Catalogue description The Downs School, Sutton Road, Seaford

The photographs of Lucretia Cameron (AMS6544/1/1) were taken by Dorothy Wilding (1893-1976), who specialised in studio portraits, advertising images and nudes. She opened her first portrait studio in 1914, and was in considerable demand for theatrical portraits from 1918. She moved her studio to Bond Street in the 1920s; the photographs listed below were taken at 7 Old Bond Street, London W1. Her sitters included Tallulah Bankhead, Douglas Fairbanks junior, and Pola Negri. She took advertising commissions from 1923, and frequently published in Sketch and Taller. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 1930, and first photographed members of the Royal Family, including George V and Queen Elizabeth, in 1937; she opened her first studio in New York in the same year. She is best known for the portraits taken of Elizabeth II during her coronation and accession.

For further information on Wilding, see Terence Pepper, Dorothy Wilding; the pursuit of perfection, London, National Portrait Gallery, 1991

For an account of the school's history, see AMS6544/2/56 below; for a programme of the commemorative supper held at the school to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the inception of Seaford Urban District Council, see DL/D 100/1

Downs School, Seaford

Records are open for consultation unless otherwise indicated

Donated 3 Nov 1999 (ACC 8002), 9 Jun 2000 (ACC 8166)

• East Sussex
• Boarding schools

The Downs Ladies School was founded by Miss Lucy Robinson at Redcroft, in Sutton Road, on the east corner of Southdown Road, in January 1901. It moved to its later site in Sutton Road, on the corner of Alfriston Road, in September 1904. Miss Lucretia Cameron joined the staff in 1913, and became headmistress in January 1914, following the retirement of Miss Robinson.

The school expanded rapidly. A new hall, also used as a gymnasium and dining-room, was built in 1913; Tower House opened as a junior house for girls under 14 in 1915; Maitland opened for girls specialising in modern languages, domestic science and music in 1916; Bydown and Hove-to were added in 1918 and 1921-1922 respectively. The Long Barn at Bydown was converted into the school library in 1923, and was later used as preparation rooms by girls in Bydown. In 1926 three lacrosse pitches were added to the south playing field, Bydown kitchens were extended, and the Sixteen dormitory was built above. The school was enlarged to double its size by new form rooms, dormitories and a new school hall, which were opened by Sir James Parr, High Commissioner for New Zealand, in the presence of the Bishop of Chichester, on 26 November 1927.

In 1929 Bydown dining room was built, and The View, Bramley, Rest Harrow, Qu'Appelle, and Elomar, all in Sutton Drive, were purchased. Elomar was used as a sanatorium before the Second World War, and as an annexe to Bydown afterwards. The Bydown stables were converted into a school library in 1930.

The school became the Downs School (Seaford) Ltd in August 1931, with Miss Cameron and Miss V J Pitt, who had joined the school in 1918, as joint headmistresses. The barn on the east of the hard court was converted into laboratories and a games store in 1935.

The school was evacuated to Treloyhan Manor and St Eia Hotels, St Ives, Cornwall on 28 June 1940. The Downs, Tower House and the playing fields were requisitioned the following month. Furniture and contents which had not been moved to St Ives were stored in Bydown, but the building was bombed in August 1942.

Miss Cameron retired in July 1943. The school returned to Seaford in October 1945, following a reorganisation of the premises made necessary by the loss of Bydown. The library was restored in 1946, following bomb damage, and Bydown reopened in 1950. A swimming pool was given to the school in 1956.

Miss Pitt attempted to turn the school into an Educational Trust, and increase the numbers to ensure a viable sixth form, but was unable to accomplish this. The school closed in July 1964, following her illness. The school and its grounds were purchased by Seaford Urban District Council, for use as recreational facilities, and council offices, including a Council Chamber. It now (August 2000) comprises the Downs Leisure Centre and flats.