An anniversary is a very special celebration. It represents the mileage of a journey, with pauses to take in significant landmarks along the way. This week, we have a very important milestone to celebrate - 75 years since Nedham House became the cornerstone of the Queen’s Lower School. This occasion affords us the opportunity to reflect on all that has been, give gratitude for all we have, and look forward to all that is to come.
Nedham House has been a matriarch for generations of families who have crossed through its columned portal. Back in 1860, Henry Latham designed and built this grand Victorian house for his growing family. Eighty-eight years later, with the foresight, support and energy of the Queen’s governors and leadership, this family home became a school and community for countless families, staff and custodians. The structure has changed significantly since 1948; spaces have been added, reconfigured or repurposed, but wander through the building today and it still feels very much like a home, just as Henry envisaged all those years ago.
Whilst bricks and mortar may be the primary focus for this celebration, it is our outdoor space which is really the jewel in the Queen’s crown. A green expanse of lawn and field, cultivated shrubbery and the intoxicating freedom of space punctuated by a collection of stalwart sentinels; the hornbeam, the beech, the mulberry and the oak.
Today, as children play timeless games in little pockets of familiarity and tranquillity, they are watched by these strong, silent guardians with gnarly branches accentuating the skyline, sometimes resting, sometimes dressed in seasonal splendour, but always watching as time and history slip away, whilst they remain steadfast, rooted in place.
A school is not simply a bastion of teaching and learning; it offers a place of belonging, a fixed sanctuary in time, with strong roots to anchor and provide nurture through seasons of age and stage, not just for our pupils today, but decades of children who have thrived at Queen’s. As we prepare to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Nedham House this week, I fondly imagine children of yesteryear playing below the watchful eye of our buildings, and especially beneath the sanctuary of our trees, grand old dames providing a living, breathing tangible thread linking our yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Iona Carmondy
Head of Lower School
