Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school), located in the village of Monkton Combe near Bath in Somerset, England. It is a member of the Rugby Group of independent boarding schools in the United Kingdom.[1]
Monkton Combe School | |
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![]() The Chapel, Monkton Combe School | |
Location | |
Monkton Combe, near Bath , , BA2 7HG England | |
Coordinates | 51.3569°N 2.3270°W |
Information | |
Type | Public school Private boarding school |
Motto | Latin: Verbum Tuum Veritas (Thy Word is Truth) |
Established | 1868 |
Founder | The Revd Francis Pocock |
Head Master | Christopher Wheeler (Senior School), Catherine Winchcombe (Prep School) |
Gender | Coeducational |
Age | 2 to 18 |
Enrolment | 711 (all three schools from September 2015) |
Houses | Eddystone (MSS Boys)
Farm (MSS Boys) Grange (MSS Girls) School (MSS Boys) Clarendon (MSS Girls) Nutfield (MSS Girls) Hatton (MPS Mixed):
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Colour(s) | Red, white, blue |
Former pupils | Old Monktonians |
Website | http://www.monktoncombeschool.com |
The senior school in Monkton Combe village admits pupils aged from 13 to 18 (pupil numbers are around 500); the Preparatory School in Combe Down village admits children aged from 7 to 13; and the adjacent Pre-Preparatory has classes in nursery (ages 2–3), kindergarten (3–4), reception (4–5) and years 1 and 2 (5–7). The Senior School and Preparatory School have always admitted boarding pupils although day pupils now (2021) comprise one third of the Senior School and are in the majority in the Preparatory School. Since 1992 when it merged with Clarendon School for Girls the school has been fully co-educational although it first admitted girls in 1971. The Senior School operates three boys' boarding houses and three girls' boarding houses, all in the village of Monkton Combe.
History
Monkton Combe School was founded in 1868 by the Revd. Francis Pocock, the vicar of Monkton Combe and former chaplain to John Weeks, the Bishop of Sierra Leone. It became known for its evangelical Christian approach to education and attracted many sons of vicars and overseas missionaries as well as those from a broader background.[2] The school retains its strong evangelical Christian heritage.
During the mid-20th century Monkton was regarded as one of the UK's strongest rowing schools; one-fifth of the 23-strong men's GB rowing squad at the 1948 Olympics consisted of students: I. M. Lang, M. C. Lapage, A. Mellows, W. G. R. M. Laurie, P. C. Kirkpatrick.
The School became progressively co-educational in the late 20th century. In 1971, girls were admitted to the sixth form. In 1989, Nutfield House was built to accommodate them in the village. In 1992, the school became fully co-educational, merging with Clarendon School for Girls, an all-girls' school founded in 1898 that shared a similar Christian ethos to Monkton Combe School.
The Junior School
The Junior school was established with four pupils in 1888 in Combe Lodge, a private house in Church Road, Combe Down, by Revd. Charles Howard, the son-in-law of the then Senior School Principal, the Revd. R.G. Bryan. The Junior school moved into purpose-built premises in Combe Down in June 1907, which it still occupies. After expanding rapidly, the Junior school purchased another large house in Church Road (Glenburnie/Alma Villa) in the early 1920s, which it occupied initially as a boarding house. In 1937, Monkton Pre-Preparatory School was founded in Glenburnie, before transferring to a bespoke building in the grounds of the Junior School in 2016. In 2006 the Junior School was renamed Monkton Preparatory School.
Literature
The official history of the school's first hundred years was published in A Goodly Heritage: A History of Monkton Combe School 1868–1967 by former Senior School master A.F. Lace, published in Bath by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1968.[3] This was updated in 2017 by the former Junior School headmaster Peter LeRoy to form an official history of the school's first 150 years, entitled A Delightful Inheritance.[4] The history of the Junior School to 1955 was written by schoolmaster Johnnie Walker, in a pamphlet entitled Three Score Years and Ten, published in 1956 by Fyson & Son of Bath.
Sports awards
The school has produced six Olympic rowing medalists. Each represented Great Britain and three won gold medals. Students row as the Monkton Bluefriars Boat Club.
One Old Monktonian achieved an Olympic Gold Medal representing Great Britain at men's hockey. Another Old Monktonian captained the England Netball Team which won Gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Facilities and buildings
The School maintains a range of sporting facilities including an indoor swimming pool, sports halls with fully equipped gymnasia, three artificial turf pitches (two full size and one half size), nine grass and three hard tennis courts, two boathouses with access to the River Avon and many acres of grounds. Many buildings are of Bath stone, in the same style as those in and around the city of Bath, and in keeping with the traditional architectural style of the area.
Many of the school's facilities are made available for the use of local schools, such as Combe Down Primary School and local children's sports clubs.
Several of the school's buildings are listed, including the main Senior school block known as The Old Farm,[5] and the part of the Terrace Block known as The Old Vicarage.[6] In 2008 the Senior School completed a £5 million project which involved re-building, extending and re-furbishing its mathematics and science departments. In June 2012, a new £3.2 million Music center was opened by Dame Felicity Lott. A new Art & Design center was opened in 2016.
Boarding
Many of the pupils are either weekly or full-time boarders. The Senior school maintains six boarding houses, three of which are for girls (Nutfield, Clarendon and Grange) and three for boys (Eddystone, School and Farm).[7] The Preparatory school operates one boarding house with a floor for boys and a floor for girls (Hatton). There are many traditions in each house, as well as many inter-house competitions throughout the year. Students are allowed to visit the City of Bath each weekend. Lessons take place on Saturday mornings with sporting matches against other schools taking place on most Saturday afternoons.
Head Masters/Principals
The following have been Head Masters or Principals of Monkton Combe School:
Name | Years as Head Master |
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Revd F. Pocock | 1868–1875 |
Revd R.G. Bryan | 1875–1895 |
Revd W.E. Bryan | 1895–1900 |
Revd N. Bennett | 1900 |
Revd J.W. Kearns | 1900–1926 |
Revd E. Hayward | 1926–1946 |
D.R. Wigram | 1946–1968 |
R.J. Knight | 1968–1978 |
R.A.C. Meredith | 1978–1990 |
M.J. Cuthbertson | 1990–2005 |
R. Backhouse | 2005–2015 |
C. Wheeler | 2016–Present |
Notable members of staff
- Revd. R.W. Ryde, 1866–1909, Classics Master
- A.S. Sellick, 1878–1958, Cricket Master
- G.F. Graham Brown, 1891–1942, History Master and former pupil
- F. Vallis, 1896–1957, Association Football and Cricket Master
- T.M. Watson, 1913–1994, French Master
- N.D. Botton, 1954–, History Master
- M. Wells, 1979–, Rowing Master
Notable alumni
19th Century
- George Somes Layard, 1857–1925, leading barrister, journalist and man of letters
- Harry Martindale Speechly, 1866–1951, leading Canadian doctor
- Montague Waldegrave, 5th Baron Radstock, 1867–1953, peer
- Count Vladimir Alekseyevich Bobrinsky, 1868–1927, Tsarist politician from the Second to the Fourth Duma
- Count Paul Bobrinsky, 1869–1919, Peter's twin and Russian counter-revolutionary
- Count Peter Bobrinsky, 1869–1932, Paul's twin and Russian counter-revolutionary
- Harry Colt, 1869–1951, widely regarded as the father of golf course architecture
- Ernest Crosbie Trench 1869–1960, British civil engineer
- Sir Ernest Wills, 3rd Baronet 1869–1958, part-owner of W. D. & H. O. Wills and Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
- Edwyn Bevan 1870–1943, British philosopher and Hellenistic historian
- Archibald Kennedy, 4th Marquess of Ailsa 1873–1943, British peer, barrister and soldier
- Horatio Powys-Keck, 1873–1952, first class cricketer
- Alfred Young 1873–1940, mathematician and inventor of the Young diagram and Young tableau[8]
- Lieutenant Colonel Richard Annesley West 1878–1918, recipient of the Victoria Cross for sacrificing his life for his men
- Lieutenant Colonel Eric Marshall, 1879–1963, Antarctic explorer in Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition
- Frank Lugard Brayne 1882–1952, administrator in the Indian Civil Service
- Revd. William Thompson 1885–1975, Bishop of Iran
- Hugh Norton 1890–1969, Archdeacon of Sudbury
- Revd. Francis Graham Brown 1891–1942, Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Bishop of Jerusalem
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse 1892–1970, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force and of RAF Bomber Command[9]
- Dr. Sir Clement Chesterman 1894–1983, medical missionary at Yakusu in the Congo with the Baptist Missionary Society
Early 20th Century
- Michael Head, 1900–1976, composer, singer and musical educator
- Dr. W. E. Shewell-Cooper, 1900–1982, organic gardening pioneer
- Percival Spear, 1901–1982, historian and civil servant in India
- Revd. Kenneth Mathews, 1906–1992, Dean of St Albans
- R. C. Hutchinson, 1907–1976, novelist
- David Howard Adeney, 1911–1994, missionary in China and East Asia[10]
- Jim Broomhall, 1911–1994, historian and medical missionary to China with the China Inland Mission
- Charles Sergel, 1911–1980, Olympic rower and medical missionary to Uganda
- Revd. Gonville ffrench-Beytagh, 1912–1991, Dean of Johannesburg and anti-apartheid activist.
- Major-General John Frost, 1912–1993, leader of airborne forces during the Battle of Arnhem
- Colin Butler, 1913–2016, entomologist who first isolated the pheromone
- Martyn Cundy, 1913–2005, reforming mathematical educator and academic
- Thorley Walters, 1913–1991, actor
- Thomas Watson, 1913–1994, first class cricketer
- Professor John Anderson Strong, 1915–2012, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
- Dr. Ran Laurie, 1915–1998, Olympic rowing champion and physician
- J. Desmond Clark, 1916–2002, influential archaeologist and Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley[11]
- The Right Revd. Maurice Wood, 1916–2007, Principal of Oak Hill Theological College and Bishop of Norwich
- Harold Jameson (1918–1940), first-class cricketer
- Lt Kevin Walton, 1918–2009, Antarctic explorer
- Squadron Leader James MacLachlan, 1919–1943, flying ace
- Revd. Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, 1920–1990, Bishop of Iran
- Revd. Graham Leonard, 1921–2010, Bishop of London
- Revd. David Brown, 1922–1982, Bishop of Guildford and missionary
- Prince Asrate Kassa, 1922–1974, Viceroy of Eritrea
- Pilot Officer Alfred Mellows, 1922–1997, Olympic rower
- Arthur Wallis, 1922–1988, itinerant Bible teacher and author
- Captain David Eyton-Jones, 1923–2012, SAS officer during Operation Tombola, businessman and chaplain
- Michael Lapage, 1923–2018, Olympic rower and missionary
- Colonel David Wood, 1923–2009, last surviving officer of the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges
- Professor David Marshall Lang, 1924–1991, Professor of Caucasian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies
- Senator Andy Thompson, 1924–2016, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
- Major General Sir Philip Ward, 1924–2003, GOC London District and Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex
- Revd. Allan Rutter, 1928-, first class cricketer and vicar
- Christopher Buxton, 1929–2017, property developer and President of The Abbeyfield Society
- Right Revd. John Bone, 1930–2014, Bishop of Reading
- Count Michel Didisheim, 1930–2020, Private Secretary and Chief of the Royal Household to Albert, Prince of Liège
- Adrian Mitchell, 1932–2008, poet, novelist and playwright[12]
- Barclay Palmer, 1932–2020, Olympic athlete
- Professor Gerald Blake, 1936-, Professor Emeritus of Geography at Durham University and former Principal of Collingwood College, Durham
- John Barnard Bush, 1937–, land-owner and former Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
- Michael Mortimore, 1937–2017, geographer and a researcher of issues in the African drylands
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Stear, 1938–2020, Deputy Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
- Revd. Stephen Sykes, 1939–2014, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and Bishop of Ely
- Michael Barton Akehurst, 1940–1989, international lawyer
- Peter Webb, 1940-, Olympic rower
- Sir Tim Lankester, 1942–, former President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
- Professor Nick Jardine, 1943-, Emeritus Professor at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge
- Sir Richard Stilgoe, 1943–, songwriter, lyricist and musician
- Bernard Cornwell, 1944–, historical novelist
- Revd. Ian Cundy, 1945–2009, Bishop of Lewes and Bishop of Peterborough[13]
- Sir Richard Dearlove 1945-, Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1999 until 2004 and former Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- Ricky Panter, 1948-, Archdeacon of Liverpool
- Nigel Sinclair 1948-, Hollywood producer
- Sir Iain Torrance 1949–, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
- Sir David Haslam 1949- Former Chair of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and President of BMA and RCGP
Late 20th Century
- Professor Sir Robert Lechler, 1951–, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Professor of Immunology at King's College London
- John Reed, 1951-, former Archdeacon of Taunton
- Julian Colbeck, 1952-, musician and businessman
- Professor Mike Cowlishaw, 1953–, leading programmer and scientist
- Howard Milner, 1953–2011, leading tenor
- James Hawkins, 1954-, artist and film-maker
- Canon Nigel Biggar 1955-, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford
- Chris Anderson, 1957–, Journalist and publisher, Owner of TED and curator of TED Talks.
- Stephen Warren, 1957–, Professor of Astrophysics at Imperial College London
- John Kiddle, 1958-, Archdeacon of Wandsworth
- Sir Charles Farr, 1959–2019, Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation
- Lieutenant General Tim Evans, 1962-, former Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
- Steve Williams, 1976–, Olympic rowing champion
- Rowley Douglas, 1977-, Olympic coxswain champion
- James Frith, 1977-, former Member of Parliament for Bury North
- Stefan Booth, 1979-, actor
- Seyi Rhodes, 1979–, television presenter and investigative journalist
- Alex Partridge, 1981–, Olympic rower and World Rowing champion
- Ama Agbeze, 1982–, former Captain of the England national netball team
- Josh Ovens, 1989-, farmer and former player for Bath Rugby
- Professor Phil Hockey, 1959–2013, South African ornithologist, director of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town.[14]
21st Century
- Ben Wells, 2000-, first class cricketer
References
- "Monkton Combe School". Monkton Combe School website. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- Lace, A F (1968). A Goodly Heritage. ISBN 0950368806.
- "Senior School History". Monkton Combe School. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
- LeRoy, Peter (2017). A Delightful Inheritance. Monkton Combe School Enpterprises. ISBN 978-1999869809.
- "Monkton Combe School, the main or old block known as The Old Farm". historicengland.org.uk. English Heritage. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- "Monkton Combe School, the part of the Terrace Block known as The Old – Vicarage". historicengland.org.uk. English Heritage. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- www
.monktoncombeschool .com /senior /boarding .html - p.9.
- L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edmund Charles Peirse". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942.
- David Ellis (17 May 1994). "Obituary: David Adeney". The Independent Features. p. 14.
- Secretary, Office of the Home; Sciences, National Academy of (21 November 2003). Biographical Memoirs. National Academies Press. ISBN 9780309527699.
- Burgess, Kaya (22 December 2008). "Adrian Mitchell Shadow Poet Laureate dies aged 76". The Times. London.
- "The Right Reverend Ian Cundy". The Daily Telegraph. London. 11 May 2009.
- Ryan, Peter G. (1 July 2013). "Phil Hockey (1956-2013)". Ibis. 155 (3): 698–700. doi:10.1111/ibi.12058.