St Cuthman’s School

August 2025 | England | Extant

History:

Wispers House is a large late 19th century country house, near Midhurst in Sussex. It was built in a Tudor Gothic Revival style by architect Norman Shaw for Alexander Scrimgeour. It is spectacularly sited on the edge of an escarpment overlooking Oakham Common. Before the trees grew too high, the building would have had majestic views towards the South Downs. The house was named Wispers, after the woodlands that lie behind it.

In 1928, the Wispers estate was bought by the Bedford Estate for the Duchess of Bedford, Dame Mary Russell, the wife of the Duke of Bedford. She was a keen aviator and had a hangar built to the east of the house, as she used it as a weekend retreat and flew down from the family estate of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire. She added an eastern wing in a loosely similar style to Shaw’s original house in the 1930s. On the 22nd of March 1937, Mary vanished whilst flying from Woburn to Cambridge. Neither Mary nor her plane were ever found, but wooden wing struts were found washed ashore at Great Yarmouth.
 
Wispers first became a school two years later in 1939 and was a girl’s school from 1947 to 1956. It was then home to St Cuthman’s Special Needs School, which was established by West Sussex County Council. St Cuthman’s Closed in 2004, with only 54 pupils attending. Since then there have been various attempts to bring the site back into use but none have come to fruition. The Grade II listed building is falling victim to decay and vandalism, not at all helped by the tourbussing it has received.

The Explore:

My friend Ria and I rocked up at this site in the early evening. A sunny day, what better thing to do than go exploring? Access was easy, it’s a literal walk in now. I was quite saddened to see the state of the building at this point. Graffiti everywhere and smashed windows everywhere too. Given the site’s locale in the middle of nowhere, the fact that people make a huge effort to drive out here and graff it up… seriously? The explore was chilled and laid back. I particularly enjoyed the stairwell. The fireplace there was beautiful! Enjoy the photos.

Exterior:

Entrance Hall:

Classrooms:

Dormitories:

Other Stuff: