Sandroyd School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by the Rushmore Estate, now playing fields, woods and parkland. Sandroyd School was originally established by Louis Herbert Wellesley Wesley. In the latest Independent Schools Inspectorate report carried out in 2023, Sandroyd School was judged as 'excellent' across all areas.

Location

The school is in the south of Berwick St John parish, near the village of Tollard Royal and the county border with Dorset.

History

Sandroyd School was founded as a school for boys by L. H. Wellesley Wesley at Sandroyd House, Fairmile, in Cobham, Surrey in 1880. He was a great-grandson of

Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It ...

.''The Sunday Magazine'' (Strahan & Company, 1869)
p. 263
In 1939, in anticipation of the Second World War, the school moved to Rushmore House, home of the Pitt-Rivers family. The house lies in the centre of

Cranborne Chase Cranborne Chase () is an area of central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. It is part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The area is dominated by, ...

on the borders of Wiltshire and Dorset. A link between the two sites is that Sandroyd House was built in 1860 for the pre-Raphaelite painter John Roddam Spencer Stanhope by the architect

Philip Webb Philip Speakman Webb (12 January 1831 – 17 April 1915) was a British architect and designer sometimes called the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. His use of vernacular architecture demonstrated his commitment to "the art of common ...

(1831–1915), the friend of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

, and it was Webb who remodelled the interior of Rushmore for General Pitt Rivers twenty years later. In the 1960s the school purchased the freehold of the school site. In 1995 the school started to accept day pupils, and in 2004 it became coeducational.

Nursery and pre-prep school

Sandroyd School has a pre-prep and nursery which was opened in 2004, for children aged two to seven. This was described as 'excellent' in an ISI inspection report of 2023.

List of headmasters

*1880–1898: L. H. Wellesley Wesley *1898–1920: C. P. Wilson *1920–1931: W. M. Hornby *1931–1955: H. ff. Ozanne *1955–1963: K. B. Buckland *1963–1981: D. C. Howes *1981–1982: T. R. Reynolds (acting) *1982–1994: D. J. Cann *1994–1995: T. R. Reynolds (acting) *1995–2003: M. J. Hatch *2003–2016: M. J. S. Harris *2016–: A. B. Speers

Old Sandroydians

:''See also'' People educated at Sandroyd School Former pupils, known as Old Sandroydians, include: *

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

, Prime Minister *

Michael Ramsey Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988), was a British Anglican bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury * Peter II, King of Yugoslavia * Faisal II, King of Iraq * Peter Carington, politician *

John Whittingdale Sir John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale (born 16 October 1959) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maldon (and its predecessors) since 1992 and Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care sin ...

, politician * Anthony Meyer, politician * Ian Gow, politician * Tim Sainsbury, politician and businessman * John Sainsbury, businessman *

Alistair McAlpine Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronet ...

, businessman and adviser to Margaret Thatcher *

Randolph Churchill Major (rank), Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer and politician. The only son of future List of British Prime Ministers, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a ...

, politician and son of Winston Churchill * Antony Armstrong-Jones, photographer and husband of Princess Margaret *

Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...

, playwright *

Wynne Godley Wynne Godley (26 September 192613 May 2010) was an economist famous for his pessimism about the British economy and his criticism of the British government. In 2007, he and Marc Lavoie wrote a book about the " Stock-Flow Consistent" model, an a ...

, economist *

Michael Dummett Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett (; 27 June 1925 – 27 December 2011) was an English academic described as "among the most significant British philosophers of the last century and a leading campaigner for racial tolerance and equality." H ...

, philosopher * Christopher Hawkes, archaeologist * Gladwyn Jebb, diplomat * Charles Madden, admiral *

Antony Read General Sir John Antony Jervis Read, (10 September 1913 – 22 September 2000) was a senior British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1969 to 1973. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for gallantry during the ...

, general *

Ranulph Fiennes Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944), commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes () and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records. Fiennes served in the ...

, explorer * Justin Packshaw, explorer

References

External links

* * * {{authority control Preparatory schools in Wiltshire Educational institutions established in 1880 1880 establishments in England