by Janet Pennington
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On 11th February 1847 he opened (in the dining room of his home, New Shoreham vicarage) a small school for boys, S. Mary's Grammar School, a day school for the middle classes, under the mastership of C. H. Christie, a graduate of Queen's College, Oxford. Woodard made himself responsible for the religious instruction and another master taught elementary subjects. French, Latin, book-keeping, navigation, land surveying and mathematics were combined with a religious education. The fees were £1 a quarter, or 15s. without Latin and French.
Woodard felt strongly that 'Education without religion is, in itself, a pure evil' and 'Good education is the best...the only kind of preaching that is available for children'. (Otter (1925) pp.121, 240) His revolutionary ideas must be set against the background of 1848, the 'year of revolutions', and the year that Woodard circulated, on lst March, 'A Plea for the Middle Classes', the first, and one of the most influential, of the deluge of pamphlets with which he bombarded the nation until a few years before his death in 1891. Read and taken up by such men as W.E. Gladstone, Robert Cecil the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of Shrewsbury, Henry Tritton and other influential friends, his idea of filling England with schools backed by the Church of England and run by dedicated, ordained masters on low salaries took hold.
The beautiful, though dilapidated, Norman masterpiece of S. Mary's Church, dominating the centre of the town, was visible from the windows of the vicarage, and Woodard gradually leased other properties around the church. At Pond House, on the north-west corner of the churchyard, he opened Shoreham Grammar School and Collegiate Institution, for boarders, on lst August 1848. It soon became known as S. Nicolas Grammar School & Collegiate Institution, after the patron saint of Old Shoreham church. Woodard was the non-teaching Provost (which role he was to retain) and the Revd. Henry Jacobs, also of Queen's College, was briefly the first Head Master. He left after only five weeks, his place taken by the Revd. Charles Moberly. Woodard had decided to have a resident chaplain who would take no part in the teaching work, but would have independent status, entirely out of the control of the Head Master. This, not unexpectedly, was to cause frequent problems.
S. John's School was founded in 1849, and S. Saviour's in 1858; it seemed as if the entire area was turned over to middle class schooling. However, after rumours put about by a disgruntled ex-master that Woodard encouraged the practice of auricular confession, a Dr. H.F. Carter founded New Shoreham Protestant Grammar School nearby in 1852, due to the worry of some local residents about 'Romanizing tendencies...in this neighbourhood'. (Baker & Bennett, The History of Shoreham College (1991) p.6)
Soon after the foundation of 1848, Woodard made his views on this subject clear. Even though Head Masters and masters were in Holy Orders, they would not be asked to bear any responsibility for the spiritual and moral supervision of the boys. This would be in the hands of a chaplain, trained by residence in the Founder's own household. The chaplain would be exempt from the authority of the Head Master and would regularly interview the boys at stated intervals, and, if necessary, hear their confessions. The latter would be optional, concurring with the Prayer Book which orders the clergy to suggest confession to the laity before they receive Communion and when they are ill. This was commonly regarded as "Romish", though Woodard himself was never close to going over to Rome, and would not allow advanced ritual in his school chapels. Though he did indeed correspond with Keble, Manning and Pusey, a subsequent enquiry by the official visitor of Woodard's schools, the Bishop of Chichester, revealed that nothing had been done which was not fully in accordance with the provision of the Prayer Book. Acccusations of 'confession and absolution' were, however, to recur.
In a letter to Julius Hare, Archdeacon of Lewes, dated 6 December 1849, Woodard set out his 'vision of a scheme for a national education. My life is dedicated to the work of rendering it a reality.' (Woodard Correspondence, Lancing College Archives) He planned to have a large Collegiate Institution in each Diocese, consisting of a Provost, Head Master, Fellows and Exhibitioners. It would be a religious institution like a University College, with all the Fellows in Holy Orders. The Provost would attend to the religious aspects, oversee the statutes and rules, and found schools in all parts of the Diocese with the concurrence of the Bishop and interested persons.
Woodard felt strongly that 'Education without religion is, in itself, a pure evil' and 'Good education is the best...the only kind of preaching that is available for children'. (Otter (1925) pp.121, 240) His revolutionary ideas must be set against the background of 1848, the 'year of revolutions', and the year that Woodard circulated, on lst March, 'A Plea for the Middle Classes', the first, and one of the most influential, of the deluge of pamphlets with which he bombarded the nation until a few years before his death in 1891. Read and taken up by such men as W.E. Gladstone, Robert Cecil the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of Shrewsbury, Henry Tritton and other influential friends, his idea of filling England with schools backed by the Church of England and run by dedicated, ordained masters on low salaries took hold.
The beautiful, though dilapidated, Norman masterpiece of S. Mary's Church, dominating the centre of the town, was visible from the windows of the vicarage, and Woodard gradually leased other properties around the church. At Pond House, on the north-west corner of the churchyard, he opened Shoreham Grammar School and Collegiate Institution, for boarders, on lst August 1848. It soon became known as S. Nicolas Grammar School & Collegiate Institution, after the patron saint of Old Shoreham church. Woodard was the non-teaching Provost (which role he was to retain) and the Revd. Henry Jacobs, also of Queen's College, was briefly the first Head Master. He left after only five weeks, his place taken by the Revd. Charles Moberly. Woodard had decided to have a resident chaplain who would take no part in the teaching work, but would have independent status, entirely out of the control of the Head Master. This, not unexpectedly, was to cause frequent problems.
S. John's School was founded in 1849, and S. Saviour's in 1858; it seemed as if the entire area was turned over to middle class schooling. However, after rumours put about by a disgruntled ex-master that Woodard encouraged the practice of auricular confession, a Dr. H.F. Carter founded New Shoreham Protestant Grammar School nearby in 1852, due to the worry of some local residents about 'Romanizing tendencies...in this neighbourhood'. (Baker & Bennett, The History of Shoreham College (1991) p.6)
Soon after the foundation of 1848, Woodard made his views on this subject clear. Even though Head Masters and masters were in Holy Orders, they would not be asked to bear any responsibility for the spiritual and moral supervision of the boys. This would be in the hands of a chaplain, trained by residence in the Founder's own household. The chaplain would be exempt from the authority of the Head Master and would regularly interview the boys at stated intervals, and, if necessary, hear their confessions. The latter would be optional, concurring with the Prayer Book which orders the clergy to suggest confession to the laity before they receive Communion and when they are ill. This was commonly regarded as "Romish", though Woodard himself was never close to going over to Rome, and would not allow advanced ritual in his school chapels. Though he did indeed correspond with Keble, Manning and Pusey, a subsequent enquiry by the official visitor of Woodard's schools, the Bishop of Chichester, revealed that nothing had been done which was not fully in accordance with the provision of the Prayer Book. Acccusations of 'confession and absolution' were, however, to recur.
In a letter to Julius Hare, Archdeacon of Lewes, dated 6 December 1849, Woodard set out his 'vision of a scheme for a national education. My life is dedicated to the work of rendering it a reality.' (Woodard Correspondence, Lancing College Archives) He planned to have a large Collegiate Institution in each Diocese, consisting of a Provost, Head Master, Fellows and Exhibitioners. It would be a religious institution like a University College, with all the Fellows in Holy Orders. The Provost would attend to the religious aspects, oversee the statutes and rules, and found schools in all parts of the Diocese with the concurrence of the Bishop and interested persons.