Wimbledon College
| Wimbledon College | |
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cor numinis fons luminis
("The heart of the divine is the fount of light.") |
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| Location | |
| Edge Hill Wimbledon Greater London, SW19 4NS, United Kingdom |
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| Information | |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Christianity |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Founded | 1892 |
| Authority | London Borough of Merton |
| School number | 315/4701 |
| Chairperson | Dr Patrick Stone |
| Headmaster | Adrian Liang |
| Gender | Boys |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Pupils | 1363 |
| Houses | Southwell House, Campion House, Fisher House, More House |
| School Colour(s) | Maroon, Gold, and Dark Green |
| Affiliation | Society of Jesus (Jesuit) |
| Website | wimbledoncollege.org.uk |
| School prospectus 2007 | |
Wimbledon College is a government-maintained voluntary-aided Jesuit Roman Catholic high school for boys aged 11 to 19. The school is based at Edge Hill, Wimbledon, London. It was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning to the greater glory of God and the common good". Its seal says in Latin, "College of the Most Sacred Heart".
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[edit] Developments
The school stands on a site where in 1860 John Brackenbury had purchased two large meadows below the Ridgway known as Tree and Boggy Fields. Brackenbury had helped to run Nelson House School, in Eagle House, Wimbledon High Street. His success there was such that in 1859 he took out a mortgage on the land below the Ridgway and founded in 1860 the Anglican Preparatory Military Academy, also known as “Brackenbury’s”. The grounds of this college were so attractive that the College used to be opened to the public once a week. Initially a successful school, Brackenbury’s declined under the control of the Rev. Charles Wynn, and closed down in 1887. In 1892 it was purchased by the Jesuits and reopened as Wimbledon College.[1] Among the alumni of the former school were the rugby union international Henry Bryden and Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens the son of Charles Dickens.
Father Holman's main contributions to the school, around the turn of the century, include an entire renovation of the old gym and swimming pool into a new Sports Hall, Learning Resources Centre (LRC) and IT Suite. Shortly after leaving the post of headmaster at the College, Father Holman was appointed the Jesuit Provincial for Great Britain.
The school became a grammar school in 1944 and a comprehensive school from 1969.[1]
Since Father Porter's appointment as headmaster, the College has undergone further changes, including a new visitors' entrance; refurbished classrooms, the addition of an electronic registration system which is used in parallel with the traditional registration system, and the movement of the LRC and IT Department to the location of the Sixth Form Centre. The Centre has been relocated to the former LRC/IT Department site. Adrian Lang was appointed Headmaster from September 2011 and was the schools first Non-Jesuit headmaster in its long history.
[edit] Activities
The College specialises in sports (especially rugby), extracurricular activities and Drama. A new music department was constructed in 2005. It is notable for its school productions and to assist in these a revolving stage has been built in the auditorium. At least one dramatic or musical show has been produced every year since 1972. The Strings Project was activated in 2005 to give 50 boys in Figures the opportunity to learn the violin, viola, cello or the double bass.
The College encourages students to take part in at least two of its wide selection of extracurricular activities. These range from a Drama club to the Chess club, and also from a Debating club to numerous optional school trips over the year. The College also has a selection of major and minor sports. Rugby is the biggest major sport and is played up to Christmas. During the lent term rugby is still played along with football. In the summer term rugby is no longer played. Instead cricket and athletics become the major sports. Athletics is practised at Wimbledon Park athletics track and cricket is played on the usual playing field at Coombe Lane.
In the last week of the academic school year there is House Cricket tournament where all the best cricketers from the four different houses(More, Fisher, Southwell and Campion)play. Also in the last week of the school year this a Sports day. All students participate. Years 7 and 8 have their sports day a day before years 9 and 10. The sports takes place at Wimbledon Park athletics stadium. Most track and field events are practised. The winner of the "A" team races get medals. The boy with the most medals on the day also get the "Victor Ludorum"
[edit] The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship
The school has its first student attain a place on the prestigious Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme in 2009.[2]
[edit] Notable alumni
- Academic
- Sir Anthony Leggett - winner of 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Peter Milward S.J., Shakespeare scholar and emeritus professor of English Literature at Sophia University, Tokyo
- Science and Medicine
- Prof. David Allison - Diagnostic Radiology & Imaging
- Prof. Tom Connors - "Father of anti-cancer drug development'
- Prof. Donal Bradley, CBE FRS - Molecular Electronic Devices and Applications - Director of the Centre for Plastic Electronics at Imperial College London
- Sport
- Jay Tabb - footballer
- Ben Ryan - England Rugby Sevens Head Coach
- Joe McPartlin - Rugby - Oxford,Harlequins and Scotland
- Brain Mullen - Rugby - Montferrand and London Irish
- Entertainment, media and the arts
- Christopher Hewett - actor
- Des Kelly - journalist and columnist
- George Malcolm - musician
- Paul Merton - comedian, writer and TV presenter
- Mike Paradinas - musician
- Philip Stephens - journalist
- Patrick Bishop - journalist and author
- Christopher Howse - journalist
- Victor Keegan - journalist
- Andre Barreau - Musician
- Clement Marfo - Musician
- Military
- Eugene Esmonde - WWII naval pilot, led attack on Bismarck, awarded the Victoria Cross after Channel Dash
- Sir John Keegan - military historian
- Gerald Robert O'Sullivan - WWI Victoria Cross holder
- Patrick Reid - Colditz Castle escaper (WWII) and author
- Politics, public service and the law
- Peter Duffy (QC) - barrister
- John Patten, Baron Patten - politician
- Sir Michael Quinlan - civil servant
- Sir Nicolas Bratza - judge
- Religion
- Father Michael Holman, SJ, head of the British Jesuits[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Conservation Areas - Edge Hill
- ^ British Council website "Fellows" accessed November 10, 2009.
- ^ "New British Jesuit Provincial announced", The British Province of the Society of Jesus, 19 March 2005
[edit] See also
- Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon
- Donhead
- Ursuline High School (Wimbledon)
- List of Victoria Crosses by School
