History of the School

The school first started as a tutorial in 1814 at Hatfield House, home of The Marquis of Salisbury.

The Marquis' chaplain was a man called, The Reverend Faithful.  He taught the local children: the Cecil family, the Peel family (who started the police force) and many other famous people.  He retired in 1854 and handed the pupils over to Mr. Chittenden, who started it as a school in Hoddeston in Hertfordshire.

He called this school The Grange, hence the 'Grange' dormitory at Newlands today. He had strong views about education and felt that no lesson should be longer than 20 minutes, as no child could concentrate one hundred per cent for longer, - and he demanded one hundred per cent!

The Reverend Faithful was Head until 1893 and was then joined by his nephew, Mr. Wheeler, who eventually brought the school to Seaford in 1903.

At first he rented two houses in Seaford and hired the back playing field from a local farmer. Then he built the school and later bought the front field. His foresight in purchasing land gave the school the opportunity to expand later on when it was needed. 

Many years ago an exclusive interview was conducted with the late Mr David Chittenden, ex headmaster and direct descendant of the man who started Newlands, some insight was gained into what life was like at Newlands before and after the war:

‘Things were very strict then. The swing door by Matron's surgery led into my Parents' private area where no one was allowed, -not even me during term time! I had to call my Father, "Sir", and my Mother, "Mrs. Chittenden" However, I liked the life. It was different and a lot tougher than today. Every morning we had cold showers, Winter and Summer and until 1950 boxing was compulsory for all pupils whether they liked it or not!

We were lucky enough to receive answers to some fascinating historical information about Newlands in the war; Mr. Chittenden explained that ‘Seaford was, of course, classed as a prohibited area because of the possibility of invasion and all schools had to move out. We went to Thenford House in 1940, six miles East of Banbury in Oxon, which is now the home of Michael Heseltine. It was a huge Georgian mansion which was not on the mains water supply then. There was a pump in the main yard, which served cold water for washing, and if there was a water shortage then the local cattle had precedence. We were there from 1940 until 1944. Then we moved again to Wardington, five miles north of Banbury. We have since named two of our dormitories after these places.

During the years of evacuation I was only at home during the school holidays and, from 1943, when I was on leave from the RAF.

Newlands came back in 1946 and found a good deal of damage. During the war the building had been occupied by the first Canadian troops involved in the unfortunate Dieppe raid where a great number of men were killed. When the invasion took place in Normandy in 1944 Newlands became a transit camp for troops coming and going. A great deal of damage was done. An eight foot wide and six foot deep trench was dug by the army across the main field. This was to stop gliders landing. The Germans dropped a mass of incendiary bombs on the front fields and one landed in the Fellows' Garden. Luckily the troops were here and they put out.

We were so honoured and very fortunate to have met Mr. Chittenden, without him we would have never have gained such a wonderful and detailed explanation of how Newlands came about and the history that lies in its walls and grounds.  

The wonderful portraits below of Mr. Chittenden were drawn by pupils at Newlands at the time  - one of the young artists went on the be a leading designer with the BBC and a top creative designer with Red Bee Media. Another represented the UK at shooting in the 2002 Commonwealth Games.