The Porter’s Lodge

Have you ever looked up at the ceiling as you cross the threshold of the College?

In the Michaelmas Term 1952 ‘The Headmaster acknowledged with grateful thanks the anonymous gift from a distinguished OJ of sufficient money for the re-tiling of this main entrance. The walls were resurfaced, the ceiling painted azure and the beam work cream, bordered with red and green diagonals.’

The main entrance had been magnificently decorated with bright heraldic shields fixed to the beams of the roof. Shields have been placed at the junctions of the beams bearing the coats of arms of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and two for the Diocese of Chichester and Canterbury. In the centre of the ceiling is the School Coat of Arms which was granted to the school on 1 June 1931.

The full description by the Royal College of Arms below uses archaic but poetic language but basically it means…

The College Arms consist of the Eagle of St John, the fourth evangelist, wolves’ heads from Lowe’s coat of arms (our first Headmaster), Woodard’s coat arms (our Founder), with two Martlets linking it to the Martlets on the Arms of the County of Sussex, and the cross to symbolize faith. The College Motto beneath is Beati Mundo Corde from (Matthew 5:8) Blessed are the pure in heart.

 ‘Per pale Argent and Ermine, dexter on a bend cottised sable, a cross couped between two martlets of the first. On a chief Gules, an Eagle, round the head a crown of Glory Or. Sinister, two wolves, passant counter passant, Gules: all within a bordure engrailed Azure.’

All these coats of arms are still visible today, so remember to look up!

by M-L Rowland - School Archivist