Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Downside School
Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was established in 1614 and is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton.
Originally a school for English Catholic boys, it was established by English and Welsh monks living in exile at Douai, France. The monastic community returned to England in 1795, with both the community and its school initially housed in the Shropshire home of Sir Edward Smythe, a former pupil. By 1814, the abbey and school had been re-established at their present site, in Somerset. Downside School became fully co-educational in all year groups in 2005.
Monks from the monastery of St Gregory's, Douai in the County of Flanders, came to Downside in 1814. In 1606, St Gregory's was the first house after the Reformation to begin convent life with a handful of exiled Englishmen. For nearly 200 years, St Gregory's trained monks for the English mission and six of those men were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Two of the monks, Saints John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow, were among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Imprisoned then driven from France following the Revolution, the community remained at Acton Burnell in Shropshire for twenty years before finally settling in Somerset in 1814. New school buildings were built there, designed by Henry Goodridge. The monastery was completed in 1876 and the Abbey Church in 1925, and raised to the rank of a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1935 . Attached to the monastery, the school provides a Catholic boarding education for boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 18. During the 19th century, Downside remained a small monastic school. Dom Leander Ramsay founded the modern Downside and planned the new buildings, designed by Leonard Stokes, that opened in 1912 and now form two sides of the "Quad".
The 20th century brought about changes for Downside, with the expansion of the school buildings and the school population, numbering over 600 boys during the 1960s. Over the decades, the number of pupils fell, but with development drives and renewed demand for boarding education, pupil numbers rose. Girls were admitted from 2005. Since the opening of Isabella House in 2007, approximately 60% of the pupils are boys and 40% are girls.
In 2003, the school was the setting for the Channel 4 television show, A Second Chance, in which Ryan Bell, a teenager from London, was sent to the school to see if a "difficult" student would do better when educated in the independent sector. After excelling at Latin, biology, and on the rugby field, Bell was eventually expelled after being caught drinking.
Downside is run by lay staff and a board of governors consisting of a chairman and ten others. Of the latter, one is a member of the Benedictine community. In 2019 the school and the abbey became separate trusts. The Abbey proving difficult to maintain, the remaining monks moved to Buckfast Abbey.
The school has a house system consisting of six houses: five senior houses and one junior house, with both day pupils and boarders in the same houses. Each house takes its name from the community's martyrs or benefactors:
Hub AI
Downside School AI simulator
(@Downside School_simulator)
Downside School
Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was established in 1614 and is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton.
Originally a school for English Catholic boys, it was established by English and Welsh monks living in exile at Douai, France. The monastic community returned to England in 1795, with both the community and its school initially housed in the Shropshire home of Sir Edward Smythe, a former pupil. By 1814, the abbey and school had been re-established at their present site, in Somerset. Downside School became fully co-educational in all year groups in 2005.
Monks from the monastery of St Gregory's, Douai in the County of Flanders, came to Downside in 1814. In 1606, St Gregory's was the first house after the Reformation to begin convent life with a handful of exiled Englishmen. For nearly 200 years, St Gregory's trained monks for the English mission and six of those men were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Two of the monks, Saints John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow, were among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Imprisoned then driven from France following the Revolution, the community remained at Acton Burnell in Shropshire for twenty years before finally settling in Somerset in 1814. New school buildings were built there, designed by Henry Goodridge. The monastery was completed in 1876 and the Abbey Church in 1925, and raised to the rank of a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1935 . Attached to the monastery, the school provides a Catholic boarding education for boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 18. During the 19th century, Downside remained a small monastic school. Dom Leander Ramsay founded the modern Downside and planned the new buildings, designed by Leonard Stokes, that opened in 1912 and now form two sides of the "Quad".
The 20th century brought about changes for Downside, with the expansion of the school buildings and the school population, numbering over 600 boys during the 1960s. Over the decades, the number of pupils fell, but with development drives and renewed demand for boarding education, pupil numbers rose. Girls were admitted from 2005. Since the opening of Isabella House in 2007, approximately 60% of the pupils are boys and 40% are girls.
In 2003, the school was the setting for the Channel 4 television show, A Second Chance, in which Ryan Bell, a teenager from London, was sent to the school to see if a "difficult" student would do better when educated in the independent sector. After excelling at Latin, biology, and on the rugby field, Bell was eventually expelled after being caught drinking.
Downside is run by lay staff and a board of governors consisting of a chairman and ten others. Of the latter, one is a member of the Benedictine community. In 2019 the school and the abbey became separate trusts. The Abbey proving difficult to maintain, the remaining monks moved to Buckfast Abbey.
The school has a house system consisting of six houses: five senior houses and one junior house, with both day pupils and boarders in the same houses. Each house takes its name from the community's martyrs or benefactors: