Marymead

Marymead on the cover of The Thief Knot.

****M******arymead Intermediate School**, once **Marymead House**, is a mansion in the Liberty of Gammerbund that was originally the home of the Cotgrave family. They eventually donated it to the education department, and it became a school, but with many oddities such as being taller than it is wide, having fancy chandeliers in the gym, and irregularly placed lockers. The school also contained other quirks, such as wild iron and a Belowground Transit station.

## Information

### *The Thief Knot*

Marzana walked to school past the old iron fence, commenting upon how it always shifted and changed fence type. She and Nialla walked past the Library, which had ladders, galleries, and paintings of nudes that the Cotgraves had said must be left in place, and the director had covered with curtains. They met in the Parlor to talk, then went to their first-period class, math, where they found the substitute teacher Mr. Otterwill instead of their regular math teacher Mrs. Agravin. Marzana and Nialla thought perhaps Mr. Otterwill was connected to the kidnapping of Peony Hyde, and decided to get a Commorancy Kid to help them break into Mr. Otterwill's records.

After meeting Emilia Cabot, a Commorancy Kid, Marzana and Nialla joined Emilia in the sixth-floor common room, then met up with Emilia that afternoon in the trustees' hall. Emilia picked the lock on a shed, then they entered a tunnel through a trapdoor in the floor, and walked under Eald Brucan Lane, by way of leaving Marymead.

Later, upon meeting Meddy the ghost, Emilia commented that she was 'not from Marymead', and Marzana wondered if there were other ghosts at her school. Emilia then took them on a ride in a dumbwaiter to sneak into Miss Palkowick's office and look at Mr. Otterwill's records. On the way back, she dropped Marzana and Nialla off at their homeroom, reciting "Mrs. Kerwallow" to help her know when to press the button. Marzana and Nialla noticed that the rooms were not vertically in line with each other, and Emilia mentioned the Commorancy Kids' theory that the iron could move around the rooms to make way for the dumbwaiters.

When learning about the different Belowground Transit stations, Nialla found a blueprint for a station that looked familiar to her, and Emilia identified it as the Library at Marymead, where there were giant paintings covering the doors in the picture. They then investigated the curious absence of the teacher Mrs. Agravin, who Marymead had not been able to get ahold of. Emilia later called the members of the Thief Knot to say that she was at the Marymead station, and thought it related to the kidnapping. Marzana and Nialla led the other members of the Thief Knot the secret way to Marymead that Emilia had shown them, then entered Cotgrave Wall Station, to their amazement. When they returned, they snuck out of Marymead again to go to Marzana's house.

## Locations

### Orangery

The Orangery is an old-fashioned greenhouse in the center of Marymead's back courtyard, surrounded by gardens that Mr. Sopwith keeps up. The Orangery is heated from under the floor because of the plants and fruit trees that need tropical conditions, and the plumbing is visible from beneath the tunnel below Eald Brucan Lane, the secret route out of Marymead that Emilia takes, which smells of citrus due to the plants above.

### Dumbwaiters

There is a wall of dumbwaiters down one hallway that can be rode all over the school. They look like dark wooden cabinets with gold drawer pulls. The dumbwaiters are known to hold five kids at once, and the Commorancy Kids have installed a button in them. When passing between rooms not vertically in line with each other, the Commorancy Kids recite "Mrs. Kerwallow" to know when to press the button. The Commorancy Kids theorize that the old iron that makes up the dumbwaiters' workings can move the rooms around to allow the dumbwaiters to pass to rooms not in line. There is a dumbwaiter is Miss Palkowick's office and another in Mr. Topham's room.

### Library

The Marymead Library is on the second floor. It has high ceilings and large paintings of 'weird nudes' that the Cotgraves said must stay, and are currently covered with curtains. The library has many books, such as *The Sidledywry Knot*, books on knots, *Stanton's Aviary*, and information on the Cotgrave family. To check out books, a card catalog is used, due to the slowness of the digital search because of Deacon and Morvengarde. The Library has two entrances and large spiral stairs with old iron railings, which shifts minimally. Windows look out onto the courtyard. Behind the giant paintings of weird nudes, the Library is revealed to contani the entrance to a hidden, private Belowground Transit station, Cotgrave Wall Station.

### Study

The Study is a smaller library near the Library, and has not been very Cotgrave-influenced.

### Parlor

The Parlor is a room similar to the Study. The speakers in it are broken, so Mrs. Ileck is made to tell the students in the Parlor when it is time to move on. It has a sofa and windows that look into the courtyard. Marzana and Nialla like to meet up in the Parlor.

### Inglenook

**Emilia Cabot**: Nope. We call this space the Inglenook, even though it's not remotely a nook. It's whatever it needs to be:study spot, dining room, workshop.

— *The Thief Knot*, pg. 101 |  | ”

The Inglenook is an area on the Commorancy floors, dubbed thus by the Commorancy Kids. It has a fireplace, and many chairs and tables covered in books and projects.

### Grand Saloon

The Grand Saloon, also called the Great Saloon, is an area with a ceiling that shows all the way to the second floor. There are large turning staircases on both of the saloon's sides. The saloon has a large fireplace and a huge chimney that goes all the way up through Marymead, other fireplaces built into the chimney on floors higher up. The trustees' hall is between the gym and the saloon.

## Inhabitants

Former inhabitants

* Catriona Cotgrave
* Oliver Cotgrave
* Nadia Cotgrave-Cormorant

Commorancy Kids

* Ada/Allie
* Barnaby
* Enza
* Emilia Cabot
* Harriet
* Hester
* Monty/Murray
* Peter
* Unnamed sixth grader
* Six other unnamed members

Other students

* Alex Moody
* Amelias
* Bobby
* Ed Tivrutsky
* Kevin
* Lila
* Loxi Chell
* Lucy
* Naz
* Nialla Giddis
* Marzana Hakelbarend
* Samir

Staff

* Brian Otterwill
* Caine
* Caton
* Eddowes
* Eliza Agravin
* Amy Ileck
* Lewis
* Topham
* Palkowick
* Pratt
* Snyder
* Sopwith

## Trivia

* Marymead has nine floors.
* Marymead is likely named after Jane Marymead, or her family.
* Marymead may contain ghosts.
* The old iron is supposedly able to shift around Marymead's rooms to make paths for the dumbwaiter.

### Marymead's floors

* The cellar has the kitchens, the science department, and the music classrooms.
* The ground floor houses the gym.
* The second floor has the art classroom, the Library and Study, as well as the entrance to the Cotgrave Wall Station.
* The third floor has the math department.
* The fourth floor was originally a bedroom floor, but was converted into six classrooms.
* The fifth floor houses the language and social studies classrooms.
* The sixth and seventh floors consist of the dormitories and common room of the Commorancy Kids.
* The eighth and ninth floors are unknown.

## Gallery

**Take a look at our **gallery for Marymead****.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 *The Thief Knot*