John G. Bennett - Coombe Springs

Coombe Springs

In 1946, Bennett and his wife founded the Institute for the Comparative Study of History, Philosophy and the Sciences:

"To promote research and other scientific work in connection with the factors which influence development and retrogression in man and their operation in individuals and communities; to investigate the origin and elaboration of scientific hypotheses and secular and religious philosophies and their bearing on general theories of Man and his place in the universe; and to study comparative methodology in history, philosophy and natural science".

The Institute bought Coombe Springs, a seven-acre estate in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, which had housed research laboratories used by BUCRA. The Bennetts moved in with ten of Bennett's closest pupils with the intention of starting a small research community. Coombe Springs became a center for group work, and in addition to the small community who lived there permanently, hundreds of people visited Coombe Springs for meetings and Summer schools.

The old laboratories were used as dormitory space and known as the "fishbowl" because of the amount of glass they had. A "new building" was later built for superior accommodation. The main house was used for meetings as well as accommodation. Coombe Springs took its name from an original Elizabethan spring house in the grounds, which, until the mid-19th century, had provided water to the palace at Hampton Court.

Bennett was convinced that the Gurdjieff's system could be reconciled with modern science. He started work on a five-dimensional geometry which included "eternity" as a second time-like dimension, introducing this in his first published book, The Crisis in Human Affairs (1948).