Wartime Years at Uppingham Remembered 80 Years On

Published by Kingswood Senior School on Wednesday 11th of November 2026

2026 marks 80 years since Kingswood School returned to Bath in 1946, following almost seven years based at Uppingham School in Rutland during the Second World War.

In 1939, Kingswood’s buildings on Lansdown Hill were requisitioned by the Admiralty for government use. The school relocated to Uppingham, moving as a community so that pupils and staff could continue school life together.

In December 1938, Kingswood Headmaster Alfred Barrett Sackett received notice that the school buildings might be needed for government purposes in the event of war. When conflict broke out in September 1939, arrangements were made for the school to move to Rutland.

Kingswood remained at Uppingham until 1946. Lessons, boarding, sport and other school activities continued during this time, although some pupils who joined the school during the war completed their entire education in Rutland without attending the Bath site.

Uppingham’s hospitality played an important part in making the arrangement possible. The April 1946 edition of the Kingswood School Magazine acknowledged this, recording that “the fact that we go back to Bath as a body corporate is chiefly owing to the very active hospitality we have received at Uppingham”.

Bertie Bellis, who attended Kingswood from 1937 to 1946 and was Head Boy in 1946, recalled how the two schools managed to operate alongside one another. “The two schools managed very well not to get in each other’s way… both schools managed to continue to operate as separate units. This was due to the flexibility of the headmasters who worked so closely together."

Kingswood’s current Headmaster, Andrew Gordon-Brown, said: “The story of Kingswood’s time at Uppingham is a significant chapter in our history. At a time of national uncertainty, Uppingham offered our school a home and the conditions in which our community could remain intact and continue its work. That generosity ensured Kingswood was able to return to Bath in 1946. Eighty years on, it is important that we recognise the part Uppingham played in our history and continue to value the relationship between our two schools.”

During Kingswood’s absence, its Bath buildings were used by the Admiralty for engineering and planning work associated with the war effort, including work connected with the development of the Mulberry Harbours, which supported the Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944.

When Kingswood returned to Bath in 1946, the relationship between the two schools was marked by an exchange of commemorative stones, with inscriptions expressing gratitude for the hospitality shown during the years in Rutland.

The connection continues today. Earlier this year, Kingswood’s U15 boys’ and girls’ cricket teams travelled to Uppingham for a commemorative fixture marking the 80th anniversary of the return. Pupils and staff from both schools also came together for a dinner during the visit.

Ahead of the anniversary, members of Kingswood’s Junior History Society and Sixth Form History students interviewed three former pupils who experienced the wartime relocation. Now in their 90s, Keith Maddox, Gary Watson and Bertie Bellis shared memories of daily life at Uppingham and the school’s eventual return to Bath.

For Gary Watson, who attended Kingswood from 1942 to 1949, the return was particularly memorable. “We arrived back in Kingswood, which we had never seen before,” he recalled. “Suddenly we had a new set of stone buildings which were pretty wonderful… which were ours.”

A short film, Fortunate Exile, made in March 1946 shortly before the return to Bath, provides a further record of life at Uppingham. It follows Kingswood pupil John Walsh through a typical school day, including lessons, meals, games and chapel. Walsh later recorded a voiceover for the footage as an adult, by which time he had become a prominent historian and Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford.

The 80th anniversary provides an opportunity to look back at an unusual period in Kingswood’s history and the longstanding relationship with Uppingham that began during the war.