How Much Kit Brought Down From Newgate Street Still Exists?

[Chrissie Boy]

The tables in the dining hall were brought down from Newgate Street, weren't they? And their tops were later covered in Formica?

And the metal-framed plank-beds came down too? How about the old day-room tables and benches of yore?

But what else from Newgate Street is still in use, excluding fixtures and fittings like the dining hall pulpit, the Big School Organ, the Wren portico and the Grecians' Arches?

I remember there used to be heavy wooden chests on the dormitory stairs, for boys to dump used yellow stockings in. Did they come down from Newgate Street and are they still in use? Did the wonky old day-room lockers come from Newgate? And where are they now? Were the iron-framed 'CH' desks made new for CH Horsham when it opened in 1902 or were they from London too? And is any of them still in use? I remember some long, narrow, almost lecternish bench-like desks worthy of Dickensian clerks, complete with inkwell sockets, which by my day were generally kept shoved up against the back wall of Prep Block classrooms and which presumably were originally combined with similarly tall benches accommodating several boys each. Are they long gone? And how many years is it since inkwells and dip pens were last used at the school? Is it within living memory?

Finally, does the Infirmary still have a stock of large, heavy dinnerplates with the CH crest on them, big hefty flowerpot-like ceramic tumblers and, most memorable of all, cutlery so heavy that it bordered on the agricultural?

[rockfreak]

I never knew that Kit was around in the days of Newgate Street. He was obviously much older than we thought. What did he bring? Well Banker Brown for a start, plus all sorts of other exotica. His wooden leg, Corks, Elvis Carter and his pop records. Maybe Col A veterans of my era have other items to add. Peter Hiner has made a start elsewhere on his slickly produced memoir.

[Florida Blue]

But what else from Newgate Street is still in use?

Possibly some old books in the library?

[Foureyes]

Hmmmm! Methinks there is a fundamental misunderstanding here.
Rockfreak says: "I never knew that Kit was around in the days of Newgate Street." This obviously assumes that the 'Kit' in the title refers to the late Kit Aitken former housemaster of ColA. This simply can't be true as Kit (actually Ernest Christopher) Aitken was born on 2 August 1911 and cannot possibly have served at Newgate Street which closed in 1902.
I suggest that the 'Kit' in this title is used in its generic form as meaning 'clothing, equipment, stores,' etc, etc (as in 'kitbag') and refers to tables, chairs and the like.
David

[Florida Blue]

Hmmmmmm, methinks Rockfreak was just joking,

[Foureyes]

Gosh! Never suspected the devoted newspaper letter-writer had a sense-of-humour. I withdraw comment.
David

[Otter]

Hmmmm! Methinks there is a fundamental misunderstanding here.
Rockfreak says: "I never knew that Kit was around in the days of Newgate Street." This obviously assumes that the 'Kit' in the title refers to the late Kit Aitken former housemaster of ColA. This simply can't be true as Kit (actually Ernest Christopher) Aitken was born on 2 August 1911 and cannot possibly have served at Newgate Street which closed in 1902.
I suggest that the 'Kit' in this title is used in its generic form as meaning 'clothing, equipment, stores,' etc, etc (as in 'kitbag') and refers to tables, chairs and the like.
David

I guess Freaky was joking, but the potential misunderstanding stems from the American-Style Titling Starting All Words With A Capital Letter, which is not the practice in British English. "How much kit brought down from Newgate Street still exists?" would solve the issue.

[jhopgood]

Hmmmm! Methinks there is a fundamental misunderstanding here.
Rockfreak says: "I never knew that Kit was around in the days of Newgate Street." This obviously assumes that the 'Kit' in the title refers to the late Kit Aitken former housemaster of ColA. This simply can't be true as Kit (actually Ernest Christopher) Aitken was born on 2 August 1911 and cannot possibly have served at Newgate Street which closed in 1902.
I suggest that the 'Kit' in this title is used in its generic form as meaning 'clothing, equipment, stores,' etc, etc (as in 'kitbag') and refers to tables, chairs and the like.
David

I guess Freaky was joking, but the potential misunderstanding stems from the American-Style Titling Starting All Words With A Capital Letter, which is not the practice in British English. "How much kit brought down from Newgate Street still exists?" would solve the issue.

But not answer the question.

[Martin Chuzzletits]

I doubt that the day room tables came down from London. I'd guess they were made to measure for the day rooms, likewise the attendant benches. Curiously though, the benches looked as if they'd taken far more of a battering than the tables. Probably something to do with farting.

[viejoazul]

As the Avenue enters the Quad, in both directions, it goes under an arch, which forms part of the Cloisters. The arch on the Lamb side was alleged to have been brought from Newgate St. I have certainly seen a photo somewhere of such an identical (or very similar) arch in the Newgate St complex. Does a reader of the Forum have such an image? Apparently there was only one such arch in London so the second, ‘Coleridge’ arch was constructed for the Horsham site. Has anyone examined both arches carefully to confirm any slight differences which would support this contention?

Of course, the end wall, at the rear of Big School and facing the Music School, incorporates another end wall of a smaller building (the Wren Portico) and its niche for the statue of Edward VI. This came from Newgate St and its bricks are typically much older, being smaller than those of Big School. So in case if anyone thinks it an odd excess of effort to transport the ‘Lamb’ arch from London, the presence of this end wall, shows that such effort was acceptable to the designers of Horsham buildings.