St Michael's Preparatory School, Otford
Encyclopedia
St Michael's Preparatory School is a coeducational preparatory school
in Otford
.
The school is located in a 90 acres (364,217.4 m²) site in the North Downs
with old and new buildings.
in 1872 by the Reverend Arthur Tooth as a school and home for the sons of the clergy, naval and military officers, and professionals who had suffered bereavement or fallen on hard times.
The school now has more than 460 pupils.
stated in an interview with the Independent on Sunday that while he was a pupil at the school he was abused by Donald Cormack, who was then Senior Master of the school and later became Head Teacher until his retirement in 1981. According to Hurt, Cormack used to remove his two false front teeth and insert his tongue into boys' mouths. Hurt also said that Cormack used to rub the boys' faces with his stubble. Hurt said that the experience affected him "hugely". According to the interviewer, Sholto Byrnes, he and Hurt have a mutual friend who had earlier made the same allegations to Byrnes.
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
in Otford
Otford
Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent known for its classically British countryside. The village is located on the River Darent, flowing north down its valley from its source on the North Downs...
.
The school is located in a 90 acres (364,217.4 m²) site in the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
with old and new buildings.
History
St Michael's was founded at HatchamHatcham
Hatcham was a manor and later chapelry in what is now London, England. It corresponds to the area around New Cross Gate station in the London Borough of Lewisham....
in 1872 by the Reverend Arthur Tooth as a school and home for the sons of the clergy, naval and military officers, and professionals who had suffered bereavement or fallen on hard times.
The school now has more than 460 pupils.
Notable former pupils
Notable former pupils include:- John HurtJohn HurtJohn Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
- Roy Martin HainesRoy Martin HainesRoy Martin Haines is a British historian.Haines is the son of Evan George Martin Haines, who served in the Welsh Guards during World War I and died in 1929 from an illness attributable to his military service...
Abuse allegations
In 2005 John HurtJohn Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
stated in an interview with the Independent on Sunday that while he was a pupil at the school he was abused by Donald Cormack, who was then Senior Master of the school and later became Head Teacher until his retirement in 1981. According to Hurt, Cormack used to remove his two false front teeth and insert his tongue into boys' mouths. Hurt also said that Cormack used to rub the boys' faces with his stubble. Hurt said that the experience affected him "hugely". According to the interviewer, Sholto Byrnes, he and Hurt have a mutual friend who had earlier made the same allegations to Byrnes.
Further reading
- Sally Maria Jones, St Michael's School, Otford: Recollections, Observations, and Celebrations. The Story of St Michael's School, Otford, Since its Foundation in Hatcham, New Cross, in 1872 (Sevenoaks: Amherst, 2004; 255pp., with illustrations and portraits; ISBN 1903637228)