Hurstpierpoint College is a public school (English

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 Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...

and

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

), located just north of the village of

Hurstpierpoint Hurstpierpoint is a village in the Mid Sussex district, in the county of West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. The College was founded in 1849 by Canon

Nathaniel Woodard Nathaniel Woodard ( ; 21 March 1811 – 25 April 1891) was a priest in the Church of England. He founded 11 schools for the middle classes in England whose aim was to provide education based on "sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly groun ...

and is a member of the Woodard Corporation.

History and overview

The school was established in 1849 as St John's Middle School, based in Shoreham. Its first headmaster,

Edward Clarke Lowe Edward Clarke Lowe (15 December 1823–30 March 1912) was an English educator and a key participant in the foundation and development of the Woodard Schools. Early life and education Lowe was born in Everton Liverpool, in 1823, the youngest s ...

, had worked with Woodard at

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

and stayed at Hurstpierpoint for 22 years until 1872. The school moved to Mansion House in

and then, thanks to the local benefactors the Campion family, on 21 June 1853 made its move to the present site. Intended to resemble the

collegiate Collegiate may refer to: * College * Webster's Dictionary, a dictionary with editions referred to as a "Collegiate" * ''Collegiate'' (1926 film), 1926 American silent film directed by Del Andrews * ''Collegiate'' (1936 film), 1936 American musi ...

system at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

designed the College to have adjoining Inner and Outer

quads The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

and the

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

and dining hall adjacent to each other. The school was inspected by the

Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect private schools in England. These schools are members of associations, whi ...

in 2019 and in January 2024.

Houses

In the early 70s, the senior school comprised just seven houses, named: Eagle, Martlet, Shield, Red Cross, Chevron, Fleur de Lys and Star. Each house had a housemaster and house tutor who were also teachers within the school. Since then, the number of senior school houses has grown in size alongside the school's expansion. It now consists of 13

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

. 6 boys' houses (Star, Chevron, Crescent, Eagle, Red Cross and Woodard) and 6 girls' houses (Fleur de Lys, Wolf, Phoenix, Shield, Martlet and Pelican), with the 13th house being the co-educational day and boarding 'hall of residence', St John's House - which all students in their last year (Upper Sixth) join, whilst retaining affiliation to their former houses.

Traditions

The school preserves ceremonies, such as the 'Boar's Head Procession' and the 'Wolstonbury Service' which for the most part were taken from other schools such as

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

, in order to give the school a feeling of tradition back in its early

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

days. "Hurst" has performed a

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play every year since 1854, beginning with ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' after the first headmaster, Dr Lowe inspired the first players onto stage. Hurstpierpoint College boasts the oldest Shakespeare society in existence, older even than that of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

which was not formed until 1875. ''The Hurst Johnian'', the school magazine, founded in May 1858 is a source for the School's history. Its policy has been to maintain the annals of the school, and it continues to publish current reports and articles on the past. Evidence from the national archives suggests that it is the oldest school magazine in the country.

Notable Masters

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould (; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 pu ...

: Novelist and composer of hymns, the most notable being "

Onward, Christian Soldiers "Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th-century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Erne ...

". He was a Master of the College from 1855 to 1864. Baring-Gould had an eccentric reputation, and archives tell how he would teach with a bat on his shoulder and took weird holidays, bringing home a pony from Iceland, which lived for years in the North Field. Whilst the Hymn is thought to have been written in Yorkshire in 1865, a story recounts how Baring-Gould (known as "Snout") on one occasion gave a pupil of the College thirty-six (sic) cuts, and then washed his hands and sat down and wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers." A talented artist, he made and painted (well heraldically) the coat of arms of the Prince of Wales, which for many years appeared in the proscenium. Baring-Gould designed the cover of the Johnian (the College's publication), and designed the bookshelves and cases with their wrought iron, originally red and gold, in the Boys' Library. He also painted the window jambs with scenes from the "

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse (poetry), verse, as part of a fictional storytellin ...

" and the "Faery Queen", and probably did work for the Fellows' Library. In 1860 he was one of the "Hurst Rifle Volunteers," who used to drill at the New Inn, which lead Hurst to be one of the founding Combined Cadet Forces schools. * Thomas Fielden: He was a famous Director of Music at Hurst,

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

and

Fettes Fettes may refer to: * Fettes College, a private school in Edinburgh, Scotland * , a German hip-hop group * Fettesian-Lorettonian Club, Sports Club People with the surname * Christopher Fettes (born 1937), English-born Irish teacher and social act ...

, as well as a noted pianist, and Professor of Pianoforte at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

for over 30 years. *

Percy Henn Percy Umfreville Henn (21 January 1865 – 25 February 1955) was a clergyman and teacher in England and later Western Australia. He is best known for his time as Headmaster at Guildford Grammar School and later for the building of the Guildford ...

: Noted clergyman and teacher in England and later

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Notable alumni

Past students of Hurstpierpoint College are referred to as 'Old Johnians'.

Headmasters

(1849–1872) *

William Awdry William Awdry (24 January 1842 – 4 January 1910) was the inaugural Bishop of Southampton and Osaka who subsequently served South Tokyo. He was the fourth son of Sir John Wither Awdry and his second wife Frances Ellen Carr, second daughter of ...

(1873–1879) * Charles Cooper (1880–1902) * Arthur Coombes (1902–1923) * Henry Bernard Tower (1924–1937) * Walter Dingwall (1937–1945) * Ronald Howard (1945–1964) * Roger Griffiths (1964–1986) * Simon Watson (1986–1995) * Stephen Meek (1995–2004) * Tim Manly (2005–2023) * Dominic Mott (2023-present)

Southern Railway Schools Class

The school lent its name to the nineteenth steam

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

( Engine 918) in the Southern Railway's Class V of which there were 40. This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English

Public Schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

. 'Hurstpierpoint', as it was called, was built in 1934 and was withdrawn in 1961. Its nameplate is now housed in the school's science block.

Coat of arms

References

External links

Hurstpierpoint College website
* ISI Inspection Reports
Prep School

Senior School
* Alumni Websit
www.TheOJClub.com
{{Coord, 50, 56, 35, N, 0, 09, 54, W, type:edu_region:GB, display=title Anglo-Catholic educational establishments Educational institutions established in 1849 Boarding schools in West Sussex Private schools in West Sussex Woodard Schools Mid Sussex District Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Co-educational boarding schools 1849 establishments in England Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Chichester International Baccalaureate schools in England