Bibliography - Woodard, The Reverend Nathaniel
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A Plea for the Middle Classes, by Nathaniel Woodard, published 1848 (18 pp., London: Joseph Masters)   View Online

Nathaniel Woodard: A Memoir of his Life, by Sir John Otter, published 1925 (336 pp., London: John Lane, Bodley Head) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

The life and work of Nathaniel Woodard, with special reference to the influence of the Oxford movement on English education in the 19th century, by R. Perry, 1932 at Bristol University (M.A. thesis)

The Story of the Woodard Schools, by K. E. Kirk, published 1937 (London: Hodder and Stoughton) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14708] & West Sussex Libraries

The established church and the education of the Victorian middle classes: a study of the Woodard Schools, 1847-1891, by W. B. D. Heeney, 1962 at Oxford University (D. Phil. Thesis)

Mission to the Middle Classes: the Woodard Schools, 1848-1891, by Brian Heeney, published July 1969 (262 pp., S.P.C.K., ISBN-10: 0281023263 & ISBN-13: 9780281023264) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Nathaniel Woodward, A Lecture Delivered at Hurstpierpoint College on November 15th 1974 , by Basil Handford, published 1974 accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Woodard Schools, (How they Started and the Nature of the Man who Founded them), by Patrick Nigel Geoffrey Gilbert, published c.1977 accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Nathaniel Woodard, Educator of the Middle Classes, by John A. H. Wylie, published 1981 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7796] & West Sussex Libraries

Nathaniel Woodard: Educator of the Middle Classes, by John Wylie, published March 1984 in Sussex Genealogist and Family Historian (vol. 5 no. 4, article, pp.139-144) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9173] & The Keep [LIB/501191] & CD SXGS from S.F.H.G.

That one idea: Nathaniel Woodard and his schools, by Leonard & Evelyn Cowie, published 1 January 1991 (Woodard Corporation, ISBN-10: 095176540X & ISBN-13: 9780951765401) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Public Schools for the Middle Classes, by Nathaniel Woodard, published June 1991 (facsimile of 1852 edition, The Toucan Press, ISBN-10: 0856944653 & ISBN-13: 9780856944659) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Nathaniel Woodard, 1811-1891, published 1998 (pamphlet, Chichester: West Sussex County Council) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15300]

Woodard, Nathaniel, 1811-1891, founder of the Woodard schools, by Janet Pennington, published 2006 in New Dictionary of National Biography (article, Oxford University Press)

A School with a View: A History of Ardingly College, 1858-2008, by David Gibbs, published 1 April 2008 (155 pp., London: James and James, ISBN-10: 1903942837 & ISBN-13: 9781903942833) accessible at: British Library

Rev Nathaniel Woodard founded the School in a few small rooms in Shoreham in 1858. It was to be the 'Jewel in the Crown' of his grand design of a national system of schools to restore the Anglican Church to the heart of the nation. Very low fees at £15 per annum meant that it was affordable to the lower middle-classes thus meeting a real need in society.
In the subsequent 50 years Ardingly has gone from strength to strength and become one of the leading co-educational schools in the south of England. This fascinating hardback book by David Gibbs, an author with intimate first-hand experience of the School traces its remarkable history over the last 150 years and is laced with anecdotes and reminiscences, richly illustrated throughout with over 200 archive and contemporary images.
''....acting, writing and performing reviews, I found it all very stimulating. I always remember the sense of humour and there also seemed to be a lot of lunacy, as when Nick Newman and Simon Parke organised a roller bike event round the Front Quad and ran a commentary from the Chapel Tower.'' Ian Hislop, Editor of Private Eye, writing about his schooldays at Ardingly
''The period of adolescence is a time when strong memories are laid down, and Ardingly had a strong and distinctive personality. I knew at the time that my debt to the School was great, but looking back more than 30 years I am more than ever conscious of the enormous and benevolent influence it has been on my life.'' James Lancelot, Master of the Choristers and Organist at Durham Cathedral

In Search of Nathaniel Woodard: Victorian Founder of Schools, by David Gibbs, published 15 March 2011 (112 pp., Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., ISBN-10: 1860776671 & ISBN-13: 9781860776670)

Immensely energetic, driven, sure of his own faith and destiny, Canon Nathaniel Woodard founded ten schools between 1848 and 1890. Surrounded and shocked by social conflict, poverty, deprivation and a lack of godliness, he firmly believed in education as the means for transformation. His grand design was to create a national system of High Church Anglican schools accessible to the tradesmen and lower middle classes. Today there are 45 schools in the Woodard family. Characterised by their core Christian ethos, the family is unusual in that it embraces the independent and the maintained sectors, as well as primary and secondary levels. Members range from its fi rst born Lancing College with its majestic Gothic chapel high on the Sussex Downs, to its most recent additions, four transformational academies, beacons of hope to young people who have been failed by the educational system. The Woodard schools are a significant part of the national educational landscape, especially in an age when the religious dimension to education is oftencontroversial. But who was Nathaniel Woodard? Where did he come from? What shaped his outlook? What sort of person was he? Often seen as a divisive force in the Victorian church, he was sacked from his fi rst curacy yet gained the support of many of the great and the good, including two future prime ministers, Gladstone and Salisbury. His achievement in terms of bricks and mortar was enormous.