On our sixth day of being in London, and our third day of class, we went to the Stowe School. All I knew about it beforehand was that it was a very prestigious school, and it had alums like Richard Branson. On the drive up the path to the school, I came to see that it was far grander than I had anticipated. It looks just like the house in the Kiera Knightley Pride and Prejudice, where she and Darcy have their moment in the rain. I never did ask, but they did say that a few movies had been filmed there. The whole place legitimately looked like something out of a movie.
If you were a student here, this would be your everyday view.
It really felt like we had walked onto a movie set.
We were going to take a tour of their library, and I learned that the prestige was well deserved beyond just the gorgeous grounds. The whole school looks amazing, and the people who work in it (at least the ones we met) were very knowledgeable and friendly. The librarian, Carol Miller, and the House Custodian & Research Manager, Anna McEvoy, offered us tea and cookies and then took us into the library. Throughout her talk, the librarian highlighted some of the unusual problems she comes across in a school library.
The incredibly impressive library at Stowe School.
She had undertaken a large renovation with the library because a few years previously their ceiling was literally caving in. Pieces of the original material were flaking off and falling onto the floor. They even had to have a special, heavy-duty net stretched under the entire ceiling, just in case the entire thing did fall. The net would be able to hold all of the weight of the ceiling, which would protect both the ceiling and those underneath it. During the restoration of the ceiling, they decided to use 23.5 carat gold leaf gilding. Obviously, it looks absolutely amazing.
Since it is such an old school, there are lots of uncommon issues that arise. I have no interest in being a school librarian; however, I found her talk very interesting. In addition to being a type of warden for the ceiling, she also has to be a bit of an historian about the school. She gave a great talk peppered with interesting tidbits about the history of the building and the family it belonged to. In 1921, the last heir died in WWI and then in 1923 the first 199 male students came to the school. In 1989, the school couldn’t keep up the extensive gardens, so it was given over to the National Trust. Since 2009, the school has become fully co-ed. The school serves 13-18 year old students and is made up of 90% boarders. For more information, I looked to their website, which was helpful.
Overall, the school is very beautiful and seems to deserve the great reputation it has. I was blown away by our walk around the grounds, and the library was not too shabby either.
Exhibit A Through Z 