Hove in the Past: Girton House, Hove

25 April 2022

Girton House, Hove

Judy Middleton

Published originally in Tales of the Old Hove Schools (1991) revised 2022

copyright © R. Jeeves

Girton House was established in 1904 at 2, 3 and 4 Walsingham Mansions, Hove. As it fronted Kingsway, there was enough bracing sea air to satisfy the most health-conscious parent.

Girton House has a certain ring to it and must have given the impression of being something of a blue-stocking establishment. Perhaps Mrs Willis, as everyone called her, had some connection with Girton College, Cambridge that she wished to perpetuate.

copyright © J.Middleton
This postcard dates from 1905 and must have been taken shortly after the school was established.
It is interesting to note Kingsway practically empty of traffic.

The curriculum was fairly wide with algebra meriting a special mention. But there was still an emphasis on the Arts with girls learning the piano, solo singing and how to recite poetry. Mrs Willis was also keen on etiquette and good manners. Girls were taught to be helpful at all times and a Girton girl was always quick to open a door for other people. They also mastered the art of letter writing to fit appropriate occasions, and how to sit gracefully in society so as not to reveal too much leg.

Not that bare legs were ever on show at Girton House for the girls were obliged to wear lisle stockings the whole year round. Ordinary daytime wear consisted of a brown tunic and a cream shirt. But Sunday wear was impractical in the extreme; the girls wore cream pleated skirts and white coats with a white hat encircled with a brown school ribbon. On Sundays this whiter than white crocodile made its way from the school building on the Kingsway to St Philip’s Church in New Church Road. The boys from Hove College attended the church at the same time but Girton girls were supposed to keep their eyes fixed rigidly on their hymn books. No doubt Mrs Willis would consider a glance at a pew full of boys the height of unladylike behaviour.

As far as comfort goes, the girls were relatively well off. No Spartan dormitories for them but bedrooms with three or four beds and even heating after a fashion. There was plenty of good wholesome food but unfortunately also a great deal of suet pudding.

copyright © J. Middleton.
Long after the school shut, the name lives on. The photograph was taken in 2009 and the premises are in sparkling condition after some years of looking somewhat neglected.

However, exercise was taken. The school had its own gymnasium where the girls wielded their dumb-bells and Indian clubs. For sport in the open air such as hockey or netball, the school used the playing fields belonging to the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School (now BHASVIC).

At first the school must have been a flourishing concern because in addition to the Girton House building, Mrs Willis took the large house on the opposite corner at Sackville Gardens. Originally, these palatial premises had been built as four conjoined but separate residential properties in 1904 to be sold at a handsome £7,000 each.

In April 2022 a modest little album came up for auction titled Girton Summer Term 1923. Alas! The book did not contain a name and the pages had long since come loose. But a group image provides evidence that in the early days Girton accepted small boys as pupils too. The album also includes another group with a tantalising glimpse of Hove Bandstand as it was in 1923 – a rare image although there are many postcards featuring it in later times.

When Mrs Willis found the number of pupils dwindling, she cleverly turned the extension of Girton House into a hotel that in 1926 became known as the Sackville Gardens Private Hotel. Eventually, everybody simply shortened it to the Sackville.

copyright © J.Middleton
The Sackville Hotel was designed with the most elegant frontage. Unhappily it was demolished in 2006 after a disastrous collapse during refurbishment.

It was an astute move because parents coming to visit their daughters found it convenient to put up at the Sackville. When Muriel Frost became a boarder at Girton House in 1929, her widowed father moved into the Sackville for some time. Muriel had happy memories of her schooldays despite having to spend the holidays there as well. But other girls were in the same situation and there was a special holiday mistress to look after them.

Heads

1904-1908 Mrs Beney-Willis and Mrs Gertrude

1909-1932 Mrs Beney-Willis

1933-1934 Mrs Leece

School colours brown and cream

School motto Always Faithful

Sources

Directories

Information from Joyce Goodridge