Book Review by Valerie Bonham
Published in Windlesora 13 (1994)
© WLHG
St Stephen’s College, Broadstairs, seems a long way from Windsor but it had its roots there and maintained close links until its closure on July 4th 1991.
When Sister Emily was sent as a young novice from the Community of St John Baptist Clewer to the nearby slum district of Clewer Fields in 1863, she little thought what pioneering work she was doing. Almost her first action was to open a ragged school. This developed into a full scale mission house which led to the building of the church of Clewer St Stephen. By the time the church was consecrated in 1874 the ragged school had somehow grown into a respectable fee-paying college for young ladies. It is the story of this prestigious college which grew from such an unpromising beginning that occupies the 487 pages of Jenny Balston’s book. It has been written primarily for those connected with the college but there is much to interest other readers too. Among these may be counted those interested in Windsor’s history in general, the Clewer Sisters in particular, or the history of education.
The cover photograph of happy girls in gym tunics milling around outside the college’s wartime home at Taplow Court sets the tone for the book. The college left Clewer in 1919 when it removed to Folkestone until 1940 when Taplow Court provided a safer setting. Peacetime saw the final move to Broadstairs. However, the move from Clewer was not goodbye to the Clewer Sisters: the college remained a branch of the Community with its own Sister Superior until 1964, after which the Community withdrew but maintained ownership of the buildings and a presence on the governing body.
The book has been painstakingly researched and written up at great length. Of particular value are the memories of former students, some of which go back to the very early days at Clewer and have been gleaned from the college archives, while there are also memories from more recent years. One drawback which the general reader may find irritating (other than the lack of an index, which a book of this length cannot do without), is the habit of referring to the various Sisters Superior by the nick-names given them by the girls. One has to be “in the know” in order to identify who is being referred to, and while there is a key in Appendix I. which lists the Sisters and teachers, it really takes some finding.
Jenny Balston is a former student and so inevitably the style becomes much more personal during the years when she was a student as opposed to the more factual chronology of the early chapters. This might be seen as a drawback, but one must see this book in the context of the clientele for whom it was primarily written, and it will, I am sure, give pleasure and delight to them. As the historian of the Clewer Sisters, I value this book for the light it sheds on this important work of theirs from start to finish, but especially in the early years at Clewer. It is a valuable addition to the already published history of the Community and Jenny Balston is to be congratulated on her achievement.
Valerie Bonham
BALSTON, Jenny: ‘The Story of St Stephen’s College, Published by the Old Stephenites Society’, 1994 pp. 487. Available from the author: Waterloo House, Pye Common, Ulcombe, MAIDSTONE, Kent ME17 1EH; £12.95 + £1.95 p&p.
Windsor Local History Group 