The Ascham St Vincent’s War Memorial Arch, Eastbourne

Image: © Andrew Diack Taken: 16 May 2025

The photo shows a front view of the Ascham St Vincent’s War Memorial Arch, which stands on Carlisle Road near its junction with Ascham Place. There is a plaque fixed to the arch which gives a brief history of the site and which informs the reader that on this ground there thrived from 1886 St Vincent’s School and from 1908 to 1938 Ascham St Vincent’s Preparatory School. The site was then occupied by Ascham, the College Preparatory School, from 1946 to 1977. The Ascham St Vincent’s War Memorial Arch was restored in 2009 thanks to the involvement of David Stevens and the Council and the generous contribution of English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation, many former pupils, staff and friends of the Ascham School and also residents of the town. Ascham School was founded by the Rev. William Newcombe Willis in 1889 with a single pupil on the roll, but by 1907 that number had increased to 7, and it increased still further in 1908 when they joined with St Vincent’s School on Carlisle Road. Ascham School was very successful in preparing boys for scholarships with public schools. Willis played football for Eastbourne Football Club between 1889 and 1904, and at times he captained the side. Willis was also keen on other sports, including shooting, but he retired in 1927 after 38 years as headmaster. The school was then taken over by his son, Arthur, who, like his father before him, was a fine sportsman, for not only was he the army high jump champion, but he also represented his country at the 1924 Olympic Games. In 1938, he was worried about the looming threat of war, and he closed and sold the school before returning to the army. Eastbourne College bought the property and used it from 1938 as a boarding house for students and then as the college prep school “Ascham” in May 1946. In 1977, the site was sold for property development. Ascham was a successful school, with some of its pupils including the philosopher A. J. Ayer; Adm. Sir Angus Edward Malise Bontine Cunninghame Graham, Flag Officer Scotland, Lord Lieutenant Dunbartonshire & Keeper of Dumbarton Castle; and Michael Fish, the TV meteorologist and weather forecaster, all going on to become well-known figures in public life.

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