Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson.

Overview

The college was founded by

William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, (27 April 1808 – 21 December 1891), styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor, nobleman, ...

, and other prominent

citizens in 1867. The college is in the Lower Meads area of Eastbourne, a mainly residential area. Most of the school buildings are on a central campus area but many others are scattered in the immediate vicinity, such as the Beresford hockey and the links rugby pitches. The motto, ''Ex Oriente Salus'', is a play on "Eastbourne", meaning "The haven he bournefrom the East". ''Salus'' also means health.

History

Charles Hayman, an Eastbourne medical practitioner and member of the town's first council, together with other prominent local citizens, decided an independent school should be established and the support of

, was sought. He was supportive of the venture and provided of land for purchase at a modest price. This link with the

Cavendish family The Cavendish (or de Cavendish) family ( ) is a British noble family, of Anglo-Norman origins (though with an Anglo-Saxon name, originally from a place-name in Suffolk). They rose to their highest prominence as Duke of Devonshire and Duke of Newc ...

is evidenced by the stag in the school emblem. From 1867 to 1869 it occupied Ellesmere Villa, now called Spencer Court; the location is now marked by a blue plaque. Architect Henry Currey was assigned by the duke to design a new school building, and College House, now School House, was built in 1870. The school chapel was constructed that same year. During the 1880s, the school went through an impoverished period. Through the intervention of George Wallis, first mayor of

and the work of new headmaster Charles Crowden, formerly of Cranbrook School, the school was saved from financial disaster. The college is now fully coeducational. Eastbourne College's new uniform

Boarding and day houses

;Boarding houses *Gonville (Boys) *Nugent (Girls) *Pennell (Boys) *School (Girls) *Wargrave (Boys) ;Day houses *Blackwater (Girls) *Craig (Boys) *Powell (Boys) *Reeves (Boys) *Watt (Girls) Many of these houses were donated to the school in wills and named after their benefactors; for example, Powell was given to the college by Stanley Powell. Eastbourne College (2008)

Extracurricular activities

Combined Cadet Force

The school's CCF corps was founded in 1896.

Sport

Sport is played at the many facilities around the college (including College Field which has been used for training by teams such as South Africa upon arrival in the UK and some internationals) and at various locations around the town acquired by the college. Former pupils who have achieved sporting success include rugby players Hugo Southwell (

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

) and

Mark Lock Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

(

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

) and cricket player

Ed Giddins Edward Simon Hunter Giddins (born 20 July 1971) is a former English cricketer who played in four Tests from 1999 to 2000. Giddins was born in Eastbourne, Sussex, Giddins was educated at St. Bedes Preparatory School in Eastbourne where he first ...

. Each term at the college has a single primary sport: There are also alternative sports, including football, cross country,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

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 ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

rugby fives Rugby Fives is a handball game, similar to squash, played in an enclosed court. It has similarities with Winchester Fives (a form of Wessex Fives) and Eton Fives. It is played mainly in the United Kingdom. It is most commonly believed to be ...

fives Fives is an English sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a 3- or 4-sided special court, using a gloved or bare hand as though it were a racquet, similar to ...

, and

rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running arou ...

. The school owns a boat house nearby the campus.

Birley Centre

On 17 October 2011, Gus Christie, chairman of the

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...

, opened the Birley Centre. It was named after Michael Birley, former Headmaster of Eastbourne College (1956-1970), and now has facilities such as a recording studio and a state of the art theatre space.

In popular culture

The Southern Railway made great use of steam locomotive names for publicity, and the carrying of pupils to boarding schools at the beginning and end of school terms was a significant traffic flow. Locomotives of the 'V' or "Schools" Class, introduced in 1930, were hence named after prominent English public schools. The fifteenth locomotive, no. 914, was named ''Eastbourne'' after the college. Built at

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

in October 1932, no. 914 remained in service until withdrawn by British Railways in July 1961.

Notable Old Eastbournians

Former pupils

Former pupils are known as "Old Eastbournians" and are members of th
Old Eastbournian Association
*

Nick Atkinson Rooster were an English hard rock band from London. Formed in 2003, the group featured vocalist Nick Atkinson, guitarist Luke Potashnick, bassist Ben Smyth and drummer Dave Neale. Signed to Brightside Recordings, the band released their debut alb ...

, lead singer of the band

Rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

* Theo Bevacqua,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

rugby player * Harry Bentley, jockey * Olav Bjortomt, World Quiz Champion 2003, writes quizzes in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' newspaper *

Sir Hugh Casson Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson (23 May 1910 – 15 August 1999) was a British architect. He was also active as an interior designer, as an artist, and as a writer and broadcaster on twentieth-century design. He was the director of architecture for t ...

, architect *

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

and mystic *

Michael Fish Michael Fish, (born 27 April 1944 in Eastbourne, Sussex) is a British weather forecaster. From 1974 to 2004, he was a television presenter for BBC Weather. Career Educated at Eastbourne College and City University London, Fish was the lon ...

, weather forecaster * Richard Fitter, naturalist *

, cricketer *

Charles Hedley Charles Hedley (27 February 1862 – 14 September 1926) was a naturalist, specifically a malacologist. Born in Britain, he spent most of his life in Australia. He was the winner of the 1925 Clarke Medal. Early life Hedley was born in the vicara ...

, naturalist *

Bob Holness Robert Wentworth John Holness (12 November 1928 – 6 January 2012) was a British-South African radio and television presenter and occasional actor. He presented the British version of '' Blockbusters''. Early life Holness was born in Vryheid, ...

, presenter * David Howell, chess Grandmaster * Johnny Mercer Minister for Veterans Affairs *

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

, comedian * Nasser Judeh, Jordanian former Minister of Foreign Affairs. * Sam Kiley, security editor of '' Sky News'' * Jules Knight, actor and singer * Timothy Landon, soldier * Oliver W F Lodge, poet and author *

Ruari McLean John David Ruari McLean CBE, DSC (10 June 1917 – 27 March 2006) was a leading British typographic designer. Early life and apprenticeship Ruari McLean was born in Scotland on 10 June 1917, in Newton Stewart, Galloway. He was educated at th ...

, designer * Archibald Morres, cricketer * Ian Mortimer, historian and historical biographer * Adam Mynott,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Overview

History

Boarding and day houses

Extracurricular activities

Combined Cadet Force

Sport

Birley Centre

In popular culture

Notable Old Eastbournians

Former pupils

Military

Victoria Cross holders

Military Cross holders

Staff

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links