Aldenham School
| Aldenham School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
 | |
| , Hertfordshire , WD6 3AJ England | |
| Coordinates | 51°39′48″N 00°19′40″W / 51.66333°N 0.32778°WCoordinates: 51°39′48″N 00°19′40″W / 51.66333°N 0.32778°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public School Independent day and boarding |
| Motto | In God Is All Our Trust |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1597 |
| Founder | Richard Platt |
| Department for Education URN | 117602 Tables |
| Chairman of Governors | Mr JT Barton OA |
| Headmaster | Mr James Fowler MA Oxon. |
| Principal | Mr Andy Williams BSc Loughborough University |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Age | 3 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 700 |
| Houses | 7 houses McGill's, Paull's, Leeman's, Riding's, Kennedy's, Beevor's, Martineau's, Woodrow's |
| Colour(s) | Black and Gold |
| Former pupils | Old Aldenhamians |
| Website | http://www.aldenham.com |
Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ages of five to eleven. It was founded in the late sixteenth century by Richard Platt.
History[]
The school was founded in 1597 by Richard Platt, owner of a City of London brewery and Master of the Worshipful Company of Brewers in 1576 and 1581. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I granted him letters patent to build "the Free Grammar School and Almshouses" at Aldenham; the foundation stone was laid in 1597. Before Platt died in 1600 he obtained an endowment for the School by a covenant between himself and the Brewers' Company. It became a free village grammar school for young boys, also taking in private pupils.[1]
In the early 19th century an investigation by the Education Charities Commission of the Poor led to the Tudor Grammar School being demolished and replaced by two new schools: a lower school providing an elementary education for the local population, and a grammar school for fee paying boarders.[2]
In the late 1860s, the Platt estate in St Pancras, which provided the endowment of the school, was compulsorily purchased for the construction of the St Pancras railway station, and the Midland Railway had to pay compensation of £91,000, equivalent to £8,467,917 in 2019. In a measure described by the headmaster of the time as "a violent act of confiscation", the Endowed Schools Commissioners, acting under the Endowed Schools Act 1869, diverted more than half of this money to other schools. In their scheme approved in 1875, £20,000 went to the North London Collegiate School and Camden School for Girls, £13,333/6s/8d to support secondary education in Watford (see Watford Grammar School for Boys), £10,000 to Russell Lane, later Southaw, eventually Ashmole School, and £8,000 to elementary schools at Medburn (serving Radlett) and Delrow (serving Aldenham).[2]
The school expanded during the 20th century, and in the 1970s girls were admitted, thus paving the way for the school to become fully co-educational.
A new Sixth Form Centre was opened in 2012 providing study and recreation facilities for Sixth Formers under one roof.
In the summer of 2016, restorations were carried out on Beevor's and McGill's House, improving and updating the boarding facilities. Owing to the increasing number of girls in the school, in September 2017 Riding's House became a girls' day house.
Quatercentenary[]
In 1997, Aldenham celebrated its 400th anniversary, or Quatercentenary, which led to what was known at 'The 400 Appeal' being established. Through different events the appeal aimed to raise as much money as possible, to help the school expand ready for the 21st century.[citation needed]
The Quatercentenary began with a launch party with fireworks and a re-enactment of Richard Platt receiving the letters patent from Elizabeth I to build the school.[citation needed] There was also an OA Reunion Day and a 'Festival of the Car', along with a football match: Aldenham vs Watford F.C.[citation needed]
The school was also visited during the year by The Princess Royal, who came to open the new artificial turf pitch that had been built as a result of money raised by the appeal.[3]
Sport[]
Sport has been a major part of the extracurricular activities at the school for a long time.[citation needed] In 1825 Aldenham became the second place, after Eton College, to write down rules for its code of football.[4] The Good Schools Guide called Aldenham "A seriously sporty school", as well as "Intensely competitive."[5]
Houses[]
Aldenham has six senior houses and two junior houses.[6]
- McGill's, senior, boarding boys and some day boys
- Beevor's, senior, boarding boys and some day boys
- Kennedy's, senior, boarding boys and some day boys
- Paull's, senior, boarding and day girls
- Riding's, senior, formerly day boys, now day girls
- Leeman's, senior, day boys
- Martineau's, junior
- Woodrow's, junior
Arts and culture[]
Aldenham was used to film additional interior scenes in the 1968 classic British film If...., directed by Lindsay Anderson. The most frequently used room was the main school Dining Room containing the portrait of Aldenham's founder Richard Platt. Aldenham was used for scenes in Tom Brown's Schooldays (2005 film).[citation needed] It was used for some scenes in the British satire Greed (2019 film).
Masters[]
Before the school was rebuilt and enlarged in 1824, the head of the school was known as the Master. The founder, Richard Platt, arranged that when there was a vacancy, St John's College, Cambridge, was to nominate three Masters of Arts, from whom the Brewers' Company would appoint one.[7]
- Thomas Neale (1598–1623)
- Roland Greenwood (1623–1634)
- Christopher Smyth (1634–1643)
- Robert Cresswell (1643–1648)
- Jeremy Collier (1648–1653)
- William Elliot (1653–1663)
- Andrew Campion (1663–1673)
- William Swayne (1673–1678)
- Randolph Nicoll (1678–1703)
- John Button (1703–1703)
- Francis Thompson (1703–1714)
- Allen Allenson (1714–1738)
- Gilber Allenson (1738–1757)
- William Ellis (1757–1767)
- Joseph Cantrell (1767–1774)
- Samuel White (1774–1785)
- Rice Hughes (1785–1792)
- John Griffin (1792–1799)
- Methusalem Davies (1800–1823)
- Joseph Summersby (1823–1825)
Headmasters[]
- Jonathan Wilkinson (1824–1833)
- Richard Foster (1834–1836)
- Thomas Spyers (1836–1842)
- Alfred Leeman (1843–1876)
- John Kennedy (1877–1899)
- Alfred Cooke (1900–1920)
- Harvey Beck (1920–1933)
- George Riding (1933–1949)
- Peter Mason (1949–1961)
- Paul Griffin (1962–1974)
- Peter Boorman (1974–1983)
- Michael Higginbottom (1983–1994)
- (1994–2000)[8]
- Richard Harman (2000–2006)
- James Fowler (2006– )
Notable Old Aldenhamians[]
 | This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. (August 2021) |
- Sir Samuel Wilks, FRS, (1824–1911), physician and pathologist.
- William Josiah Sumner Hammersley (1826–1886), journalist, sportsman, co-founder of Australian rules football
- Colonel Sir Robert Edis (1839–1927), architect
- Sir Alfred Gilbert (1854–1934), sculptor and goldsmith
- Sir William Laird Clowes (1856–1905), naval writer
- Stanley Owen Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster (1861–1934), politician, judge and Lord Chancellor, 1915–1916
- Arnold McNair, 1st Baron McNair (1885–1975), legal scholar, judge of the International Court of Justice, 1946–1959, and first President of the European Court of Human Rights, 1959–1965
- Sir Wallace Akers (1888–1954), chemist and Director of Research, ICI, 1944–1953
- Leo Reid (1888–1938), cricketer
- Sir Kenneth Pickthorn, 1st Baronet (1892–1975), historian, politician, and President of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1937–1944
- Group Captain Ernest Fawcus (1895–1966), cricketer and military officer
- Colonel Dennis Edward Francis Waight MC (1895–1984), professional soldier and World War I flying ace
- General Sir Richard Gale (1896–1982), General Officer Commanding 6th Airborne Division, 1943–1945, GOC I Airborne Corps, 1945, and Commander-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine, 1952–1956
- James Mardall (1899–1988), first-class cricketer and British Army officer
- Thomas Rice Henn (1901–1974), literary scholar and writer
- Lawrence P. Williams (1905–1996), film production designer
- Raleigh Ashlin Skelton (1906–1970), cartographical historian
- Geoffrey Longfield (1909–1943), first-class cricketer and Royal Air Force officer
- Jack de Manio (1914–1988), radio broadcaster
- John Debenham Taylor (1920–2016), Secret Intelligence Service officer[9]
- Sir Michael Kerr (1921–2002), High Court Judge and Lord Justice of Appeal
- Flying Officer Leslie Thomas Manser VC (1922–1942), RAF Officer and Bomber Pilot, awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for saving the lives of his crew.
- Sir Denys Roberts (born 1923), Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, 1973–1978, and Chief Justice of Hong Kong, 1978–1988
- Churton Fairman, known as Mike Raven (1924–1997), radio disc jockey, author, actor and artist
- Peter Haigh (1925–2001), BBC Television presenter
- Colonel Sir Michael McCorkell (1925–2006), Northern Irish soldier
- Sir Kenneth Warren (born 1926), politician
- Sir David Mitchell (born 1928), politician
- Geoffrey Hewlett Thompson (born 1929), Bishop of Exeter, 1985–1999
- Field Marshal Richard Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill (born 1931), Chief of the Defence Staff, 1991–1992
- Robert St Clair Grant (1932ndash;2003), comedian, writer and actor.
- Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir (born 1948), 11th Yang Di Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan
- Peter Dawes, Bishop of Derby, 1988–1995
- Sir Hugh Laddie (1946–2008), High Court Judge
- Sir Martin Sweeting, Director of the Surrey Space Centre and Chief Executive Officer of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
- Dale Winton (1955-2018), television presenter, BBC Radio 2 broadcaster
- Daniel Chatto (b. 1957), actor turned artist; husband of Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones
- Adrian Nicholas (1962–2005), skydiver
- Marcus Buckingham[10] (born 1966), award-winning author and motivational speaker
- Baroness Karren Brady (born 1969), Managing Director of West Ham United FC
- Leo Green (b. 1972), British musician and broadcaster
- Matt Wallace (born 1990), Professional golfer
References[]
- ^ William Page (ed.) (1908). "Aldenham". A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2. Victoria County History. pp. 149–161. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2008.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b R.J. Evans; J.K. Waddell (1969). The History and Register of Aldenham School (10th ed.). Aylesbury: Hazel Watson & Viney.
- ^ "Royal visit marks school's 400 years". Watford Observer. 7 November 1998. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ Richard William Cox; Dave Russell; Wray Vamplew (2002). Encyclopedia of British Football. Routledge. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-7146-5249-8.
- ^ Aldenham School Archived 30 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Good Schools Guide.
- ^ "The House System". Aldenham School. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
- ^ "Richard Platt, Alderman" in Alfred Freer Torry, Founders and benefactors of St. John's college, Cambridge (Cambridge: W. Metcalfe & Son, 1888), p. 14
- ^ HMC Press Office, "Stephen Borthwick", HMC.org.uk, 4 January 2021, accessed 18 September 2021
- ^ "Obituary: John Debenham Taylor, intelligence officer". The Scotsman. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Blackhurst, Chris (5 December 2007). "Playing to his strengths, the Beverly Hills Brit who's a self-help god". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
External links[]
- Preparatory schools in Hertfordshire
- Independent schools in Hertfordshire
- Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
- Boarding schools in Hertfordshire
- Educational institutions established in the 1590s
- People educated at Aldenham School
- 1597 establishments in England
- Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of St Albans