Tonbridge School
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| Tonbridge School | |
 |
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| Deus Dat Incrementum (Latin: God Gives Growth) | |
| Established | 1553 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public school |
| Headmaster | Mr. Tim Haynes |
| Location | Tonbridge, Kent, England |
| Website | www.tonbridge-school.co.uk |
Tonbridge School is a British independent all boys boarding school in Tonbridge, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde. It is a member of the Eton Group.
The school occupies an extensive site of about 150 acres (607,000 m²) on the northern edge of the town of Tonbridge, Kent, and is largely self-contained within that site. Since the foundation the school has been rebuilt twice on the original site.
There are currently 750 boys in the school, aged between 13 and 18, with 429 boarders and 321 day pupils.
The current Headmaster is Tim Haynes, who has been in post since September 2005. He was previously Headmaster of Monmouth School.
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[edit] History
The school was founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde under the Letters Patent of King Edward VI.
The Charter ordained that the Governors of the school after the death of the Founder were to be the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest City Livery Companies.
Sir Andrew, himself a distinguished member of this Company, left property in the City of London and in the parish of St Pancras as an endowment for the school. The income from these estates is at the disposal of the Governors for the general benefit of the Foundation. The memory of Sir Andrew Judd and other benefactors is honoured in an annual Commemoration Service, held on Skinners' Day at the very end of the Summer Term.
The school first really began to flourish in the C19th when it and other Public Schools supplied the demand for capable men to administer and soldier for the British Empire. It is recorded that alumni served in the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the Boer War and even under the 8th Earl of Elgin during the Second Opium War. Indeed Headmaster Knox once noted that "wherever the Union Flag stands o'ershadowed, there you will find a Tonbridge boy ready to bring it into the light".
The Edwardian period saw considerable sporting success for the school. In 1905 and 1906 its 1st XI cricket team enjoyed two unbeaten seasons under its captain, Archibald Featherstonehaugh (pronounced "Fanshaw"). In the years that followed Tonbridge produced many first class cricketers, culminating ultimately in Colin Cowdrey in the late 1940s.
[edit] World War I
The school suffered heavy losses during the Great War. Not only were many alumni killed, but also several members of staff who bravely volunteered for service. The school itself came through unscathed, although in 1916 a German zeppelin did pass over Tonbridge, having lost propulsion and been driven by the prevaling wind all the way from London. All of its bombs had already been dropped, however, so no damage was caused and the airship simply floated on towards the Channel. Orchard notes that the fate of its crew still remains unknown. However, it has been recently suggested that the Tonbridge zeppelin may have been the very same one that is recorded as having been shot down over the Essex township of Billericay one day later. Certainly it is possible that the hapless crew suffered a change in wind direction which blew them back over the capital and on into Essex.[1]
[edit] World War II
In June 1941 a V1 bomb launched by the Nazis almost succeeded in killing Headmaster Eric Whitworth when it landed near Ferox Hall. A bomb dropped by a lone German bomber almost destroyed the Chapel earlier in the War.
However, papers found by the Allies after the fall of Berlin suggested that Hitler's staff intended to make Tonbridge School the Upper-Medway regional HQ for occupying forces, had Operation Sea Lion gone ahead.
During the War an anti-tank trench was dug alongside the Head (the school's main cricket pitch). The OTC (Officer Training Corps) issued the groundsmen with grenades, rifles and German phrase-books.
On the recommendation of Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside, Chief of the Imperial General Staff and an Old Tonbridgian, an evacuation plan was drawn up by the school in case of a German invasion. Boys were to disperse across the country while teachers formed resistance cells.
[edit] Post-War years
Lawrence Waddy took over as Headmaster in 1949. The Tonbridge he inherited was still a largely Victorian institution; fagging was still in place, and sport was considered more important than academia. Over the next 40 years fagging was abolished (ending in 1965), the intellectual life of the school was revitalised (particularly under the Headmastership of the scholarly Michael McCrum), and 1st Year Socials were set up with neighbouring girls' schools. By the 1990s the school was larger and richer than ever before, regularly appearing in the top 50 in independent schools examination league tables. The Headmaster until 2005 was Martin Hammond.
Tonbridge's 1st XV rugby team has been undefeated for 3 straight seasons, against opponents such as Wellington, Radley, Dulwich College, Eton and Harrow. Such a feat has not been achieved since the period 1953-6 when the Tonbridge squad was led by Henry 'Perseus' Percival. This puts the club in contention for Rugby World's (magazine) team of the year.
[edit] Notable alumni
This list may be incomplete and may contain inaccuracies. A list of confirmed notable Old Tonbridgians is available on this page of the school website.
- William Alexander (bishop) (1824-1911) Poet, Theologian and Anglican Primate of All Ireland
- Robert Ashfield Organist of Southwell Minster and Rochester Cathedral
- Donal Blaney Chief Executive of the Young Britons' Foundation and Director and General Counsel of Doughty Media Limited
- John Bond, former chairman of HSBC
- Bill Bruford, Yes, King Crimson and others musician
- Hugh Cecil - 1920's society photographer
- Tom Chaplin, Keane musician
- Sir M. C. Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge (1932-2000), Kent CCC and England cricketer and cricket administrator
- C. S. Cowdrey (born 1957), Kent, Glamorgan and England cricketer and broadcaster
- G. R. Cowdrey (born 1964), Kent cricketer
- Aleister Crowley, occultist, mystic, sexual revolutionary, and drug addict
- Maurice Denham (1909-2002), actor
- R. M. Ellison (born 1959), Kent CCC and England cricketer
- Ollie Freeman, Athlete, Great Britain Tri-athlete
- E. M. Forster, novelist
- Frederick Forsyth, novelist
- W. D. Hamilton
- Chris Hollins - BBC Breakfast sports presenter, son of footballer John Hollins
- C. W. H. Howard (born 1904), Middlesex CCC cricketer
- Richard Hughes, Keane musician
- Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside, Chief of the Imperial General Staff
- Sidney Keyes, poet
- Michael Marriott head of the British stock exhange
- Sir Arthur Marshall, aviation engineer
- Tom May, rugby union player, Newcastle Falcons
- Patrick Mayhew, QC, barrister and politician
- Sir John Nott-Bower, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
- Sir Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier (18591943), KCMG, statesman
- Christopher Reid, poet
- Tim Rice-Oxley, Keane musician
- William Rivers psychologist, anthropologist
- Vikram Seth, novelist
- Dr Anthony Seldon, historian, political commentator and educationalist (current Master of Wellington College)
- Dan Stevens, actor
- David Sherwin, screenwriter, most famous for his work on the film If...
- E. T. Smith (born 1977), Middlesex CCC, Kent CCC and England cricketer
- Paul Tanqueray - society photographer
- Sir Peter Tapsell, politician
- David Tomlinson (1917-2000), actor
- Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglo-Catholic clergyman prosecuted for using ritualist liturgical practices
- Benjamin Whitrow (born 1932), actor
- Andy Zaltzman, stand-up comedian
[edit] Houses
There are twelve houses at Tonbridge School; 7 boarding, and 5 day houses. They are, in order of foundation:
- School House (Boarding)
- Judde House (Boarding
- Park House (Boarding)
- Hill Side (Boarding)
- Parkside (Boarding)
- Ferox Hall (Boarding)
- Manor House (Boarding)
- Welldon House (Day)
- Smythe House (Day)
- Whitworth (Day)
- Cowdrey House (Day)
- Oakeshott House (Day)
Each house contains approximately 60 students.
[edit] Buildings
Recent additions to the school's infrastructure have been the Vere Hodge Centre and the E.M. Forster theatre. Both are of modernist design, incorporating quantities of glass and steel.
The Chapel was reopened in October 1995 after it was severely damaged by fire in 1988. The Marcussen organ is a four-manual tracker-action instrument with 66 speaking stops, including two 32' stops.
The Smythe Library, built in 1962, was designed by Sir William Holford in 1962. It contains appoximately 26,000 volumes, some of which have been in the school's possession since the 17th century.
The Headmaster's House (located next to the High Street) is in fact the oldest part of the school, dating in parts from the 16th century. Its structure contains Roman masonry, most likely quarried from a temple to the god Priapus that is believed to have stood by the Medway near where Tonbridge Castle stands today.
Old Judd, which now houses the Modern Languages Department, was built in the 19th century and is remarkable for the enclosed terrace garden at its rear. The reason that the garden is raised several feet above ground level is that it was in fact built directly on top of the building that formerly occupied the site.
[edit] Trivia
The school's motto (Deus Dat Incrementum) is not to be confused with that of Westminster School, London (Dat Deus Incrementum). The two have quite different meanings due to their word order. Whereas Tonbridge's lays emphasis on the fact that God, and nobody else, gives growth, Westminster's emphasises the fact that God gives growth and does not, for example, receive it, buy it or rent it.
The Head of School, according to tradition, has the right to grow a beard and pasture a flock of sheep on the Head. The growth of facial hair by students (and tending of livestock on school property) is otherwise strictly forbidden.
In Tonbridge terminology 1st Year boys are known as novi (rhyming with "no guy") which in Latin means "new males". However, according to Classical Latin pronunciation, the word should actually be pronounced as "no vee". To an Ancient Roman's ears the Tonbridge pronunciation would indicate the Latin word novae, which unfortunately means "new women".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Billericay: A History by Roger Green, p.78, Phillimore & Co., 2005
- Barry Orchard - A Look at the Head and the Fifty (1991, James & James)
