Nugent
Houseparents Tracy Jones & Zachary Jones
Matron Marian Gallick
Assistant Housemistress Francesca Holloway
Under Housemistress Imogen Adkins
Nugent opened in 1985 and was the second girls’ House to be set up at Stowe, but the first to house boarders. The House had a variety of uses before then having been, amongst other things, a House for new Third Form boys waiting to move to their boarding house.
The refurbishment took longer than expected and in September 1985 the girls arrived to find that the House wasn’t ready. For half a term they had rooms on the top floor of Temple House with the stairway ferociously guarded by a member of staff on duty! At Half term the girls moved into their new accommodation and the House officially opened in November. At that stage Nugent was the home to 26 girls – 14 new Lower Sixth Formers and 12 Middle Sixth Formers who had offered to move from the existing girls’ House, Stanhope. At that time Stanhope (which later became Lyttelton) contained only day girls and the girls boarded with local staff.
At first many of the girls slept in a large dormitory and had a room to study in downstairs, but studying in their bedrooms soon became the norm. The number of girls increased until eventually they created the Annexe; a separate building housing 8 girls which was opened in September 1996.
In September 2012, with Stowe having gone fully co-ed in 2005, it was decided that Nugent should convert from a Sixth Form only House to one housing girls from 13-18. That first group of 9 Third Formers lived in the Annexe for a year before the full refurbishment of Nugent had been completed. This cohort is now in their final year at Stowe. The House is complete with 57 boarders and 12 day girls.
"Having boarded before coming to Stowe, I fully understood the importance of finding the boarding house with the ‘right fit’, something many perspective students and parents struggle with. However, Nugent’s upbeat and welcoming atmosphere made this an easy choice for me.
Stowe seems awfully big at first; Nugent has an abundance of friendly faces that will always help you along the way. Mrs Duckett/Jones, Matron and the house team work assiduously to ensure that all house operations run smoothly.
Being in Nugent has been an indispensible part of my development and growth at Stowe. A house where close friendships can be made across all ages, backgrounds and cultures, where the girls have a vast support network that offers a safe and relaxing break from the mayhem of boarding school life and where we all work hard and encourage each other to achieve the utmost success across a spectrum of activities offered here at Stowe and in our later lives.
The things I have learnt and gained from being in Nugent are immeasurable, I can’t thank the house team and girls enough for making Nugent such an encouraging and supportive community to be apart of."
From a Day Perspective
"We have been day girls in Nugent for four years now and we are still welcomed every morning with smiles without fail. Just like the boarders we have our own desk and space for personal belongings, the only difference between us and the boarders is that we sleep at home.
In Nugent we have such a great relationship with Mrs Duckett and we all feel that we are just as much involved with the House as the boarders, forming a tight nit bond between all the years which makes it very easy arriving every morning."
Alice & Mali