Religion
Caldecott was founded by Miss Leila and Phyllis Potter, but they later parted company because, while Phyllis Potter wanted the Community to adhere to the Church of England, Miss Leila [who was a Quaker] believed that it should be more broadly based. The chapel at Caldecott was accordingly non-denominational.
Miss Leila would always ‘take’ Chapel. She would lead us in prayer, and we would sing a few hymns from the Caldecott hymn book, sometimes a source of amusement, as it contained several typing errors which nobody had seen fit to correct. I shall never come across a particular hymn without calling to mind “and in my heart for evermore thy dwellingplace shall me”.
There would be a reading from the Bible by one of the children. My sister Elizabeth was one of Miss Leila’s favourite readers, and I also did a reading from time to time. In those days it was assumed that we needed to cultivate received pronunciation, and I shall always remember Miss Leila saying to me after one reading “You’ve still got your Cornish vowels, old man”.
At one stage one of the girls would come forward and light the candles while a few of the girls [better singers than the congregation at large] sang “Let all mortal flesh keep silent”.
Miss Leila or one of the staff would give a talk [not really a sermon] or another reading. It was always interesting to hear Elizabeth Lloyd give a reading, and I enjoyed a reading that she gave more than once of a story about Judgement Day by H.G.Wells.
I am not religious, but I remember the Caldecott chapel as a place of peace where part of the Community [the juniors had their own separate ceremony] could come together and rest from the daily routine.
There came a time [I think when I was fifteen or sixteen] when I was encouraged, along with a few others of my age, to visit the vicar at Brabourne or Smeeth for confirmation classes. In retrospect I wonder that Miss Leila, given her own views, sent us to the Church of England. I had been christened a Methodist, and had until then accepted the Christian religion without question, but I had reached the age when I was beginning to think for myself, and I had a lot of questions to put to the vicar. He, poor man, had no answers, and eventually said “ I don’t think you are quite ready for confirmation yet, are you?’, to which I agreed.