Carmel College was, from 1948 to 1997, a British, Jewish, boys' boarding school, modelled on British public schools. It was first situated at Greenham Common near Newbury, Berkshire, and then at Mongewell Park near Wallingford, Oxfordshire. In later years it was, to some extent, co-educational. It was one of the UK's only three Jewish boarding schools, the others being in Gateshead and Whittingehame College in Brighton. It also had a very small number of pupils who were not of Jewish descent, as day pupils. Carmel College alumni are known as "Old Carmelis"; in 1973 the school was referred to as the "Jewish Eton" by The Observer correspondent, Chaim Bermant. Typical boarding fees in 1996 were £10,000 per school term. From 1990 it was the most expensive boarding school in the country. There were many students from abroad, especially in later years, and some scholarships. The school practised a mainstream Orthodox Judaism, more Orthodox than the practice of most of the pupils' families.
History
The school was founded in 1948 by Rabbi Dr Yaacov Kopul Rosen. It was closed in July 1997, mainly owing to diminishing pupil numbers and severe financial difficulties, having been seriously affected by the termination of government assisted places by the Labour government and the rise of the Jewish Day School Movement. The grounds were sold to property developers for an undisclosed sum. The sale was overturned by the Charity Commission, however, following significant pressure from parents and former students who claimed the land was undersold. The distinctive concrete synagogue, with its stained glass windows created by Israeli artist Nehemia Azaz, the dining hall, and the amphitheatre, designed by local architect Thomas Hancock, are Grade II listed buildings; the Julius Gottlieb gallery and boathouse, designed by Sir Basil Spence, is Grade II* listed. The principals or headmasters were: the founder, Kopul Rosen, until his death in 1962; David Stamler, 1962–71; Kopul Rosen's eldest son, Jeremy Rosen, 1971–84; Philip Skelker, until the school closed. Upon closure of the school, many pupils were transferred to another boarding school in Bristol, Clifton College, which had, until May 2005 a Jewish boarding house, Polack's House. In October 2015 former housemaster Trevor Bolton was convicted of abusing boys at the school over a period of 20 years.
Location
The school grounds in Mongewell Park had the straightest run of the River Thames flowing past it, and Oxford University made full use of this during their preparation for the annual university boat race.
Structure
It was attended by children from the age of 11 to 18 – although earlier on there was a preparatory school which took children from around the age of 8. Later a girls' school was built about a mile from the main campus, although the buildings were never actually used for this purpose. Instead, it was turned into a junior school in the late 1960s for children up to the age of 13, when they moved to the main school. Girls were later admitted into the main school, starting at the sixth form in 1968. However, there were daughters of teachers at the school even before this, including the daughter of Rabbi Kopul Rosen, who was a pupil in the late 1960s. The junior school was closed down several years before Carmel closed, and the buildings sold.
The Mansion House was an old manor house with particular significance. Agatha Christie used it as the basis for the mansion in her 1952 play The Mousetrap. The headmaster's study was also the room used for the final briefing of the reconnaissance mission following the Dam Busters raid. There is a pillbox on the school grounds, beside the river. A scene in the 2011 film The Iron Lady, where Margaret Thatcher is perfecting her prime-ministerial voice, was shot on location in the synagogue of Carmel College. In 2013 and 2014 Kylie Minogue and the Kaiser Chiefs shot videos in the school's Gymnasium. In the 2016 film, Mindhorn, the Carmel College synagogue is used as the location for scenes depicting the exterior and interior of fictional civic hall offices on the Isle of Man. Also in 2016, , the mansion house and gardens feature in the final 10 minutes of the film. The science fiction film, Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman, uses the Carmel College swimming pool and other areas for scenes involving the Fort Amaya military base. In 2017, the library of the mansion house was used for filming interior scenes of Stalin's living quarters in the film The Death of Stalin. In 2018, the art room in the teaching block, the interior of the Julius Gottlieb Gallery, the exterior and interior of the mansion house, the lake and the ruined church were used in scenes from BBC's production of John le Carré's The Little Drummer Girl.
