Clovelly-Kepplestone

Clovelly-Kepplestone was a private boarding school for girls in Eastbourne, Sussex. It existed from 1908 until 1934 and was located in Staveley Road, just off the seafront in the Meads district of the town. Known to staff and pupils as "Clo-Kepp", it came about following a merger of two schools: the Ladies' and Kindergarten School, Clovelly, and the Ladies' School, Kepplestone. At its peak in the 1920s, there were some 150-160 pupils at this fashionable and highly respected establishment.

The Principal – Frances Anna Browne

The founder and driving force behind Clovelly-Kepplestone was Frances Anna Browne, whose first venture was a dame preparatory school for boys in Eastbourne, St Bede's. A capable woman of considerable strength of character, she was the daughter of an Irish clergyman, Rev Neligan, Chaplain to the Lord Lieutenant. Possessing no academic qualifications whatsoever, Mrs Browne came to Eastbourne after her husband, Rev F H Browne, Headmaster of Ipswich School, took his own life in the summer of 1894.

In the summer of that year, Mrs Browne wrote to the Council of Eastbourne College proposing to take boarders, who would be sent to the College as day boys. The was initially approved by the headmaster but opposed by the housemasters, who objected to competition from someone who was not even a member of the teaching staff. Finally a compromise was reached whereby she was permitted to open a preparatory school (maximum age normally 14) which would primarily feed pupils to the College. During the Michaelmas Term of 1894, "St Bede's - Eastbourne College Preparatory School" opened in Blackwater Road with four pupils under the supervision of Mrs Browne's headmaster, Mr Burnett. By 1897, the school roll at St Bede's was approaching 40, with a corresponding reduction at the College, now without its own preparatory classes. Alarmed, the College Council proposed that an annual capitation fee of £10 per boy be paid by Mrs Browne, who defended her ground stoutly in a number of long and baffling letters before agreeing to a temporary compromise of a guinea a year.

Her firmness can be explained by the conflict between her late husband and the governors of Ipswich School – she would not allow herself to be brow-beaten. This background is mentioned in Too Late to Lament, the autobiography of her son, Maurice, known as the theatrical manager responsible for Journey's End. Maurice Browne states that his father's plans to improve the standard of accommodation for domestic staff led to a dispute which, coupled with heavy losses in stocks and shares and a history of drink, led to his resignation and suicide.

With the original premises no longer big enough to accommodate its pupils, Mrs Browne decided to purchase Clovelly, a large detached house also in Blackwater Road, Eastbourne. Relations between Mrs Browne and the College became strained, the latter proposing a fee of £50 - £60 annually for any boy remaining at St Bede's over the age of twelve. In September 1900, the new headmaster of the College urged the Council to increase the capitation fee to 14 shillings per term. This was unacceptable to her and the College gave notice that the arrangement with St Bede's would terminate at the end of 1901. However, by this time Mrs Browne had plans for her own girls' school and decided that the sale of St Bede's would be facilitated if agreement witht the College could be reached. She sold St Bede's in the autumn of 1901 to Mr G H Gowring, Headmaster of Berkhamsted, who tried to unsuccessfully to maintain a connection with the College.

Mrs Browne's First School for Girls

Having vacated Clovelly in Blackwater Road, Mrs Browne moved to a house in St John's Road, Meads, which she renamed Clovelly. This is described in 1905 as "Clovelly Educational Home for Girls and Kindergarten for Children". In 1907, the Eastbourne Gazette refers to the annual prize giving as "a fashionable gathering" and reports the Headmaster of Eastbourne College as saying that the school was starting on the right lines and hoping to provide continuity of education from Kindergarten to a Senior Department. The school is advertised as "Clovelly Ladies School" until 1908, when it moved to its final location in Staveley Road, having merged with "Kepplestone Ladies School", which had previously been at Kelsey Manor at Beckenham in Kent.