Durnford School

rdf:langString Durnford School

rdf:langString Durnford School was an English preparatory school for boys which opened in 1894 on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. The school occupied Durnford House, in the High Street of the village of Langton Matravers near Swanage, and was notoriously spartan and uncomfortable. "Strip and swim" was the morning ritual for the boys – watched by headmaster Thomas Pellatt – into the sea from Dancing Ledge on the coast in 1898. Later, Pellatt had quarrymen blast out a pool in the rocks of Dancing Ledge, for his pupils to swim in. Pellatt wrote his reminiscences in a book: Boys in the making 1936.In 1939, during the Second World War, Durnford House was occupied by radar scientists; a map showing the location of the school is shown on a map of radar sites scattered throughout Dorset.The Durnford boys were transferred to another prep school in the village, the Old Malthouse. In 1948, when the British army gave it up, Durnford House was acquired by the owners of the Old Malthouse. The main buildings were variously pulled down or sold, leaving the Old Malthouse with the grounds, which were levelled for playing fields.