by Janet Pennington
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Woodard battled against detractors of his scheme, who from time to time pointed the suspicious finger of 'Roman Catholicism'. He had the ear of many of the local Sussex gentry and in 1857 a further problem occurred. The Revd. John Goring of Wiston, a landed gentleman in deacon's orders who lived a few miles to the north-west of New Shoreham, wrote to the Sussex Express, publishing a series of letters that had passed between him and Woodard in 1851. Goring had been irritated in 1850 by Woodard's refusal of a gift of £100 in the expectation of Goring receiving some share in the government of the schools. Woodard had particularly asked that their correspondence should not be published, but Goring was angered by continuing rumours of "Popery" attached to the schools and had made the accusation of compulsory confession against Hurstpierpoint College. Woodard admitted one or two boys had 'sought the benefit of absolution' but said this was the usual practice and that the initiative had been taken by the boys concerned. (Handford (1986) p.21) Goring did not believe this and concluded they had been persuaded by the school; he encouraged other notable Sussex gentlemen to join his campaign.
It is interesting to see that the Revd. Edmund Field, Woodard's much-loved second chaplain (at Hurstpierpoint 1854-62, at Lancing 1863-1892 - the Revd. John William Knott was the short-lived first chaplain in Shoreham 1850-51) had informed the Bishop of Chichester early in 1857 that at Hurst and New Shoreham 'between 60 and 70 boys have made formal confessions during the last three years'. (Heeney, Mission to the Middle Classes, (1967) p.65) However, Goring's attempt to prevent the middle classes from sending their sons to Hurst resulted in Woodard issuing a pamphlet entitled: 'S. Nicolas College and the Rev. J. Goring and Others' in April 1857. He again outlined his plan for a sound Christian education for the middle classes and repudiated his attackers in 28 pages of flowing and forceful prose.
On 22 November 1861 Woodard was again in trouble, at a major fund-raising meeting in Oxford, attended by Gladstone and the future Lord Salisbury. Handbills were distributed alleging that confession was encouraged at both Lancing and Hurstpierpoint and that the pupils were given crucifixes. Woodard refused to make any public denial of these accusations and the result on subscriptions was disastrous. The Revd. R.E.Sanderson, who had on 18 November agreed to become Head Master at Lancing the next term, took fright and needed much reassurance from Woodard that formal confession was not practised before he felt satisfied. It was a tense situation, involving Woodard in difficult consultations with the Revd. E. C. Lowe, Head Master of Hurstpierpoint, and chaplain the Revd. Edmund Field. The situation was not at all straightforward.
Woodard was often aided financially in his scheme by former pupils, in particular by Henry Martin Gibbs (1850-1928) who donated thousands of pounds to the building of Lancing College, together with its magnificent Chapel.
'No system of education would be perfect which did not provide for the cultivation of the taste of the pupils through the agency of the highest examples of architecture'. (Handford (1989) p.14) A supporter of the Gothic revival, Woodard's architectural legacy to the nation is the fourth tallest ecclesiastical building in England, conceived in early French gothic style, rising above the Adur river valley on a chalk spur of the South Downs above Shoreham, with the flint-clad school buildings to the west. Lancing Chapel, built of Sussex sandstone, acts as the minster church for all the pupils of the Woodard Corporation. Known locally as 'the Cathedral of the Downs', it was not completed in Woodard's lifetime, but double flying buttresses, soaring pinnacles and the largest rose window in England proclaim Woodard's devotion to his faith. Richard Cromwell Carpenter as college architect, and his son Richard Herbert Carpenter with partner William Slater, who completed the chapel designs, produced this masterpiece, begun in 1868 and dedicated in 1911. Woodard's third son 'Billy', with no professional training whatsoever, oversaw the construction of the building. Work on the west wall began in 1957 and the rose window was dedicated in 1978.
In 1862 Woodard moved from Shoreham to Henfield, a few miles to the north, where he lived at Martyn Lodge; it was but a short rail and horse cab journey to Lancing. He purchased stone quarries at Scaynes Hill, not far from Haywards Heath railway station, utilised the local flint, and excavated chalk from the school farmland to provide all the building materials cheaply. A nearby shipwreck produced bargain-price Portland stone for the Chapel nave. In 1882, feeling the weight of his work and his years, Woodard ordered the east end of the half-finished Chapel to be built to its full height. He felt that if a niggardly generation arose and decided that it was too costly to build to the height he desired, then his work would have to be pulled down. In July 1886 he had 80 workmen to be paid weekly, including 40 masons, and only £15 in his Chapel passbook, but his financial pleas did not fall on deaf ears. Henry Martin Gibbs and others came to his financial aid and by the time of his death five years later, part of the roof was in place.
It is interesting to see that the Revd. Edmund Field, Woodard's much-loved second chaplain (at Hurstpierpoint 1854-62, at Lancing 1863-1892 - the Revd. John William Knott was the short-lived first chaplain in Shoreham 1850-51) had informed the Bishop of Chichester early in 1857 that at Hurst and New Shoreham 'between 60 and 70 boys have made formal confessions during the last three years'. (Heeney, Mission to the Middle Classes, (1967) p.65) However, Goring's attempt to prevent the middle classes from sending their sons to Hurst resulted in Woodard issuing a pamphlet entitled: 'S. Nicolas College and the Rev. J. Goring and Others' in April 1857. He again outlined his plan for a sound Christian education for the middle classes and repudiated his attackers in 28 pages of flowing and forceful prose.
On 22 November 1861 Woodard was again in trouble, at a major fund-raising meeting in Oxford, attended by Gladstone and the future Lord Salisbury. Handbills were distributed alleging that confession was encouraged at both Lancing and Hurstpierpoint and that the pupils were given crucifixes. Woodard refused to make any public denial of these accusations and the result on subscriptions was disastrous. The Revd. R.E.Sanderson, who had on 18 November agreed to become Head Master at Lancing the next term, took fright and needed much reassurance from Woodard that formal confession was not practised before he felt satisfied. It was a tense situation, involving Woodard in difficult consultations with the Revd. E. C. Lowe, Head Master of Hurstpierpoint, and chaplain the Revd. Edmund Field. The situation was not at all straightforward.
Woodard was often aided financially in his scheme by former pupils, in particular by Henry Martin Gibbs (1850-1928) who donated thousands of pounds to the building of Lancing College, together with its magnificent Chapel.
'No system of education would be perfect which did not provide for the cultivation of the taste of the pupils through the agency of the highest examples of architecture'. (Handford (1989) p.14) A supporter of the Gothic revival, Woodard's architectural legacy to the nation is the fourth tallest ecclesiastical building in England, conceived in early French gothic style, rising above the Adur river valley on a chalk spur of the South Downs above Shoreham, with the flint-clad school buildings to the west. Lancing Chapel, built of Sussex sandstone, acts as the minster church for all the pupils of the Woodard Corporation. Known locally as 'the Cathedral of the Downs', it was not completed in Woodard's lifetime, but double flying buttresses, soaring pinnacles and the largest rose window in England proclaim Woodard's devotion to his faith. Richard Cromwell Carpenter as college architect, and his son Richard Herbert Carpenter with partner William Slater, who completed the chapel designs, produced this masterpiece, begun in 1868 and dedicated in 1911. Woodard's third son 'Billy', with no professional training whatsoever, oversaw the construction of the building. Work on the west wall began in 1957 and the rose window was dedicated in 1978.
In 1862 Woodard moved from Shoreham to Henfield, a few miles to the north, where he lived at Martyn Lodge; it was but a short rail and horse cab journey to Lancing. He purchased stone quarries at Scaynes Hill, not far from Haywards Heath railway station, utilised the local flint, and excavated chalk from the school farmland to provide all the building materials cheaply. A nearby shipwreck produced bargain-price Portland stone for the Chapel nave. In 1882, feeling the weight of his work and his years, Woodard ordered the east end of the half-finished Chapel to be built to its full height. He felt that if a niggardly generation arose and decided that it was too costly to build to the height he desired, then his work would have to be pulled down. In July 1886 he had 80 workmen to be paid weekly, including 40 masons, and only £15 in his Chapel passbook, but his financial pleas did not fall on deaf ears. Henry Martin Gibbs and others came to his financial aid and by the time of his death five years later, part of the roof was in place.