The author C.S. Lewis, who grew up nearby, attended the school for two months, but was withdrawn because of a serious respiratory illness and sent to Malvern (Cherbourg School), famous at the time for treating people with lung problems. The gas lamppost on the school drive is claimed to have been the inspiration for that mentioned in Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", though some sources state a lamppost in Crawfordsburn Country Park was the inspiration. Still others believe that the gas lamps in the lower area of the woods on the Malvern Hills above the town were his inspiration.