Ardingly College
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Motto | Latin:Beati Mundo Corde "Blessed are the pure in heart" |
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Established | 1858 |
Type | Independent day and boarding Public school |
Religion | Church of England |
Headmaster | Ben Figgis |
Provost | Lindsay Urwin |
Chairman of Governors | Jim Sloane |
Founder | Nathaniel Woodard |
Location | Ardingly West Sussex England |
DfE number | 938/6200 |
Students | c.935 |
Gender | Co-educational |
Ages | 2½–18 |
Colours | Green, Yellow and White |
Former pupils | Old Ardinians |
Visitor | The Bishop of Chichester ex officio |
Affiliation | Woodard Corporation |
Website | www.ardingly.com |
Ardingly College is a selective independent co-educational boarding and day school, founded in 1858 by Canon Nathaniel Woodard, included in the Tatler list of top public schools.[1] The college is located in the village of Ardingly near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England, having moved to its present location in 1870.[2] The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Woodard Corporation of independent schools and as such has a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition.[3] The school became fully co-educational in 1982.[4]
Contents
Foundation and overview
Ardingly College was originally founded as St Saviour’s School, Shoreham in 1858 by Canon Nathaniel Woodard whose aim was to provide education based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith.[5] St Saviour’s School opened on 12 April 1858, occupying the New Shoreham buildings in the lee of the churchyard of St Mary de Haura which had been vacated by another Woodard School, Lancing College, when it moved to its permanent home in April 1858.[5] The site at Shoreham however was never intended to be permanent and it was left to Woodard to scour the South of England for a suitable permanent location for St Saviour’s School.[5]
In 1861 Woodard came across the 196 acre (0.79 km²) Saucelands estate at the southern edge of Ardingly village, which was acquired in 1862 for £6,000.[5] Woodard employed Richard Carpenter as the school's architect, and the foundation stone at Ardingly was laid on 12 July 1864 by Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville.[5] St Saviour’s School moved to the partially completed site at Ardingly on 14 June 1870 when the new school was officially opened by the Bishop of Chichester, with the inaugural sermon delivered by Samuel Wilberforce.[5]
Today Ardingly occupies a 420 acre (1.7 km²) site situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[6] Ardingly is divided into three autonomous schools, comprising a Pre-Preparatory School catering for pupils aged 2½ -7, Junior School catering for pupils aged 7–13 and Senior School for pupils aged 13–18.[7] Both Junior and Senior Schools accommodate boarders who make up the majority of the Senior School student population.[8] All Junior and Senior School students are assigned to a boarding house in which boarders live and study and where day-pupils have study areas. In all, the college has approximately 750 pupils.[9] According to the Good Schools Guide 2008, Ardingly College has admitted more pupils this year than at any point in its history and places are at a premium.[10]
Brief history
The College's Combined Cadet Force was established in 1902 in the wake of the Second Boer War.[5] 1,200 Old Ardinians went on to fight in World War I, 146 of whom were killed along with two members of staff; their names are recorded on the war memorial in the Chapel.[5] In addition 88 Old Ardinians lost their lives in World War II; their names are recorded in a Book of Remembrance in the Crypt, and on the Memorial Board in the Under.[5]
In 1958 the College celebrated its centenary. As part of the celebrations Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the College on 9 June 1958.[5] A stone plaque on the terrace parapet commemorates the Queen's visit, where she 'beheld the view'.[5] Later that week on 14 June 1958 the then Prime Minister Harold MacMillan visited the College to formally open the Centenary Building, which comprises the College cricket pavilion and Centenary Room upstairs.[5] On 8 May 2008 His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent visited the College as part of its sesquicentenary celebrations where he officially opened a new teaching block at the Pre-Preparatory School.[11]
Academic
In 2014, 65% of GCSE entries were awarded A* or A grades.[12] Since 2001 Ardingly has offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to sixth-formers in addition to traditional A-Levels.[13] In 2008 Ardingly was ranked 7th in the UK in The Independent's league table of schools offering both an A-Level and IB curriculum. In 2012 44% of A-Level entries were awarded A* or A grades, while IB students averaged 38 points, equivalent to A*AAA at A-Level. 18% of IB students achieved 40 or more points putting them in the top 5% worldwide.[14]
Sports
Ardingly has several sports available to both prep students and college students. Athletics and cross country, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders, swimming, tennis, squash, and fencing are all open to prep students.[15] The same set is offered for college students with the addition of badminton, rugby, basketball, scuba diving, and sailing, and the exception of rounders, cross country, and swimming.[16][17] Ardingly have won the Independent Schools Football Association Cup twice, in 1997-98 and 2014-15.
Fees
As of the academic year 2015/16, Shell-5th boarding fees are £29,715 per annum while Shell-5th day fees are £21,960 per annum.[18] Sixth form boarding fees are £31,425 per annum, while Sixth form day fees are £23,160 per annum.[18]
Notable Old Ardinians
Former students of Ardingly College are referred to as "Old Ardinians". (See also Category:People educated at Ardingly College.)
Politics
- Sir Robert Cary, 1st Baronet - Conservative Member of Parliament
- Sir Andrew Bowden MBE - Conservative Member of Parliament
- Sir John Gorst - Conservative Member of Parliament
- Sir Robert Tasker - Conservative Member of Parliament
- Sir Joseph Simpson KBE - Ugandan Cabinet Minister
- Jack Easter - Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Diplomatic service
![](/w/images/thumb/0/0d/David_Manning_050519-D-9880W-029.jpg/100px-David_Manning_050519-D-9880W-029.jpg)
![](/w/images/thumb/1/12/Andrewwood.jpg/100px-Andrewwood.jpg)
- Sir David Manning GCMG, KCVO - UK Ambassador the United States and UK Ambassador to Israel
- Sir Andrew Wood GCMG - UK Ambassador to Russia and UK Ambassador to Yugoslavia
- Sir Robin McLaren KCMG - UK Ambassador to China and UK Ambassador to the Philippines
- Sir Edward Jackson KCMG - UK Ambassador to Belgium and UK Ambassador to Cuba
- Robert Alston CMG - UK High Commissioner to New Zealand and UK Ambassador to Oman
- Ian Mackley CMG, CVO - UK High Commissioner to Ghana and UK Chargé d'Affaires to Afghanistan
Media
![](/w/images/thumb/8/87/Ian_Hislop.jpg/100px-Ian_Hislop.jpg)
- Ian Hislop - editor of Private Eye and panelist on Have I Got News For You
- Sir Bill Cotton CBE - controller of BBC One (1977–1981)
- Jay Wynne - BBC weather forecaster
- Owen Spencer-Thomas MBE - television and radio broadcaster
- Paul Reynolds - BBC News correspondent
- Nick Newman - cartoonist and scriptwriter
- Colin Griffiths - broadcaster
- Ed Petrie - children's television presenter
Arts
![](/w/images/thumb/7/77/Terry-Thomas%2C_May_1951.jpg/100px-Terry-Thomas%2C_May_1951.jpg)
- Terry-Thomas - actor
- Neil Gaiman - author and screenwriter
- Victor Silvester OBE - composer and band leader
- Alan Howard CBE - actor
- John Hayes CBE - director of the National Portrait Gallery (1974–1994)
- Stephen Oliver - composer
- Charles Bryant - actor and film director
- Frank Williams - actor
- Dick Allen - film editor
- Julian Clifford - conductor
- Ed Sanders - actor
- Ed Welch - composer
- James Lancelot - organist
- Mark Letheren - actor
- Mike Christie - singer
- Alex Cartana - singer
- George Belcher - artist
- Thomas Meech - author and journalist
- Ed Whitmore - screenwriter
Sport
![](/w/images/thumb/f/f8/Max_Chilton_2.jpg/100px-Max_Chilton_2.jpg)
![](/w/images/thumb/b/b2/Georgebrann.jpg/100px-Georgebrann.jpg)
- Mike Hawthorn - Formula One World Champion (1958)
- Max Chilton - WEC and former Formula One racing driver
- George Brann - England footballer and Sussex cricketer
- Billy Newham - Sussex and England cricketer
- Walter Bettesworth - Sussex and Scotland cricketer
- Thomas Symington - Rhodesia cricketer
- Ben Brown - Sussex cricketer
- Toby Peirce - Sussex cricketer
- Paul Phillipson - Sussex cricketer
- William Blackman - Sussex cricketer
- Arthur Kneller - Hampshire cricketer
- Alex Gregory - South Australia cricketer
- Valentine Sewell - Dorset cricketer
- Adam Virgo - footballer
- Clifford Earp - racing driver
Military
- Lieutenant Colonel George Starr DSO, MC - Special Operations Executive agent
- Major General Robert Whittaker CB, CBE - Anti Aircraft Command officer
- Lieutenant Commander Peter Piper DSO, DSC - Submarine commander
Religion
- Walter Adams, Archbishop of Yukon
- Gordon Mursell, Bishop of Stafford
- George Browning, Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn
- Dennis Ede, Archdeacon of Stoke
Law
- Peter Bowsher QC, Judge of the Technology and Construction Court
- Antony Chinn QC, barrister
- Laurence Marshall, Circuit Judge
- Jonathan Radway, District Judge
Academia
![](/w/images/thumb/e/e6/Charlescruft.jpg/100px-Charlescruft.jpg)
- Robert Foley - Leverhulme Professor of Human Evolution at the University of Cambridge
- Frank Cowell - Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics
- Patrick Hanks - lexicographer
Other
- Charles Cruft - founder of Crufts dog show
- John Paul Wild CBE, FRS - radio astronomer
- Sir Charles Fairey MBE - founder of Fairey Aviation Company
- Sydney Allard - founder of Allard Motor Company
- Harold Comber - botanist
- Felix Pery, Viscount Glentworth
Headmasters
(Until Bulteel, every headmaster was an ordained priest.)
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- Frederick Mertens (1858–1894)
- Francis Hilton (1894–1904)
- Herbert Rhodes (1904–1911)
- Marchant Pearson (1911–1914)
- Thomas Wilson (1915–1932)
- Ernest Crosse DSO MC (1933–1946)
- George Snow (1947–1961)
- Christopher Bulteel MC (1962–1980)
- James Flecker (1980–1998)
- John Franklin (1998–2007)
- Peter Green (2007–2014)
- Ben Figgis (2014–)
Boarding houses
There are several houses at Ardingly, e.g. Mertens (day/boarding house for boys), Hilton (day/boarding house for boys), Toynbee (day/boarding house for girls in lower sixth - first year in either the IB programme or in A-levels), Rhodes (a day house for boys), Crosse (another day house for boys), Neal (a day house for girls), Aberdeen (a day/boarding house for girls) and last but not least The Woodard House for all students attending the upper sixth - the second year of the IB programme or the A-level.
Ardingly College Lodge
The school has its own Masonic Lodge, Ardingly College Lodge, which is a member of the elite Freemason "Public School Lodges" Council.[19] The Lodge, which is open to male Old Ardinians as well as those with an affiliation to the college, was founded in 1922 by the then headmaster, Thomas Erskine Wilson, together with masters, the Provost of the school and the Bishop of Lewes.[20]
Southern Railway Schools class
The school lent its name to the eighteenth steam locomotive (Engine 917) in the Southern Railway's Class V of which there were 40.[21] This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English Public Schools. 'Ardingly', as it was called, was built in 1934 and was withdrawn in 1962.[21]
References
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- ↑ http://goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/ardingly-college.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
- ↑ http://www.ardingly.com/Ardingly_College_Sussex/News_Independent_Schools_Sussex/Exam_Results_Independent_Schools_Sussex_detail.php?Ardingly-students-celebrate-the-College-s-best-set-of-GCSE-results---for-the-second-year-running.-16
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.ardingly.com/Ardingly_College_Sussex/News_Independent_Schools_Sussex/Exam_Results_Independent_Schools_Sussex_detail.php?Excellent-IB-achievements-for-our-2012-cohort-9
- ↑ http://www.ardingly.com/Prep_Schools_Sussex_England/Sport_College_Sussex/Sport_School_Sussex.php
- ↑ http://www.ardingly.com/Ardingly_College_Sussex/Sport_College_Sussex/Sport_School_Sussex_detail.php?Sport-at-Ardingly-1
- ↑ http://www.ardingly.com/Ardingly_College_Sussex/Sport_College_Sussex/Sport_School_Sussex.php
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 http://www.ardingly.com/cmsAdmin/uploads/fees-2015-16_001.pdf
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Further reading
- Argent, N. (1991) Ardingly College 1939–1990. Autolycus Press.
- Gibbs, D. (2008) A School with a View: A History of Ardingly College 1858–2008. James & James Publishers Ltd.
- Letts, S. (1985) Ardingly: Its Building and Buildings. Old Ardinians Society.
- Perry, R. (1951) Ardingly 1858–1946: A History of the School. Old Ardinians Society.
External links
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- Articles with dead external links from October 2010
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- Woodard Schools
- Anglo-Catholic educational establishments
- Educational institutions established in 1858
- Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
- Boarding schools in West Sussex
- Independent schools in West Sussex
- Mid Sussex
- International Baccalaureate schools in England
- People educated at Ardingly College
- 1858 establishments in England
- Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of Chichester