Bodeites was initially called Buissonites as it was founded by
a Frenchman called Benjamin Buisson. It is the only house
not to have retained the surname, or part of the surname,
of its founder. In 1881 Mr. Buisson, described as an "Assistant
School Master At Charterhouse", was living in the property
on Hindhead Road with his wife and three young children[1] but
there was a whiff of scandal as Mr. Buisson is said to have
run off with the Matron later that year! "Retired" seems
to have been the word used to describe his departure[2].
He was replaced by Rev John Ernest Bode, the master of
the Upper Fourth Form who taught Latin and Greek, and the
house was renamed Bodeites. Rev. Bode, whose father had
been a foundation scholar at Charterhouse, had been appointed
as a master by Rev. Haig Brown in 1872. Until he sustained
a knee injury he was also an enthusiastic mountaineer, climbing
many peaks in Switzerland. He taught at Charterhouse for
35 years, most of that time as head of Bodeites, and retired
in 1908[3].
The assistant master for Classics, Francis Dames Longworth, then became housemaster[4]. He excelled at both
racquets and cricket - he played in tournaments at the Queen's Club on a number of occasions. He retired from teaching in 1921 and passed away at Southsea
in 1936, aged 73; he was interred at Puttenham Cemetery[5].
He was succeeded as housemaster by Rev. Edward Mellor Jameson[6] (1877-1958), who had been a pupil at the school
before going on to Oriel College Oxford. He was appointed as a schoolmaster in late 1905[7].
One of the boarders at Bodeites, a junior and senior scholar and later head boy (head monitor) in Longworth's time, was Roger Bingham
Turner[4]. He went on to Jesus College Cambridge but enlisted in 1915 and was leading a charge when he was
killed in action at Gallipoli the following year, aged 20[8].
Between 1910 and 1919 various changes were introduced and boys from then on
remained in one house for all their school life. The accommodation
at Bodeites was said to be "greatly improved",
electric lighting had been fitted and telephones were installed
in some of the houses although it was not clear if Bodeites
has a telephone at this time. There were 35 boys in residence[2].
The main entrance to this impressive building was on Hindhead
Road, now known as Twycross Road, and was next door to Hodgsonites.
Ordnance Survey maps indicate that Bodeites could be
reached from Sandy Lane (Charterhouse Road) by the pathway
shown on this image. There are several long walls in the
picture, which were possibly retaining walls as the grounds
sloped steeply.
All six masters' houses on Frith Hill were sold for re-development and this house was demolished in the early 1970s when Charterhouse
decided to accommodate its pupils within the grounds and the school was able to build its new boarding houses largely as a result.
Charterhouse subsequently sold two further masters' house, Weekites and
Lockites so they could complete their building project.
Applications were drawn up for 231 new homes on the Charterhouse sites by the developers Bovis New Homes (Southern), Limited in 1973. The company's managing
director stated that earlier plans to develop the Frith Hill slopes flanking Charterhouse Road had been dispensed with. The Hodgsonites and Bodeites redevelopment,
for three blocks of five storeys, would be less intrusive from the top of the hill as they would only have three storeys visible. At this point it was planned to
leave the tree lined slopes of Frith Hill next to Charterhouse Road as a private open space for the use of the flat-dwellers. Two blocks of flats were built on
the adjacent plots of Bodeites and Hodgsonites, accessed from Twycross Road, with houses on the lower slopes next to Charterhouse Road that were added slightly
later[9].
Other Charterhouse "outhouses" built in the 19th century
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