ARCHIVE
Ardinian Roll of Honour
WWI College Archives Enrich Learning
Historic Cine Film Restored
Ardingly College Archive is home to the College’s rich history and heritage. We collect, preserve and share the records that tell the College’s story from 1858 to the present day.
On Remembrance Day in November – in the year the world marked 80 years since the end of WWII – we launched Ardingly College’s online Roll of Honour. Volunteer John Hamblin researched the lives of every single person on the College memorials, using records in the College Archive, the National Archives and more. As a result, the Roll of Honour features detailed biographies of every Old Ardinian and member of staff known to have died in the two World Wars. Thanks to John’s efforts, we can say with confidence that “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
Lent Term saw the focus on the World Wars continue. We collaborated with the History department to support a new Year 8 research project, “How did World War II affect Ardingly College?” We visited every year 8 History class where students were given the chance to see original material from our collections, from school magazines and photographs to letters, diaries and oral histories.
Using the archive records, students discovered that the College Land Army ploughed Nine Acre and used it to grow vegetables. They found out that the College’s windows spanned 12,000 square feet, every inch of which had to be covered each night for the blackout. They learnt that the dorms were temporarily moved to the basement during the Battle of Britain; that many of the younger teachers left to join the war, paving the way for the first woman to become a permanent member of the teaching staff (Mrs Esther “Archie” Burgess, of Burgess House fame); that doodlebugs became a familiar sight over the College for a few months in 1944; and more. Their hard work culminated in an impressive array of archive displays, many of which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a museum exhibition.
Trinity Term saw us teaming up with the English department. To enrich their understanding of WWI poetry, every Shell class attended an interactive session in the Library and explored original archive material about Ardingly and WWI. They had the chance to handle letters, photographs and Annals relating to Ardingly pupils who fought and died in the war, bringing this history to life in a truly human and relatable way.
Bubbling away behind the scenes since last summer has been an exciting project which saw a collection of historic cine film reels return to the College. Earlier this year, thanks to a donation from a generous OA, the reels were digitised by R3store, a professional film restoration and archive studio in London. Now, we’re starting to share some of this wonderful footage, which includes treasures such as cricket on the Green in 1945, sports day 1952, the Queen’s visit, and more – so watch this space!
