We had a beautiful day on 6th June, marking the 80th anniversary of D Day with an outside Chapel service looking out over the English Channel. It was an honour for us all to stand in the place that the then occupants of HMS Vernon (as the School was known during the war) had stood 80 years before as they watched the fleet of boats heading to France. 

The occasion was made even more special as during the service, ORA President, Noëlle Chase, presented the HMS Vernon Ensign back to the School. The Ensign, which flew from the Front Quad during WWII, was presented to Roedean when we returned after the war. It then hung in our Chapel, alongside the four WWI Ensigns for many years, until they were taken down to protect them from further deterioration. Over the last two years, the ORA have been fundraising to carry out conservation work on the Ensigns, and the HMS Vernon Ensign is the first to have reached its fundraising target and to be conserved.

The painstaking and delicate work was carried out by Zenzie Tinker Textile Conservation, who shared some wonderful videos of the work on her Instagram account @zenzietinkerconservation.

Many thanks to all the ORs who have contributed to the Heritage Projects and made this conservation possible. We still need help to conserve the remaining four WWI Ensigns, which flew at the Battle of Jutland. You can read more about these and the other Heritage Projects here and you can also donate online via www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ora-heritage-projects.