St. Peter's School, Coulsdon, Surrey

05/04/2026

To all St. Peter's girls, whenever you are, and your families, a very Happy Easter to you.

07/01/2026

First of all A Happy New Year to Everyone.

These interesting newspaper articles were kindly sent by Pauline Watt Beckley. I imagine they refer to the 1950s. Have you any feelings on the content?

24/12/2025

20/12/2025

Christmas is nearly upon us and this ancient carol came to mind which we learnt at our school.

The Boar's Head.

11/10/2025

Miss Bullen at the piano.
Do you recognise anybody?

Photo kindly provided by Pauline Beckley

16/09/2025

A photo kindly sent by Alastair Snell, son of Mrs Meredith Starmer's daughter Delphine. Our condolences to Alastair Snell for the loss of his Mother.

21/04/2025

I think I will make the group private as we are beginning to get intruders.

19/04/2025

A Very Happy Easter to you all and your families, wherever you may be, from a wet and murky north east Italy.

18/03/2025

Pauline Watt Beckley has just found this old 'prospectus'.

I think you will agree that the curriculum is basically the same as most of us remember, except for one very important subject - Ancient Greek, which constitutes a major part of a classical education. The classics have always been considered as the non plus ultra of education all over Europe.
Does anybody know when this subject was taken off the curriculum, please?

As G.C.E.s were introduced in 1951, it is obviously after that date.

17/03/2025

For those who have not already seen them, here are some notes about Mrs Lord herself which I put together and posted quite a few years ago now.

Mrs G. A. Lord was born Gwenllian Agnes Moseley on 6th July,1895 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. She was the daughter of Herbert David Moseley (1855c.), a Welshman, who was headmaster in 1911 of an independent school in Kingston. Her mother Agnes Anne Duff, before marrying, was a governess.
In 1920 Mrs Lord married the Reverend Charles Theodore Lord in Lambeth and the couple lived in a small village, Langton Matravers in Dorset, where their two children Olive Theodora (Miss Lord 1921 - 2006) and David John (1926 - 2005) were born.
Unfortunately, Mrs Lord's husband died in 1929 and she was left a very young widow with two young children to bring up.
Mrs Lord died in January 1987 at the age of 91 in Worthing, Sussex.

16/03/2025

Pauline Beckley has kindly put together this piece on the history of our old school.

With money provided by Mr. Thomas Allen from Bristol, the school was opened in 1925 at no. 28 The Chase with a dual headship - Mr. Allen's daughter Ethel May, born in 1895 in Bristol and her friend, Miss Olive Gooch. They had met, presumably in Reigate, where Ethel was studying in 1911, and Olive Gooch was teaching. At first the school was extremely small until the adjacent plot was developed in about 1928. By 1939 there were 108 pupils including five boys in the kindergarten class. Girls were taken from the age of five to 18.

Evacuated for a week during the Munich crisis of 1938, the school left Coulsdon again a year later at the outbreak of war and some of the pupils went to Topsham in Devon with Miss Allen and Miss Gooch where they remained for the duration. The remainder stayed in Coulsdon - effectively two St. Peter's.

In 1940 the school was purchased by Mrs G.A. Lord, who had previously been left a young widow with two children.The number of pupils remained quite low during the war years but the school grew dramatically from the middle of the 1950s. No. 28 became part of the school. Mrs Lord moved to no. 34 and in 1957 'The Cottage' became the VIth form Centre. The Lower VIth on the ground floor and the Upper VIth upstairs.
Mrs Lord remained headmistress until she was taken ill in 1973 and the school had to be closed down somewhat abruptly in July of that year . There were then 288 pupils including 2 boys. together with 20 teachers.
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Looking at the Census records I had expected Mr. Allen to be somewhat different from what I found but I feel he must have been a very good father to his daughter, if he provided the funds for the property, as it could not have been that easy for him.