Southwark Cathedral Service of Thanks
2 October 2026 - Events
One of the key events in our 130th anniversary celebrations, the Service of Thanks at Southwark Cathedral was a fitting tribute to Wycombe Abbey’s history. Here, Mrs Cat Hoyle, Chair of the 130 Committee, shares the story behind this memorable occasion.
‘In June 2025, I was appointed as the 130 Committee Chair. Ahead of me lay a rather large task. How best to honour the founders, benefactors, teachers and pupils of Wycombe Abbey from 1896 to the present day? My first action as Chair, was to assemble a committee of 9 passionate staff. By the end of our first meeting, it was clear that our aspirations for 2026/27 were ambitious. We wanted the academic year 2026/27 to be memorable, fun and reinvigorate our pupil’s understanding of Wycombe Abbey’s history.
I spent the Summer of 2025 reading ‘Wycombe Abbey Revisited’, written by Margaret Beckett who worked at Wycombe Abbey from 1960, serving as Head of History for 33 years and Deputy Head for a further 23 years. Beckett records how in the early days of the school “everyone was expected to attend church daily, and twice if not three times on Sundays”. On page 21 of this book, Beckett records that in 1896 Dame Frances Dove took the whole school to Southwark Cathedral at the start of the year for a service of thanks. This was a lightbulb moment: What if we were able to take the entire school back to the Cathedral on the first closed weekend of the academic year? What a unique start that would be for our 130 celebrations. I called Southwark Cathedral; explained our school’s history with the Cathedral and Borough of Southwark and remarkably enough, they had a space for a whole school service on Saturday 12th September 2026. And just like that, we had the scaffolding for our first whole school event to celebrate 130 years of Wycombe Abbey.
Creating a service of thanks for this event was incredibly special. Mr Reid, Ms Boswell and Reverend Canon Kathryn Flemming all played their part in making our service both spiritual and full of Wycombe joy. The service began with a masterful string quartet featuring Kate (UV); Yoyo (UV); Georgina (UVI) and Mia (UVI) playing Borodin’s No.2 Allegro Moderato, conducted by expert eye of Mr Acosta. The congregation were then treated to the first choral performance with Rutter’s God be in my head which set the tone of reverence and praise for the evening. Our first hymn was our school hymn, ‘Lead Us, Heavenly Father, Lead Us’ which sounded fantastic in the Cathedral especially as our school organist Nick Robinson was playing for the entire service. The Head Girl Team made a remarkable contribution to the service with a thoughtful address. Mati (UVI) Emma (UVI) and Mia (UVI) spoke with gravitas as did Charlotte (UV) who is fourth generation of her family to attend Wycombe. Charlotte performed Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, as a fitting tribute to the values, friendships and spirit of our school.
During the service, we were also blessed with the arrival of Hodge the Cathedral cat, who spent some time with the Airlie girls. A hearty rendition of I the Lord of Sea and Sky preceded Bible readings from Chair of Council Mr Peter Warren, Mrs Boswell and Mrs Joy Sherrington (nee Smallman, Shelburne, Head of School 1971). I was also honoured to read Rosetti’s A Birthday, to express our profound happiness as we give thanks to those who shaped Wycombe Abbey in the past and made out today possible.
If it is fair to say that there was a standout moment, then that does indeed go to Mr Reid and the Choir with their incredibly moving rendition of A Million Dreams. Featuring a violin solo from Kate (UV) and piano accompaniment from Mr Parkes, I don’t think there was a dry eye on the Cathedral by the close of this performance. Mrs Duncan had the task of following this incredible moment and her message did not miss its mark. Her poignant address, focusing on the previous 11 Headmistresses of Wycombe concluded with the words: ‘You will leave here and forge paths that we cannot yet imagine, into a world that none of us can fully predict, doing work that may not yet exist. […] And you will do it connected — to one another, to the generations of Wycombe women who preceded you, and to a founding idea that has proved, across 130 years and counting, to be rather difficult to improve upon: that girls and women, given the right education and the right belief in their own potential, are capable of extraordinary things. Dame Frances knew that in 1896. We know it still. That is what 130 years looks like. And the next 130 have already begun.’
Our service concluded with a rousing rendition of ‘Thine be the Glory’, following this a small reception was held in the Garry Weston Library for our special guests who joined our event. It was wonderful to see so many of our Seniors there. Our Head of School, Mati, also shared a special moment with a former Head Girl, who was kind enough to pass on her Head Girl badge to Mati. A truly special moment.
Following the safe return of 700 staff and pupils from Southwark back to Wycombe Abbey, I think we can all agree that 130 years later, Wycombe Abbey school is victorious in work and play. Thank you.’
Mrs Cat Hoyle
Rubens Housemistress and Teacher of English
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