N O . 1 2 1 T H E T R U S T Y S E R VA N T
Stuart Churchill
Robin Chute ( E , 61-65 ; Estates Bursar ) writes :
Stuart has worked as a groundsman for the College since February 1970 . He was 19 years old when he started after three years grounds-keeping experience locally , and lived at Owslebury , just east of Winchester .
The College was extremely lucky to obtain his services at all as another , older , candidate was offered the job of Assistant Groundsman , but sadly suddenly died before he could take up the post . Stuart started on the princely remuneration of £ 15 per week with two weeks holiday , but received an annual bonus for working during the then two-day Eton Match . He became Head Groundsman in September 1982 and oversaw the amalgamation of the Gardens and the Grounds Departments . He has since been responsible for four groundsmen , four gardeners and , indirectly , two river keepers .
It seems remarkable now but , even in the 1970s , the College ran its support departments on Victorian lines and , to differentiate between them and the dons , they were called ‘ Non-Teaching Staff ’. The heads of the various departments largely wore jackets and ties and did very little physical work . Stuart ’ s predecessor was no exception and limited himself to mowing Lords square .
His promotion in effect increased the work force by one as he always led by example and from the front . He would never give his men anything to do that he could not do himself . Whilst he may have been considered a firm boss because his standards were so high , his staff were all immediately loyal to him . I can only remember three members of his team leaving voluntarily in 33 years – and one
did so to become a gamekeeper . He has a very quick and ready sense of humour and delights in pulling people ’ s legs , particularly his superiors ’, and bringing them down to earth .
His role was made more difficult because of the small size of the College campus and the increasing sporting demands made upon it . Much of the grass has to support three different major sports being played on it : Lavender Meads , for example , caters for cricket , soccer and Win Coll football . To do that requires not only dedication and hard work , but the right kit . Over the last three decades Stuart has ‘ persuaded ’ me to increase the day-to-day Grounds budget ( excluding salaries ) from £ 12,500 to £ 175,000 per annum .
He has always been looking for ways of improving our playing surfaces and the
Stuart and his team
following are just a sample of what he has achieved : -
� New Meads square � Gater Field drained � Five all-weather cricket strips � Two all-weather cricket nets
� Levelling and draining Bull ’ s Drove and Doggers
� New canvasses on Lavender Meads
He has also supervised the landscaping of the Boarding House gardens , Warden ’ s Garden , QEII , War Cloister and Music School . His skills have been appreciated by outside use of our facilities , such as : Robin Smith ’ s testimonial on Lords ; the Hampshire Schools Football Cup final ; England v Australia U19s in a three-day match on
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