Shiplake College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

boarding and day school in

Shiplake Shiplake consists of three settlements: Shiplake, Shiplake Cross and Lower Shiplake. Together these villages form a Civil parishes in England, civil parish situated beside the River Thames south of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The r ...

, by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, just outside

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

, England. The school, with 540 pupils, takes girls and boys from 11–18. Originally boys-only, a co-educational Sixth Form was formed in 1998 and in 2023 girls started joining in Year 7, as the school became fully co-educational.Shiplake College – Admissions
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History

Shiplake College was founded in 1959 by Alexander and Eunice Everett. The land on which the school now stands was bought by Robert Harrison in 1888 and the original buildings date from 1890. The main building, which houses Skipwith House and the Great Hall, was built as a private residence for the Harrison family. The house was sold in 1925 and was at first a private home to

Edward Goulding, 1st Baron Wargrave Edward Alfred Goulding, 1st Baron Wargrave (5 November 1862 – 17 July 1936), known as Sir Edward Goulding, Bt, between 1915 and 1922, was a British barrister, businessman and Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons betw ...

and then a prep school, before being sold to the BBC in 1941. Initially the BBC used Shiplake Court as a storage facility until in 1943 the BBC Monitoring Service moved to Caversham and the house became a hostel for BBC staff. The BBC closed the hostel in 1953 and the house remained largely unused until the arrival of the Everetts in 1958. The College now stands in 45 acres of land on the banks of the Thames. In late 1958 the Everetts purchased Shiplake Court with the intention of founding a school, which duly opened as Shiplake Court on 1 May 1959. In 1963

John Eggar John Drennan Eggar (1 December 1916 — 3 May 1983) was an English schoolmaster and first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University and Hampshire in 1938 and for Derbyshire from 1946 to 1954. His career as a schoolmaster began in 1938, w ...

, a

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

cricketer who had been a housemaster at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

, became headmaster and in 1964 renamed the school Shiplake College. By the time he retired in 1979, numbers had increased to 300.

Sport

Rowing

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

is a school sport, and the College is on the banks of the River Thames. Girls and boys from the

Shiplake College Boat Club Shiplake College Boat Club is a rowing club based on the River Thames at Shiplake College Boathouse, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. History Shiplake College was founded in 1959 by Alexander and Eunice Everett. The boat club is owned ...

have won medals at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

National Schools' Regatta National Schools' Regatta is the largest rowing regatta for junior rowers in Great Britain. Held annually in May, the three day regatta offers events for junior rowers between the categories J14 and J18 (the number being the age group). Histo ...

Schools' Head of the River Race The Schools' Head of the River Race (SHORR) is the UK's largest school-age processional (head rowing) race and is organised by Westminster School for crews aged between 14 and 18 years old. It is held in Spring, the end of the head race season ...

and

Henley Women's Regatta Henley Women's Regatta, often abbreviated to "HWR" or "Women's Henley", is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. Chris Aistrop and Rosemary Mayglothling were jointly responsible for setting up the Regatta in June 1988 and Aistrop ...

. Former pupil

Will Satch William Spencer Satch (born 9 June 1989) is a British rower and Olympic gold medallist. Rowing career Satch was educated at Shiplake College near Henley-on-Thames in southeast Oxfordshire. His rowing coach was New Zealand gold medallist Shane ...

won an Olympic Gold medal at

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in the Men's Eight, and an Olympic Bronze medal at

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the Men's Pair event.

Rugby

As well as rowing, the College plays rugby. For many years, Shiplake took part in a rugby event called "Friday Night Lights" hosted by local rugby clubs.

Outdoor Education

The school’s island, The Lynch, along with mainland provisions, offers adventure and outdoor education experiences such as rafting, camping, and forest school.

Headmasters

The following have served as

headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

s of the school: * Alexander Everett (1959) * David Skipwith (1960–1962) * John Eggar (1963–1979) * Peter Lapping (1979–1988) *

Nick Bevan Nicholas Vaughan Bevan (21 February 1942 – 12 January 2014) was a leading British rowing coach and school headmaster. Early life Nick Bevan was born at the Limes Nursing Home in Shrewsbury, England, the son of David and Hilary Bevan. He was ed ...

(1988–2004) * Gregg Davies (2004–2019) *

Tyrone Howe Tyrone Gyle Howe (born 2 April 1971, Newtownards, Northern Ireland) is a former rugby player who played on the wing for University of St Andrews RFC, Ulster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. Howe was brought up in Dromore, attended Banb ...

(2019–present)

Notable former pupils

Tom Chilton Thomas James Chilton (born 15 March 1985) is a British racing driver who currently drives for Excelr8 Motorsport, Team VERTU in the 2025 British Touring Car Championship, British Touring Car Championship. He has spent most of his career competi ...

, touring car driver * Chris Cracknell, rugby player, head coach Fiji 7's team at

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Dhani Harrison Dhani Harrison ( ; born 1 August 1978) is an English and American musician, composer and singer-songwriter. He is the only child of George Harrison, lead guitarist of the Beatles, and Olivia Harrison. Dhani debuted as a professional musician ass ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

's son, musician *

Jonty Hearnden Jonty Hernden, born Jonathan Philip Hearnden in 1960 in Brentwood, Essex) is an English antiques expert and television presenter. Though born in Brentwood, his parents owned a toy shop and a gentlemen's outfitters in Shenfield until shortly ...

, antiques expert on ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

'' and ''

Cash in the Attic ''Cash in the Attic'' is a British television programme that aired on BBC One from 4 November 2002 to 24 May 2012. The programme's tagline was ''The show that helps you find hidden treasures in your home, and then sells them for you at auction'' ...

'' * Tom Howe, rugby union player; met his wife while a pupil at the College. *

Ben Hunt-Davis Francis Benedict Hunt-Davis MBE (born 15 March 1972) is a former British competition rower and an Olympic champion. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2001 New Year Honours list. Early life Hunt-Davis was educ ...

Gold Olympian rower in the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in the men's VIII. * Nick Jones,

Soho House Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and his contribution to the Midlands Enlightenment and the Indust ...

proprietor *

Kia Joorabchian Kiavash Joorabchian () is an Iranian-born British-educated businessman largely involved in association football. In the register of directorships at Companies House in London, Joorabchian gives two nationalities, Canadian and British, born on 14 ...

, businessmanThe Independent
Colourful life of car dealer turned oil trader who wants to own Hammers
2006-09-02. Retrieved 2010-03-04 *

Nicholas Medforth-Mills Nicholas Michael de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (born 1 April 1985), formerly known as Prince Nicholas of Romania, is the eldest child and only son of Princess Elena of Romania and Robin Medforth-Mills. As a grandson of King Michael of Romania, h ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Alex Pettyfer Alexander Richard Pettyfer (born 10 April 1990) is an English actor and model. He appeared in school plays and on television before being cast as Alex Rider, the main character in the 2006 film version of '' Stormbreaker''. Pettyfer was nominat ...

, actor * Chris Standring, jazz musician *

, Gold medallist in the

Olympic Games (Rowing Men's Eight); Bronze medallist in the

Olympic Games (Rowing Men's Pair) *

Alan Pownall Stephen Alan Fletcher Pownall (born 30 December 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and the husband of actress Gabriella Wilde. Music The son of Orlando Pownall, QC, he grew up in Richmond-upon-Thames and was educated at Windlesham House Scho ...

, singer-songwriter

References

External links

Official websiteISI Inspection 2022
{{authority control 1959 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1959 Boys' schools in Oxfordshire Private schools in Oxfordshire Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Buildings and structures on the River Thames Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Oxford Henley-on-Thames Boarding schools in Oxfordshire