Hurstpierpoint College

Public school in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, England

Hurstpierpoint College

Address

College Lane

Hurstpierpoint

West Sussex

BN6 9JS

England

Information
Type| Public School
Independent School
Motto| Latin: "Beati Mundo Corde"
(Blessed are the pure in heart)
Religious affiliation(s)| Church of England
Established| 1849; 175 years ago (1849)
Founder| Canon Nathaniel Woodard
Local authority| West Sussex
Chairman of Governors| Tony Jarvis[2]
Principal| Tim Manly[1]
Gender| Mixed
Age| 4 to 18
Enrolment| c.1,337
Houses| 13
Colour(s)| Red and White
Former pupils| Old Johnians
Alumni Website| www.theojclub.com
Affiliation| Woodard Corporation
Website| http://www.hppc.co.uk/

Hurstpierpoint College is a public school (English private boarding and day school), located just north of the village of Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex. The College was founded in 1849 by Canon Nathaniel Woodard and is a member of the Woodard Corporation.[3]

## History and overview[edit]

The school was established in 1849 as St John's Middle School, based in Shoreham. Its first headmaster, Edward Clarke Lowe, had worked with Woodard at Lancing College and stayed at Hurstpierpoint for 22 years until 1872. The school moved to Mansion House in Hurstpierpoint and then, thanks to the local benefactors the Campion family, on 21 June 1853 made its move to the present site. Intended to resemble the collegiate system at Oxford and Cambridge, Nathaniel Woodard designed the College to have adjoining Inner and Outer quads and the chapel and dining hall adjacent to each other.

The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2019.[4]

## Houses[edit]

Close set flint walls

In the early 70s, the senior school comprised just seven houses, named: Eagle, Martlet, Shield, Red Cross, Chevron, Fleur de Lys and Star. Each house had a housemaster and house tutor who were also teachers within the school.

Since then, the number of senior school houses has grown in size alongside the school's expansion. It now consists of 13 houses. 6 boys' houses (Star, Chevron, Crescent, Eagle, Red Cross and Woodard) and 6 girls' houses (Fleur de Lys, Wolf, Phoenix, Shield, Martlet and Pelican), with the 13th house being the co-educational day and boarding 'hall of residence', St John's House - which all students in their last year (Upper Sixth) join, whilst retaining affiliation to their former houses.

## Traditions[edit]

Inner quad College Lane entrance The college as viewed from the south

The school preserves ceremonies, such as the 'Boar's Head Procession' and the 'Wolstonbury Service' which for the most part were taken from other schools such as Winchester College, in order to give the school a feeling of tradition back in its early Victorian days.

"Hurst" has performed a Shakespeare play every year since 1854, beginning with Richard III after the first headmaster, Dr Lowe inspired the first players onto stage. Hurstpierpoint College boasts the oldest Shakespeare society in existence,[5] older even than that of the Royal Shakespeare Company which was not formed until 1875.[6]

The Hurst Johnian, the school magazine, founded in May 1858 is a source for the School's history. Its policy has been to maintain the annals of the school, and it continues to publish current reports and articles on the past. Evidence from the national archives suggests that it is the oldest school magazine in the country.[7]

## Notable Masters[edit]

* Sabine Baring-Gould: Novelist and composer of hymns, the most notable being "Onward, Christian Soldiers". He was a Master of the College from 1855 to 1864. Baring-Gould had an eccentric reputation, and archives tell how he would teach with a bat on his shoulder and took weird holidays, bringing home a pony from Iceland, which lived for years in the North Field. Whilst the Hymn is thought to have been written in Yorkshire in 1865, a story recounts how Baring-Gould (known as "Snout") on one occasion gave a pupil of the College thirty-six (sic) cuts, and then washed his hands and sat down and wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers." A talented artist, he made and painted (well heraldically) the coat of arms of the Prince of Wales, which for many years appeared in the proscenium. Baring-Gould designed the cover of the Johnian (the College's publication), and designed the bookshelves and cases with their wrought iron, originally red and gold, in the Boys' Library. He also painted the window jambs with scenes from the "Canterbury Tales" and the "Faery Queen", and probably did work for the Fellows' Library. In 1860 he was one of the "Hurst Rifle Volunteers," who used to drill at the New Inn, which lead Hurst to be one of the founding Combined Cadet Forces schools.
* Thomas Fielden: He was a famous Director of Music at Hurst, Charterhouse and Fettes, as well as a noted pianist, and Professor of Pianoforte at the Royal College of Music for over 30 years.
* Percy Henn: Noted clergyman and teacher in England and later Western Australia.

## Notable Old Johnians[edit]

Main article: List of people educated at Hurstpierpoint College

Past students of Hurstpierpoint College are referred to as 'Old Johnians'.

See also: Category:People educated at Hurstpierpoint College

## Headmasters[edit]

William Awdry was headmaster from 1873 to 1879

* Edward Clarke Lowe (1849-1872)
* William Awdry (1873-1879)
* Charles Cooper (1880-1902)
* Arthur Coombes (1902-1923)
* Henry Bernard Tower (1924-1937)
* Walter Dingwall (1937-1945)
* Ronald Howard (1945-1964)
* Roger Griffiths (1964-1986)
* Simon Watson (1986-1995)
* Stephen Meek (1995-2004)
* Tim Manly (2005-present)

## Southern Railway Schools Class[edit]

The school lent its name to the nineteenth steam locomotive (Engine 918) in the Southern Railway's Class V of which there were 40.[8] This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English Public Schools. 'Hurstpierpoint', as it was called, was built in 1934 and was withdrawn in 1961.[8] Its nameplate is now housed in the school's science block.

## Coat of arms[edit]

Coat of arms of Hurstpierpoint College  |

Notes
Granted 1 June 1931.[9]
Escutcheon
Per pale Argent and Ermine, dexter on a bend cottised Sable a cross couped between two martlets of the first, on a chief Gules an eagle, round the head a crown of glory, Or, sinister two wolves passant counterpassant also Gules; all within a bordure engrailed Azure.
Motto
'Beati mundo corde'

|

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Hurstpierpoint College | About Hurst - Staff".
2. ^ "Hurstpierpoint College | About Hurst - Governors".
3. ^ "Woodard Schools - Independent, State Maintained, Academies". Independent, Academy and Maintained Education - Woodard Schools. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
4. ^ "Hurstpierpoint College :: Independent Schools Inspectorate". Isi.net. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
5. ^ "The Hurst Johnian Club - Old Boys & Girls of Hurstpierpoint College- Shakespeare Society". Archived from the original on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
6. ^ "History of the RSC | A timeline | Royal Shakespeare Company". Rsc.org.uk. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
7. ^ "S. John's College, Hurstpierpoint Archive" (PDF). Nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
8. ^ a b "Southern Railway Schools Class". Retrieved 29 June 2008.
9. ^ "Hurstpierpoint College". Heraldry of the World. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2023.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hurstpierpoint College.

* Hurstpierpoint College website
* schoolsguidebook
* ISI Inspection Reports - Prep School & Senior School
* Alumni Website www.TheOJClub.com

* v
* t
* e

Woodard Schools

Owned Schools|

* Abbots Bromley School for Girls
* Ardingly College
* Bloxham School
* Denstone College
* Ellesmere College
* Hurstpierpoint College
* King's College
* Lancing College
* The Peterborough School
* Prestfelde School
* Queen Mary's School
* St James School
* The Cathedral School
* Worksop College
* Worksop College Preparatory School

Affiliated Schools|

* Archbishop Temple School
* Bishop Stopford School
* Crompton House Church of England Academy
* Derby Grammar School
* St Olave's Grammar School
* St Saviour's and St Olave's Church of England School
* St Peter's Church of England Aided School
* St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy
* The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School
* The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School
* St Marylebone School
* Wren Academy

Associated Schools|

* Alderley Edge School for Girls
* Derby High School

Academies|

* St Augustine Academy
* Kings Priory School
* The Littlehampton Academy
* The Sir Robert Woodard Academy
* Wren Academy

* v
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* e

Schools in West Sussex

Secondary|

* The Academy, Selsey
* Angmering School
* Bishop Luffa School
* Bohunt Horsham
* Bohunt School Worthing
* Bourne Community College
* The Burgess Hill Academy
* Chichester Free School
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* Davison High School
* Downlands Community School
* Durrington High School
* Felpham Community College
* Forest School
* The Gatwick School
* Hazelwick School
* Holy Trinity School
* Ifield Community College
* Imberhorne School
* The Littlehampton Academy
* Midhurst Rother College
* Millais School
* Oathall Community College
* Oriel High School
* Ormiston Six Villages Academy
* The Regis School
* Sackville School
* St Andrews High School
* St Oscar Romero RC School
* St Paul's RC College
* St Philip Howard RC High School
* St Wilfrid's RC School
* Shoreham Academy
* Sir Robert Woodard Academy
* Steyning Grammar School
* Tanbridge House School
* Thomas Bennett Community College
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Special|

* Oak Grove College
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Sixth-form college|

* Chichester College
* Crawley College
* The College of Richard Collyer
* Northbrook College
* Worthing College

Independent
(preparatory)|

* Brambletye School
* Cottesmore School
* Dorset House School
* Great Ballard School
* Great Walstead School
* Handcross Park School
* The Prebendal School
* Sompting Abbotts Preparatory School
* Westbourne House School
* Windlesham House School

Independent|

* Ardingly College
* Burgess Hill Girls
* Christ's Hospital
* Farlington School
* Hurstpierpoint College
* Lancing College
* Our Lady of Sion School
* Rikkyo School in England
* Seaford College
* Shoreham College
* Worth School

Former|

* Boundstone Community College
* Chichester High School For Boys
* Discovery New School
* Kings Manor Community College
* Lavant House School
* Midhurst Intermediate School
* Midhurst Grammar School
* Newells Preparatory School
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* Stoke Brunswick School
* Tavistock and Summerhill School
* Towers Convent School

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States

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