"The present Armoury, completed in 1915, is a very fine
building, standing at one end of Lessington, and the first
portion of a range of buildings, such as a drill hall and music
rooms, which will continue some day right across Lessington
up to Girdlestoneites ground".
This was written in 1919, by which time the school grounds
had almost doubled in area[1].
The distinctive Armoury
building stands on ground overlooking Hurtmore Road; the
grass around it is tarmac today and beside it is a private
entrance road into the grounds which has recently been reopened
and widened. It has been suggested that the building was
placed some distance from the main school "for safety
reasons"
although this information was not included in the main histories
of the school. If true this would have been an interesting
decision. Whilst the Armoury wasn't drawn on the 1916 1:2,500
OS map of Godalming there were houses near its location and,
as already stated, in 1919 the school intended to include
more buildings close by.
There had been a number of Armouries in the school grounds
before this one was built. A. H. Tod, the master who faithfully
recorded so much about the school's early years, tells us
that the corps had about 60 members in 1873. They had twelve
Snider rifles and "the only shooting was at glass bottles
in a back yard in the Pepperharow [sic] Road".
The following year a team of 11 boys, including Robert S.
S. Baden-Powell, competed for the Ashburton Shield at Wimbledon,
making 77 hits and 77 misses, yet they were not quite the
bottom team. They were fifth the following year so had clearly
improved[1] and
the school team eventually won the trophy on a number of
occasions.
The corps "migrated" in 1891. Until then it had
been housed in a tiny room in the cloisters but its new home
contained "enough
room for 166 uniform lockers, 130 rifle racks, and all sorts
of stores, and it is large enough for squad drill".
At the time Tod thought it an excellent place and an orderly
room[1],
but the new Armoury was then built.
Over the years the old members of the cadet corps had gone
on to either take up commissions in voluntary battalions
or to join the regular Army and in the first World War 3,000
of the school's former pupils enlisted[2].
The families of the school's employees were also affected
by the conflict. For example, William Hackman of 5, Catteshall-lane
was a former soldier; he had been employed at the Armoury
at Charterhouse for over 30 years. In 1916 his son Arthur
died whilst serving in the Army in Mesopotamia[3].
This postcard was sent by a young and enthusiastic pupil
called Frazer to a friend, Wilfred Ellison[4].
"Thank you so much for your card. This is our School
Armoury. We had a Field Day a few days ago with Sandhurst.
It was fun".
Frazer did not mention the field gun standing on a small
plinth beside the building. This three-inch seven-pounder
gun had been given to the school by Baden-Powell in 1907
as a Mafeking memento. The gift followed a request from
the then headmaster for a piece of ordnance. It dates from
1873, and had seen a great deal of service. The gun has been
presented by the British South Africa Company to General
Baden-Powell before he gave it to the school[5].
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