The Wells House School was a Preparatory School founded in 1860 by Rev. William Wilberforce Gedge in Cheltenham initially under the name Stamford House. In 1870 he moved the school to Malvern Wells, to occupy a building which for the previous century had been a hotel in the days of the Malvern Water Cure. The school took its name from the building, “The Wells House”. Gedge engaged Edward Elgar as a music teacher, both to pupils and to his daughters, and Elgar composed a piece for piano and violin on the theme of their surname, the Allegretto on G-E-D-G-E. Gedge remained Head until 1889.
In ideals, the Wells House School had links with Loretto School, for E.P. Frederick, a Headmaster, spent 25 yrs at the School adapting the ideas od Dr Almond of Loretto to the needs of the Preparatory School. The same ideals were continued by Alan Francis Darvall, universally known as ‘Beak’, who was Headmaster from 1933-1968. To mark the School’s Centenary in 1960, it was incorporated as a Charitable Trust and from January 1960 was managed by a Board of Governors.
The geographical setting of the School was one of its chief assets. It is magnificently placed 650 ft. above sea level on the slopes of the Malvern Hills, two miles from Great Malvern, which itself is a former health spa. The buildings face south and command a remarkable view over the Severn Valley as far as the Cotswolds. The School estate covered over 20 acres and borders the unenclosed public property of the Malvern Hills, over which the boys and (from 1974) girls were allowed to roam in pairs.
A summary of the School was produced for the back of the 2019 Reunion Lunch Menu by Galen Bartholomew (1962-1965) and can be downloaded here :-
Wells House School History Summary by Galen Bartholomew
Well-known individuals who attended the school include :- 1980 Five Nations Grand Slam winning Gloucester and England international Rugby prop forward, Phil Blakeway, Master Chef Rick Stein, our President Lord Timothy Boswell of Aynho, who was MP for Daventry and a Government Minister, plus Lord Robin Janvrin, who was The Queen’s Private Secretary for several years.
Rick Stein’s experience at the school was described in an article in The Independent newspaper which can be found here :-
An Education in the Life of Rick Stein, Master Chef
Further details of the history of the school, can be found at The-Malvern-Hills web-site by following this link :-
For an interesting blog about the whereabouts and origins of the Wells House School bell visit :-
The Wells House School Bell Blog
The School closed at the end of the Autumn term in 1991 and has since been converted into apartments.
