Ardingly College

Ardingly College

Motto	Latin: "Beati Mundo Corde" (Blessed are the pure in heart)
Established	1858
Type	Independent School
Headmaster	Peter Green MA
Provost	The Right Reverend Lindsay Urwin OGS
Chairman of Governors	Robert Alston CMG QSO
Founder	Canon Nathaniel Woodard
Location	Ardingly West Sussex England
Students	c.750
Gender	co-educational
Ages	2½–18
Colours	Green, Yellow and White
Former pupils	Old Ardinians
Visitor	The Lord 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. The college is located in the village of Ardingly near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England, having moved to its present location in 1870. 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. The school became fully co-educational in 1982.

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. 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. 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.

Nathaniel Woodard

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. 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. 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.

Today Ardingly occupies a 420 acre (1.7 km²) site situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 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. Both Junior and Senior Schools accommodate boarders who make up the majority of the Senior School student population. 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. As of the academic year 2009/10 Senior School day fees are approximately £18,500 per year, with Senior School boarding fees approximately £25,000, though a number of bursaries and scholarships are available. 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.

Brief history

South Quad as viewed from the Terrace

The College's Combined Cadet Force was established in 1902 in the wake of the Second Boer War. 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. 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.

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. A stone plaque on the terrace parapet commemorates the Queen's visit, where she 'beheld the view'. 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. 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.

Academic

In 2008, 59% of GCSE entries were awarded A* or A grades, with 100% of pupils gaining at least 5 A*-C grades. In 2001 Ardingly introduced the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme enabling students entering the sixth-form to choose between conventional A-Levels or the IB Programme. 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; 40% of A-Level entries were awarded A grades and 75% of entries awarded A or B grades, while IB students averaged 34.7 points, equivalent to in excess of four A grades at A-Level.

Notable Old Ardinians

Former students of Ardingly College are referred to as Old Ardinians. See also Category:Old Ardinians.

Politics

Former British Ambassador to the United States Sir David Manning attended Ardingly from 62-66

• Sir Robert Cary, 1st Baronet, Conservative Member of Parliament.
• Sir Andrew Bowden, Conservative Member of Parliament.
• Sir John Gorst, Conservative Member of Parliament.
• Sir Robert Tasker, Conservative Member of Parliament.
• Sir Joseph Simpson, Ugandan Cabinet Minister.
• Jack Easter, Australian Member of Parliament.

Diplomatic Service

• Sir David Manning GCMG CVO, British Ambassador to Israel and British Ambassador to the United States
• Sir Andrew Wood GCMG, British Ambassador to Yugoslavia and British Ambassador to Russia
• Sir Robin McLaren KCMG, British Ambassador to the Philippines and British Ambassador to China
• Sir Edward Jackson KCMG, British Ambassador to Cuba and British Ambassador to Belgium
• Ian Mackley CMG CVO, British Chargé d'Affaires to Afghanistan and British High Commissioner to Ghana
• Robert Alston CMG QSO, British Ambassador to Oman and British High Commissioner to New Zealand

Media

Ian Hislop attended Ardingly from 68-77 where he became Head Boy

• Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye and panelist on Have I Got News For You.
• Sir Bill Cotton CBE, Controller of BBC One between 1977 and 1981.
• Owen Spencer-Thomas MBE, television and radio broadcaster.
• Paul Reynolds, BBC News correspondent.
• Jay Wynne, BBC weather forecaster.
• Nick Newman, cartoonist and scriptwriter.
• Colin Griffiths, broadcaster.
• Ed Petrie, CBBC presenter.
• Jon Snow, Channel 4 News anchor since 1989, who attended while his father George D'Oyly Snow was headmaster.

Arts

• Terry-Thomas, actor.
• Neil Gaiman, author and screenwriter.
• Victor Silvester OBE, composer and band leader.
• Alan Howard CBE, actor.
• John Hayes CBE FRSA, Director of the National Portrait Gallery (1974–1994).
• Stephen Oliver, composer
• Charles Bryant, actor and film director.
• Frank Williams, actor.
• Ed Sanders, actor.
• James Lancelot, organist.
• Mark Letheren, actor
• Mike Christie, singer
• Alex Cartañá, singer-songwriter
• George Belcher, artist
• Thomas Meech, author and journalist

Sport

• Mike Hawthorn, racing driver, Formula One World Champion (1958).
• George Brann, Sussex cricketer and England footballer.
• Billy Newham, Sussex and England cricketer
• Walter Bettesworth, Sussex and Scotland cricketer
• Toby Peirce, Sussex cricketer
• Paul Phillipson, Sussex cricketer
• William Blackman, Sussex cricketer
• Ben Brown, Sussex cricketer
• Arthur Kneller, Hampshire cricketer
• Adam Virgo, footballer
• Max Chilton, racing driver
• Clifford Earp, racing driver

Clergy

• Walter Robert Adams, Archbishop of British Columbia and Archbishop of Yukon
• George Browning, Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn
• Gordon Mursell, Bishop of Stafford
• Andrew Norman, Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge

Academia

• Robert Foley, Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge
• Frank Cowell, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics

Other

• Charles Cruft, founder of Crufts dog show
• Sydney Allard, founder of Allard Motor Company
• George Reginald Starr DSO MC, Special Operations Executive agent

Headmasters of Ardingly

The Revd Frederick Mertens, Ardingly's first Headmaster

• The Revd Frederick Mertens (1858–1894)
• The Revd Francis Kercheval Hilton (1894–1904)
• The Revd Herbert Rhodes (1904–1911)
• The Revd Marchant Pearson (1911–1914)
• The Revd Thomas Erskine Wilson (1915–1932)
• The Revd Ernest Courtenay Crosse DSO MC (1933–1946)
• The Revd George D'Oyly Snow (1947–1961)
• Christopher Bulteel MC (1962–1980)
• James Flecker (1980–1998)
• John Franklin (1998–2007)
• Peter Green (2007– )

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. 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 The Revd Thomas Erskine Wilson together with masters, the Provost of the school, and the Bishop of Lewes.

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. 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.

References

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

• Ardingly College website
• Old Ardinians website
• Ardingly College Lodge