Ingatestone

The Second World War brought the additional complication of evacuating the pupils from the London Blitz. The senior girls and nursery pupils went to Ingatestone Hall in Essex, the mixed Preparatory School to nearby Tilehurst and the senior boys to Rochetts at South Weald, near Brentwood. After the war, the senior girls moved to Hyde Hall at Sawbridgeworth, in Hertfordshire, while the rest of the school moved back to Wanstead. By courtesy of Lord Petre, the wartime evacuees hold annual reunions at Ingatestone Hall (which is open to the public) for both Ingatestone and Tilehurst pupils, since Tilehurst is not open to the public.

Ingateson Hall belongs to a very old English family, the Petres, ennobled in 1603, and living in the house since it was built in 1540 by Sir William Petre, Tudor Secretary of State. The house has been hardly altered since, save for the enlargement of the windows. Indoors, the accumulations of more than five centuries of pictures, furniture and documents tell a continuous story. Some of the best furniture, especially in the Garden Chamber, is of the Tudor and Stuart periods; such pieces are much rarer than the same items made in Georgian times.


Reunion at Ingatestone Hall	Tilehurst

Stewpond	Ingatestone Hall Gardens

Ingatestone Hall by Sheila Jakobsson