Bedales School is a coeducational boarding and day public school, in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by Amy Garrett Badley and John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools and has been co-educational since 1898.

History

thumb|left|John Haden Badley, co-founder of the school

The school was started in 1893 by Amy Garrett Badley and John Haden Badley. John had met Oswald B Powell when they were introduced to each other by Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, whom they both knew from their Cambridge days. John said that Oswald and his wife, Winifred Powell, were as important as Amy and him. A house called Bedales was rented just outside Lindfield, near Haywards Heath.

  • 1936–1946 F A Meier
  • 2001–2018 Keith Budge
  • 2018–2021 Magnus Bashaarat
  • 2021–present Will Goldsmith

The campus

Since 1900 the school has been located on a estate in the village of Steep, near Petersfield, Hampshire. As well as playing fields, orchards, woodland, pasture, multiple sport pitches and a nature reserve, the campus also has two Grade I listed arts and crafts buildings designed by Ernest Gimson, the Lupton Hall (1911), which was co-designed, built and largely financed by ex-pupil Geoffrey Lupton, and the Memorial Library (1921).

There are three contemporary, award-winning buildings:

  • The Olivier Theatre (1997) by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
  • The Orchard Building (2005) by Walters & Cohen
  • The Art and Design Building (2017) by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Notable Bedalians

  • Thomas Eckersley (1886–1959), theoretical physicist and engineer
  • Robin Hill (1899–1991), plant biochemist
  • Kathleen Merritt (1901–1985), musician and conductor
  • Malcolm MacDonald (1901–1981), politician
  • John Wyndham (1903–1969), novelist
  • George Sanders (1906–1972), actor and Academy Award winner
  • Frank Roberts (1907-1998), diplomat
  • Mike Sadler (1920–2024), "founding" member of the SAS, MI6 officer
  • Sir Peter Wright (born 1926), ballet dancer and director
  • Michael Harris Caine (1927–1999), businessman
  • Judith Herrin (born 1942), archaeologist and author
  • Gyles Brandreth (born 1948), journalist, television presenter, politician
  • Bias Boshell (born 1950), songwriter and musician
  • Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957), Oscar-winning actor
  • Mary Ann Sieghart (born 1961), journalist and radio presenter
  • David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (born 1961), member of the royal family
  • Lady Sarah Chatto (born 1964), member of the royal family
  • Minnie Driver (born 1970), actress
  • Kirstie Allsopp (born 1971), TV presenter
  • Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath (born 1974), business owner
  • Jonathan Rowland (born 1975), businessman
  • Natalia Tena (born 1984), actress and musician
  • Lily Allen (born 1985), singer
  • Cara Delevingne (born 1992), model and actress
  • Abigail Morris (born 1999), musician

References

Further reading

See also John Haden Badley bibliography.

  • Bedales School; A School for Boys. Outline of its aims and system. By J H Badley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1892
  • A quoit tient la superiorité des Anglo-Saxons?. By Edmond Demolins. 1897
  • Notes and suggestions for those who join the staff at Bedales School. By J H Badley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1922
  • Bedales: A Pioneer School. By J H Badley. London: Methuen, 1923
  • Bedales Since the War. By Geoffrey Crump. London: Chapman and Hall, 1936
  • John Haden Badley 1865–1967. By Gyles Brandreth and Sally Henry. Steep: Bedales Society, 1967
  • English Progressive Schools. By Robert Skidelsky. London: Penguin, 1969
  • The Public School Phenomenon. By Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1977
  • Irregularly Bold: A Study of Bedales School. By James Henderson. London: André Deutsch, 1978
  • Bedales 1935–1965 Memories and Reflections of Fifteen Bedalians. By H.B. Jacks. Steep: The Bedales Society, 1978
  • Bedales School – The First Hundred Years. By Roy Wake and Pennie Denton. London: Haggerston Press, 1993
  • Bedales School
  • Profile on UK Boarding Schools
  • Profile at the Good Schools Guide