Haileybury and Imperial Service College
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Coat of arms of Haileybury College |
This article refers to the school in England. For its Australian counterpart, see Haileybury College, Melbourne.Haileybury College is an English
public school founded in
1862. It is a modern co-educational boarding school welcoming pupils at 11+, 13+ and 16+.
The school is located at
Hertford Heath, near
Hertford, 20 miles from
London in rural countryside on a site occupied until
1858 by the
East India Company College. Its architect,
William Wilkins, later designed the
National Gallery in London, and
Downing College Cambridge, which bear some similarities. The school is built around four ranges which enclose an area known as
Quad, which is the largest academic quadrangle in the UK and one of the largest in the world.
The buildings reopened as
Haileybury in
1862. The large dome which dominates the skyline was added as part of
Arthur Blomfield's Chapel, completed in
1877. The dome was badly damaged by fire when only a year old and had to be extensively repaired. On
7th July 1932 the
Memorial Dining Hall was opened by the future
King George VI &
Queen Elizabeth as a monument to former pupils who had died in the
Great War. For a number of years this building was one of the largest unsupported domes in Europe and it has very interesting acoustics. Until the 1990's the entire school of over 700 pupils dined within this building at a single sitting for breakfast, lunch and supper all brought to a silence for the grace before and after each meal by a massive brass
howitzer shell, captured from a German gun implacent during
World War I which had been converted into a
gong. A gilded plaster boss in the centre of this dome represents an oak tree being struck by lightning. Known as
Little Lightning Oak this decoration is a representation of
Lightning Oak, the massive oak tree which stands on
Terrace, the area of grass in front of the School and visible in this photograph. This tree was struck by lightning and all but destroyed but, miraculously, re-sprouted. The tree was seen as a metaphor for the school, decimated by war but growing back stronger. In 1942, Haileybury absorbed the
Imperial Service College, which had already absorbed the
United Services College.
As well as the Memorial Dining Hall, there are other impressive
memorials to 1,435 alumni who perished in wars. The War Memorial on Terrace which originally commemorated those lost in
World War I was unveiled by
General Sir Alexander Godley,
KCB,
KCMG on
7th July 1923. This was designed by former pupil
Sir Reginald Blomfield. Known as The
Cross of Sacrifice this simple stone cross with a bronze sword applied was the prototype for a memorial that can now be found in every
Commonwealth War Cemetery and has been used for many other war memorials around the world.
Seventeen former Haileybury pupils have received the
Victoria Cross, and three the
George Cross.
Today Haileybury is a coeducational school for 11-19 year-olds, with recent
girls' boarding houses, (Colvin, Melvill, Allenby, Albans, and Hailey) and many facilities. There are still 7 boys houses in the school, (Edmonstone, Lawrence, Bartle Frere,
Kipling, Batten, Thomason and Trevelyan). The
Ayckbourn Theatre is a fully functional modern theatre. The college chapel
organ was built by Klais in
1997, with two
manuals and thirty
stops. There is a modern sports centre and a synthetic running track. Haileybury has a
rackets court, built in
1908, which is unusual in having a double gallery. During
World War II, it was damaged by the blast from a
V-2 Rakete (sic) and was not restored until
1952. The school supports a professional coach.
Groups originating from Haileybury support a number of charities such as The Children's Trust in Tadworth, the Home Farm Trust and the Boys' Club in
Stepney once managed by Old Haileyburian
Clement Attlee. Attlee was noted for his promotion of fellow Old Haileyburians.
Haileybury is attached to a junior school,
Lambrook Haileybury, at Winkfield Row, near
Bracknell, where it moved in 1998 from
Windsor.
Past pupils are known as Old Haileyburians.
Arts
*
Michael Aitkens*
Alan Ayckbourn*
John Blofeld,
Taoist and
Buddhist author
*
Reginald Blomfield*
Dom Joly*
Quentin Letts*
Simon MacCorkindale*
Stephen Mangan*
John McCarthy (journalist)
*
Chris Nolan*
Hoyt Richards Model and Actor
*
Arthur Thomas*
Herbert Trench*
Rex Whistler - Reginald John 'Rex' Whistler
*
Rudyard KiplingArmed Forces
*
Edmund Allenby *
Jonathon Band*
Robert Brooke-Popham*
Clifford Coffin*
Nevill Josiah Aylmer Coghill*
Cyril Hubert Frisby*
Rupert Price Hallowes*
Trafford Leigh-Mallory*
Conwyn Mansel-Jones*
Clement Robertson*
Peter Townsend (Group Captain)*
William George WalkerBusiness
*
Alan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Drury LaneThe Church
*
John Jamieson Willis - Bishop of Uganda
The Law
*
Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey*
Richard MayLearning
*
Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot*
Peter Ladefoged prominent linguist and
phonetician*
Robert Liddell*
William Muir*
Humphry Osmond*
Frank Podmore*
George SpeaightPolitics
*
Clement Attlee*
Hugh Bayley*
Barry Gardiner*
Nick Herbert*
Christopher Mayhew*
David Garro Trefgarne, 2nd Baron Trefgarne*
Charles VilliersCivil Service
*
Andrew GreenSports
*
Tom Askwith*
Stirling Moss*
Maharajkumar of Vizianagram - Indian cricketer
Miscellaneous
*
Lionel Curtis*
Robert Erskine Childers*
Official site*
Kipling House — One of the 7 boys' houses in the school.
* — The central turquoise circle is the Chapel dome on the south range of the 'Quad'. The larger turquoise circle is the copper covered dome of the Memorial Dining Hall.
*
The Haileybury Society*
Walk around Haileybury*
Junior school*
Imperial Service College*
Rackets*
Running track*
Haileybury College, Melbourne, Australia
