The History behind Little Lambs and Sutton Valence School
The name Little Lambs not only reflects our rural location but also serves as a memory to William Lambe, the founder of Sutton Valence School. Lambe was born in Sutton Valence village before moving to London and gaining his wealth as a merchant and investor in the wool trade. He would latterly become the Master of the Clothworkers’ Company and through that gave considerable sums to a number of educational projects, including the founding of Sutton Valence School in 1576. Since then, the School has grown and developed, expanding to include Sutton Valence Preparatory School in 1996.
The Preparatory School’s own history is equally rich as it approaches its centenary anniversary. Eylesden Court, now known as School House, was originally a cottage within the broader estate of Chart Place. In the late 1920s, the building was taken over by Major Adrian Vallance, who started an institution for “the sons of gentlefolk”, mainly students from abroad with a few local boys included too. After many moves around the surrounding Kentish countryside, the School returned to Eylesden in 1966 and it has been situated here ever since. It returned to the site with a new name though, that of Underhill School, reflecting a previous location just south of the current site, which was sat ‘under the hill.’
By 1966, there were about 45 senior pupils between 11 and 18 years old, plus the junior school. Over the proceeding eight years, the senior element of the school closed and the school became truly preparatory in 1974, providing an education up to the age of 13. It would remain this way until 1994 when the age of intake to the Grammar Schools changed to 11.
Originally entirely housed in School House, many additions have been made to the School since. Initially, these included a new Kindergarten block, followed by the conversion of the old stable block to laboratories and then the installation of the swimming pool in 1970. During the 1980s, the School went from strength-to-strength growing in numbers and facilities. The Coles Building was added as more classrooms were required, along with a library, art room and laboratory and Bates Hall was built to cater for sport and drama.
Since becoming Sutton Valence Preparatory School in 1994, the growth has continued with the Coles Building extension in 1997 and a new purpose-built Pre-Prep block in 2001. This new block, which now houses our Little Lambs Nursery is named Underhill House to reflect the history and heritage of the School.
