Bedales School

Bedales School is a public school (co-educational private school, boarding and day) in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by Amy Badley and John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools and has been co-educational since 1898.

History


The school was started in 1893 by Amy Garrett Badley and John Haden Badley. John had met Oswald B Powell when they were introduced to each other by Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, whom they both knew from their Cambridge days. John said that Oswald and his wife, Winifred Powell, were as important as Amy and him. A house called Bedales was rented just outside Lindfield, near Haywards Heath. In 1899 Badley and Powell (the latter borrowing heavily from his father, the Vicar of Bisham) purchased a country estate near Steep and constructed a purpose-built school, including state-of-the-art electric lighting, which opened in 1900. The site has been extensively developed over the past century, including the relocation of a number of historic vernacular timber frame barns. A preparatory school, Dunhurst, was started in 1902 on Montessori principles (and was visited in 1919 by Maria Montessori herself), and a primary school, Dunannie, was added in the 1950s. The Badleys took a non-denominational approach to religion and the school has never had a chapel: its relatively secular teaching made it attractive in its early days to nonconformists, agnostics, Quakers, Unitarians and liberal Jews, who formed a significant element of its early intake. The school was also well known and popular in some Cambridge and Fabian intellectual circles, with connections to the Wedgwoods, Darwins, Huxleys, and Trevelyans. Books such as A quoi tient la supériorité des Anglo-Saxons? and L'Education nouvelle popularised the school on the Continent, leading to a cosmopolitan intake of Russian and other European children in the 1920s.

Bedales was originally a small and intimate school: the 1900 buildings were designed for 150 pupils. Under a programme of expansion and modernisation in the 1960s and 1970s under the headmastership of Tim Slack, the senior school grew from 240 pupils in 1966 to 340, thereafter increasing to some 465.

Heads

 * 1893–1935 John Haden Badley
 * 1936–1946 Frederic Alfred Meier
 * 1946–1962 Hector Beaumont Jacks
 * 1962–1974 Tim Slack
 * 1974–1981 Patrick Nobes
 * 1981–1992 Euan MacAlpine
 * 1992–1994 Ian Newton
 * 1994–2001 Alison Willcocks
 * 2001–2018 Keith Budge
 * 2018–2021 Magnus Bashaarat
 * 2021–present Will Goldsmith

The campus
Since 1900 the school has been located on a 120 acre estate in the village of Steep, near Petersfield, Hampshire. As well as playing fields, orchards, woodland, pasture, multiple sport pitches and a nature reserve, the campus also has two Grade I listed arts and crafts buildings designed by Ernest Gimson, the Lupton Hall (1911), which was co-designed, built and largely financed by ex-pupil Geoffrey Lupton, and the Memorial Library (1921).

There are three contemporary, award-winning buildings:
 * The Olivier Theatre (1997) by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
 * The Orchard Building (2005) by Walters & Cohen
 * The Art and Design Building (2017) by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Old Bedalians

 * Ben Adams (born 1981), singer–songwriter
 * Margaret Allan (1909–1998), racing driver and journalist
 * Lily Allen (born 1985), singer
 * Marjory Allen, Lady Allen of Hurtwood (1897–1976), landscape architect and child welfare promoter
 * Kirstie Allsopp (born 1971), TV presenter
 * Simon Anholt (born c.1961), independent policy advisor, author, and researcher
 * Diana Armfield (born 1920), artist and Royal Academician
 * David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (born 1961), cabinet-maker
 * Tom Arnold (born 1947), politician
 * Grace Barnsley (1896–1975), pottery decorator
 * Jacques Benoist-Méchin (1901–1983), French intellectual, writer, political figure
 * Ferenc Békássy (1893–1915), Hungarian poet
 * Hugh Hale Bellot FRHS (1890–1969), professor of American History and Vice-Chancellor of the University of London
 * Sebastian Bergne (born 1966), industrial designer
 * Robert Dudley Best (1892–1984), lighting designer, manufacturer, author
 * Dame Helen Blaxland (1907–1989), writer
 * Remy Blumenfeld (born 1965), TV producer and entrepreneur
 * Stephen Bone (1904–1958), artist
 * Sadie Bonnell (1888–1993), First Aid Nursing Yeomanry ambulance driver and Military Medal recipient
 * Bertha Brewster (1887–1959), peace activist and suffragette
 * Jamie Campbell Bower (born 1988), actor, singer
 * Gyles Brandreth (born 1948), journalist, television presenter, Conservative MP (City of Chester)
 * William Bridges-Adams (1889–1965), theatre director and director
 * Jocelyn Brooke (1908–1966), writer and naturalist
 * Jeremy Browne (born 1970), Liberal Democrat MP (Taunton Deane)
 * Lois Bulley (1901–1995), county councillor, philanthropist and political activist
 * Selina Cadell (born 1953), actress
 * Simon Cadell (1950–1996), actor
 * Vice-Admiral Alfred Carpenter (1881–1955), Victoria Cross recipient (Zeebrugge Raid)
 * Charles Cecil (born 1962), video game designer
 * Pat Chapman (1940–2022), author and broadcaster, founder of The Curry Club
 * Clancy Chassay, journalist
 * Lady Sarah Chatto (born 1964), painter
 * Ruth Collet (1909–2001), artist
 * Sir Laurence Collier (1890–1976), Ambassador to Norway
 * Tom Conway (1904–1967), actor
 * Esmé Creed-Miles (born 2000), actress
 * Sophie Dahl (born 1977), model and author
 * Henry Danowski (born 1984), musician
 * Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957), Oscar-winning actor
 * Tamasin Day-Lewis (born 1953), chef, food critic and author
 * Cara Delevingne (born 1992), model and actress
 * Poppy Delevingne (born 1986), model
 * Alice Dellal (born 1987), model
 * Minnie Driver (born 1970), actress
 * Yolande Du Bois (1900–1961), teacher and activist
 * Peter Eckersley (1892–1963), broadcasting and Chief Engineer (BBC)
 * Thomas Eckersley (1886–1959), theoretical physicist and electrical engineer
 * Alice Eve (born 1982), actress
 * Johnny Flynn (born 1983), folk musician and actor
 * Alys Fowler (born 1978), author, gardener, and broadcaster ([Gardener's World)
 * Charis Frankenburg (1892–1985), educationalist and psychologist
 * Margaret Gardiner (1904–2005), art collector and philanthropist
 * Rolf Gardiner (1902–1971), ecological campaigner and youth leader
 * Fiona Godlee (born 1961), physician and editor
 * Tabitha Goldstaub (born 1985), entrepreneur
 * Michael J. C. Gordon (born 1948), computer scientist
 * Tomás Graves (born 1953), writer, musician and designer
 * Barbara Greg (1900–1983), artist
 * Battiscombe Gunn (1883–1950), Professor of Egyptology (University of Oxford)
 * Allan Gwynne-Jones (1892–1982), painter
 * Marika Hackman (born 1991), singer, songwriter
 * Christopher Hall (born 1957), producer
 * Peter Hall (born 1960), Australian financier and animal welfare philanthropist
 * Joanna Hardy, gemologist on the Antique Roadshow
 * John Pennington Harman (1914–1944), posthumous Victoria Cross recipient (Battle of Kohima)
 * Rebecca Harris (born 1967), Conservative MP for Castle Point
 * Vivian Beynon Harris (1906–1987), writer
 * Michael Harris Caine (1927–1999), businessman
 * Douglas Hartree (1897–1958), academic
 * Robin Hill (1899–1991), plant biochemist
 * Judith Herrin (born 1942), archaeologist and author
 * Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979), painter
 * John Hitchens (born 1940), painter
 * Frieda Hughes (born 1960), poet and artist
 * Edward Impey (born 1962), historian, archaeologist, and museum curator
 * Lara Johnson-Wheeler (born 1993), arts and fashion journalist
 * Anna Keay (born 1974), architectural historian and author, broadcaster, director (The Landmark Trust)
 * Michael Kidner (1917–2009), op artist
 * John Layard (1891–1974), anthropologist and psychologist
 * Richard Leacock (1921–2011), documentary film director
 * Lydia Leonard (born 1981), actress
 * Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986), lyricist
 * Richard Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth (1935–2010), politician
 * Roger Lloyd-Pack (1944–2014), actor (Only Fools and Horses)
 * Tom Lodge (1936–2012), author and radio broadcaster
 * Geoffrey Lupton (1882–1949), Arts and Crafts architect and designer
 * Ella Marchment (born 1992), opera and theatre director
 * Malcolm MacDonald (1901–1981), politician
 * Marne Maitland (1914–1992), actor
 * Joan Malleson (1899–1956), physician
 * Nimmy March (born 1962), actress
 * Monica Maurice (1908-1995), engineer
 * Jane Mayer (born 1955), American journalist and writer
 * Mary Medd (née Crowley) (1907–2005), architect
 * Kathleen Merritt (1901–1985), musician and conductor
 * Abigail Morris (born 1999), lead singer of The Last Dinner Party
 * Charlie Muirhead (born 1975), entrepreneur
 * Nina Murdoch (born 1970), painter
 * Edward Murphy (1921–2020), first-class cricketer
 * Paul Nizan (1905–1940), philosopher
 * Roxanna Panufnik (born 1968), composer
 * Bas Pease (1922–2004), physicist
 * Gervase de Peyer (1926–2017), clarinetist
 * Barnaby Phillips (born 1968), correspondent (Al-Jazeera)
 * Ben Polak (born 1961), Provost of Yale University
 * Roger Powell (1896–1990), bookbinder
 * Frances Partridge (1900–2004), writer and diarist
 * Luke Pritchard, musician (The Kooks)
 * Lettice Ramsey (1898–1985), psychologist and photographer
 * Sarah Raphael (1960–2001), painter
 * Jacques Raverat (1885–1925) painter
 * Dorothy Rayner (1912–2003), palaeontologist and academic geologist
 * Sir Frank Roberts (1907–1998), politician
 * Eric M. Rogers (1902–1990), physicist
 * Lucinda Rogers (born 1966), artist
 * Sir John Rothenstein (1901–1992), art historian and director (Tate Gallery)
 * Teresa Rothschild (1915–1996), counter-intelligence officer and magistrate
 * Mike Sadler (1920–2024), "founding" member of the SAS, MI6 officer
 * Raphael Salaman (1906–1993), engineer and tool collector
 * Samuel Isidore Salmon (1900–1980), chairman of J. Lyons and Co., member of Members of the Greater London Council
 * George Sanders (1906–1972), actor and Academy Award winner (All About Eve)
 * Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke (1893–1976), Governor of the Seychelles
 * Mary Ann Sieghart (born 1961), journalist and radio presenter
 * Wilfred Talbot Smith (1885–1957), occultist and ceremonial magician
 * Arthur Snell (born 1975), British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago
 * Alix Strachey (1892–1973), translator of Sigmund Freud's works
 * Zoe Strimpel (born 1982), journalist, writer and historian
 * Kate Summerscale (born 1965), author
 * Juno Temple (born 1989), actress
 * Natalia Tena (born 1984), actress and musician
 * Teddy Thompson (born 1976), singer/songwriter and musician
 * Kami Thompson (born 1983), singer/songwriter
 * Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath (born 1974), business owner
 * Julian Trevelyan (1910–1988), painter and printmaker
 * William Topley (born 1964), musician
 * Ethlie Ann Vare (born 1953), writer and journalist
 * John Vincent (1937–2021), historian
 * Valentine Warner (born 1972), chef and presenter
 * E. L. Grant Watson (1885–1970), writer and scientist
 * Camilla Wedgwood (1901–1955), anthropologist
 * Josiah Wedgwood V (1899–1968), managing director of Wedgwood
 * Gabriel Weston (born 1970), surgeon and author
 * Lancelot Law Whyte (1896–1972), physicist, engineer, entrepreneur
 * Patrick Wolf (born 1983), singer/songwriter
 * Sir Peter Wright (born 1926), ballet dancer and director
 * John Wyndham (1903–1969), novelist
 * Konni Zilliacus (1894–1967), writer and politician
 * Marijne van der Vlugt (born 1965), musician and TV presenter