<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/You+never+lose+that+loving+feeling%3B+Physical+love+between+old+people...-a0125231907 You never lose that loving feeling], book review of Nicholas Hancock's novel ''Daniel and Miriam'' (2004) at thefreelibrary.com, accessed 8 September 2013</ref>

With her husband away from home on [Second World War](/source/World_War_II) military service,<ref name="corpus"/> Vivien Hancock took on the role of school principal for the duration of the War, and, as matters turned out, beyond. The daughter of an [Oxfordshire](/source/Oxfordshire) [clergy](/source/clergy)man,<ref>''Armorial Families : a Directory of Gentlemen of Coat Armour'', vol. 1, [http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/arthur-charles-fox-davies/armorial-families--a-directory-of-gentlemen-of-coat-armour-volume-1-dxo/page-220-armorial-families--a-directory-of-gentlemen-of-coat-armour-volume-1-dxo.shtml p. 220]: "Dugald Strangman Hancock, Gentleman, b. 1897; m. Vivian Fearne, d. of Rev. M. Bell, of Wheatley, Oxon, and has issue..."</ref> she became a friend of the poet [Siegfried Sassoon](/source/Siegfried_Sassoon), who lived near Codford, at [Heytesbury](/source/Heytesbury), and whose son [George Sassoon](/source/George_Sassoon) was a pupil at the school.<ref name="passed">"Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Adrian Mitchell, Shadow Poet Laureate", in ''[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)'' dated 26 July 2007</ref> At this time many of the boys were the sons of army officers stationed on [Salisbury Plain](/source/Salisbury_Plain) or overseas.<ref name="mount"/>

For much of the War the artist [Keith Vaughan](/source/Keith_Vaughan) was stationed at Codford. He painted "The Wall at Ashton Gifford" (1942)<ref>[http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?EMUSESSID=c1dc50701789f7b3567c876d17efb1a1&irn=11976 Manchester City Galleries]</ref> "Tree felling at Ashton Gifford" (1942–43), and "The Garden at Ashton Gifford" (1944). He described the school's garden as an "oceanic surging of tangled nettles", with "waist high grass", the wall covered in a "jungle of weed and ivy".<ref>Osborne Samuel (www.osbornesamuel.com); and ''Journal 62-63'', 7 December 1975</ref> For most of the war the future author [Adrian Mitchell](/source/Adrian_Mitchell) was a pupil at Greenways, which he later described as "a school in Heaven". His first play,  ''The Animals' Brains Trust'', was performed there in 1941.<ref>Adrian Mitchell, [https://web.archive.org/web/20141226103049/http://www.adrianmitchell.co.uk/ My Life], archived by archive.org on 26 December 2014</ref>
thumb|The pond at Sherrington which served as the school's swimming pool.
When Hancock needed money to buy Ashton Gifford House, Siegfried Sassoon lent her £8,000, and he later waived the agreed interest on the loan. In 1944, Sassoon's wife, Hester Sassoon, accused the two of being too close. She also spread such rumours of Mrs Hancock and a local butcher that the headmistress threatened her with a [defamation](/source/defamation) action.<ref>[Max Egremont](/source/Max_Egremont), ''Siegfried Sassoon'' (2006), p. 434</ref><ref>J. M. Wilson, ''Siegfried Sassoon: the Journey from the Trenches''</ref> The Sassoons separated in 1947.<ref name="sassoon">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1513183/George-Sassoon.html George Sassoon (obituary)] at telegraph.co.uk, accessed 8 September 2013</ref>

Vivien married again, becoming Mrs Gibbons<ref name="mount">[Ferdinand Mount](/source/Ferdinand_Mount), ''Cold Cream: My early Life and Other Mistakes'' (Bloomsbury, 2008), pp. 145-148</ref> and taking on the title of Principal.<ref name="wiltshire">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Image: Greenways School, Ashton Gifford House, Codford |url=http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getimage.php?id=3161 |website=Wiltshire Community History |publisher=Wiltshire Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030303/http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getimage.php?id=3161 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> A schoolmaster named Bernard Ince MA (Oxon) became head master. Nicknamed "Funf", he has been described as "a disciplinarian with a black moustache and a volcanic temper."<ref name="mount"/> According to an advertisement in the ''Schools Handbook'' of 1947, the school then stood in a park of sixty acres and prepared boys for public schools and the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy).<ref name="sh1947">[http://www.wiltshire-opc.org.uk/Items/Codford/Codford%20-%20Advertisement%20for%20Greenways%20School%201947.pdf ''Schools Handbook'' of 1947, extract] at wiltshire-opc.org.uk, accessed 2 May 2017</ref> The curriculum is described thus:

{{Blockquote|A thorough grounding is given in all subjects. The curriculum includes Nature Study, Elementary Science, Handwork and Country Dancing. Special encouragement is given to music throughout the school and in addition to singing classes there are flourishing percussion bands and talks on musical appreciation. Besides swimming, football and cricket, physical and breathing exercises are given daily and gym, once a week. All boys either become Pioneers or Cubs according to age. There is a riding school in the grounds.<ref name="sh1947"/>}}

The school's classrooms were whitewashed huts standing apart from the main house, and a barn behind them was used as a gymnasium, where the boys were taught to box.<ref name="mount"/> Pupils swam in the mill pond at [Sherrington](/source/Sherrington),<ref name="wiltshire"/> described as "the Bathing Pool", which had a stony bottom but was approached through mud sometimes fouled by the cows that drank from the pool.<ref name="mount"/>

In September 1947 [Ferdinand Mount](/source/Ferdinand_Mount) arrived at the school as a day boy. He later wrote of it that it had an air of chaos, impermanence, and "something of Llanabbas, the prep school in ''[Decline and Fall](/source/Decline_and_Fall)'', but also something of a gulag in some distant region of the USSR just this side of Siberia."<ref name="mount"/>

In 1949 a fire at the school partly destroyed the Victorian service wing of Ashton Gifford House.<ref>Planning application to reconstruct the service wing, Wiltshire County Council, 1949</ref> This was attributed to an electrical fault, but the cause of the fire was disputed.<ref name="mount"/>

In 1956 ''[The Spectator](/source/The_Spectator)'' said of Greenways that it was "a Prep School where boys work well because they are treated like human beings and are warm, well fed, and happy."<ref>''The Spectator'' Vol. 197, Part 1 (1956), p. 160</ref> In the 1950s the school had its own nursery department and [kindergarten](/source/kindergarten), and was still preparing older boys for Common Entrance and for entrance to high schools.<ref>''The Official Guide to the County of Wiltshire'' (Home Publishing, 1957), p. 23</ref>

The last headmaster was L. Keith Hathaway [FRGS](/source/Royal_Geographical_Society).<ref>''The Public and Preparatory Schools Year Book'' (1967), p. 822</ref> The school closed in 1969.

==Notable former pupils==
*[Adrian Mitchell](/source/Adrian_Mitchell), poet and playwright<ref>{{Cite news |title=Adrian Mitchell (obituary) |author=<!--not stated--> |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=13 January 2009 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4229932/Adrian-Mitchell.html}}</ref>
*[George Sassoon](/source/George_Sassoon), scientist and author<ref name="sassoon"/>
*[Ferdinand Mount](/source/Ferdinand_Mount), journalist<ref name="mount"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{Schools in Wiltshire}}

{{coord|51.16014|-2.05715|display=title}}

Category:Boarding schools in Wiltshire
Category:Boys' schools in Wiltshire
Category:Defunct schools in Wiltshire
Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1969
Category:People educated at Greenways School

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Greenways School](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenways_School) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenways_School?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.