The following is an extract from the story of Shoreham Grammar School, an independent boys school in West Sussex as remembered by H.L. Will and M.E. Barmen.

When I first started at Shoreham Grammar School, our sports ground, or 'Oxen' as we called it, was north of Mill Lane and we used to go up Ravens Road to get to it. In those days, there were no houses north of Mill Lane, with the exception of a fine stone building, which was the Vicarage.

We had the lower part of the large field and the Shoreham FC had a large part above us, while there were some tennis courts before you came to what was called the 'Lanes', now the Upper Shoreham Road, and on the other side of the road were Buckingham Park, then the residence of the Bridgers, and Little Buckingham Farm.

When war broke out in 1914, a camp was formed on the slopes of the Downs behind the town, and tents appeared everywhere. Unfortunately it was a very wet winter and eventually the troops, who were suffering from 'flu' and pneumonia, were moved down to a hurriedly constructed camp, some tents and some huts in the Shoreham Grammar School 'Oxen' field, and the Shoreham F.C. ground.

Later, the men were taken around the town and billeted in houses in the town.

World War I did not appear to have any effect on the Grammar School boys other than to create a certain amount of excitement. The heavy guns on the Western Front could quite distinctly be heard when the wind was in the right direction and the extremely powerful German gun known as Big Bertha, which was intended to demolish Dover - but of course did not - was very noisy.

However evening prep was once disturbed when a German Zeppelin was seen caught in our searchlights.

I never noticed signs of fear with any of the boys due to enemy hostilities. We were a somewhat tough lot owing to very strict discipline, plenty of cane and slipper, and we were certainly not frightened by what the Germans thought they could do.

Meanwhile Sam was looking round for a fresh playing field and eventually settled on quite a large flat space between the river bank and the old bungalows which then formed Bungalow Town.

There were very few brick buildings over there then, but many were made from railway carriages, sometimes two parallel and the space between covered over. Some of them were mere shacks, occupied only during the summer months.

So the Grammar School boys had a different walk now, over the old Norfolk Bride with its two gateways one at each end, surmounted by a lion and a unicorn. A toll was paid to cross this bridge. A little later the footbridge was built, and here a toll had to be paid by pedestrians.

There was once a complaint that the Grammar School boys, when they came to the tollgate, jumped on each other's backs, and only the 'horse' paid a penny, the rider claiming that there was no charge for luggage!

The Beach Green remained the Shoreham Grammar School 'Oxen' until Sam purchased the ex-Service men's clubhouse and the ground around it in Connaught Avenue in 1927.

The Club had 'gone to pieces', so it became the Shoreham Grammar School Gym and Art Room above, and the cottage at the side was occupied firstly by Mr. and Mrs. Roberts and later by Mr. and Mrs. Chitty, 'Pop' and 'Ma', for so many years loyal servants of the School.

When I first went to the School there was a junior playing field near the Swiss Gardens in Connaught Avenue bordering on Victoria Road. Both the Connaught Avenue sites are built on now.

Besides these main sports, there were occasional cross-country runs and I have even known one or two paper chases to be organised, mostly round Lancing Clump. In the summer, there were usually some tennis courts marked out on one of the playing fields.

In the summer, there was swimming in the sea, very carefully supervised by the Headmaster. This was usually taken just before lunch but depended on the tide, and it was always a rush for a very short dip. Swimming sports were held when the tide was suitable. Boys who had learnt to swim that summer were taken out a little way in a boat and had to swim ashore, for which feat they were rewarded with a shilling.