Bishop's Stortford College is a independent

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

in the English public school tradition for more than 1,200 pupils aged 4–18, situated in a campus on the edge of the market town of

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. As an " all-through" school, it is a member of both the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the

Independent Association of Preparatory Schools The Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS, formerly Independent Association of Preparatory Schools) is a schools association, representing around 670 preparatory schools. The majority of IAPS' schools are in the UK, with other locations ...

. It is also a founding member of the Bishop’s Stortford Educational Trust, a consortium of local primary and secondary schools, and currently the only such trust in the UK to involve both state and independent sectors. The college head is Kathy Crewe-Read.

History

The college was founded in 1868 by a group of prominent

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

n Nonconformists who wanted to establish a public school "in which Evangelical Nonconformists might secure for their boys, an effective and Christian education on terms that should not be beyond the reach of the middle class generally". They approached the Bishop's Stortford Collegiate School, a non-sectarian school founded in 1850, and acquired the buildings, renaming it The Nonconformist Grammar School. It was inaugurated on 23 September 1868, with 40 pupils, including 17 boarders, under the headship of Rev Richard Alliott, who remained at the helm until his death in 1899. Former star pupil Francis Young became second headmaster, in 1900. During his 31-year tenure the roll increased from just 90 pupils to nearly 400 and the school grew in reputation. Among Young's first acts were: renaming it the Bishop's Stortford College in 1901, to avoid confusion with the town's rival Grammar School; in 1902 taking over an existing school for boys aged 8–13 years, which became the new preparatory department; in 1903 introducing rugby; and in 1904 changing the school's status from private commercial ownership to publicly endowed. He also commissioned many of the campus's redbrick buildings designed in the arts and crafts style by architect and former pupil Herbert Ibberson, acquired the 100 acre sports fields and oversaw construction of the Memorial Hall, commemorating the Old Stortfordians who had died in the Great War. The college changed status in 1945, from a direct grant school to fully independent public school. It celebrated its centenary in 1968 with a major building programme and a visit by HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, followed in 1969 with a book, ''Bishop’s Stortford College: A Centenary Chronicle''. September 1977 saw the first four girls admitted, and the following year the first girls' house, Young, opened. In 1995 the college became fully coeducational, appointed its first female deputy head, Wendy Bellars, and opened a new co-ed Pre-Prep day school. Since 2013 large parts of the college have been substantially redeveloped and expanded, including new premises for Alliott, Collett, Trotman and Rowe Houses, and an extension to the Prep School (during which workers excavated 2.5 tonnes of Hertfordshire puddingstone, one of the rarest rocks). In the early hours of 29 September 2015 Robert Pearce boarding house was devastated by fire. Pupils and staff were evacuated safely but the building lost its roof and burned down to the bricks. It was renovated and reopened in January 2018, in time for the college's 150th anniversary, which was commemorated in the book, ''Bishop's Stortford College: Celebrating 150 Years 1868-2018.'' On 1 September 2020 Kathy Crewe-Read, formerly head of Wolverhampton Grammar School, became the first woman to lead the school and only the tenth head in its 152-year history.

College heads

In its first century, the college had just five headmasters. * 1868–1899: Rev Richard Alliott * 1900–1931: Francis S Young * 1932–1943: H Leo Price * 1944–1957: AN Evans * 1957–1970: Peter Rowe * 1970–1984: Colin Greetham * 1984–1997: Stephen George Garnett Benson * 1997–2011: John Trotman * 2011–2020: Jeremy Gladwin * 2020–present: Kathy Crewe-Read

Present day

There are 1,213 pupils at Bishop's Stortford College: 580 in the Senior School (aged 13–18), including 238 in the Sixth Form, 505 in the Prep School (aged 7–13) and 128 in Pre-Prep (aged 4–7). Pupils board from the age of seven. The Senior School has 111 boarders, including full, weekly and part-time; the Prep School has 26 full, weekly or flexi-boarders. Most UK boarders come from Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex and London, while most international boarders are Senior School pupils. In 2020, the college produced its best-ever GCSE results, with 79% of all grades at 9-7 (up from 76% in 2019). At A Level, students achieved a 100% pass rate in 2020, with 86% of results graded A*-B and 62% at A*-A. Most students go on to study at Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. The lates
ISI
Education Quality Inspection report, published in March 2017, found that "the quality of the pupils' academic and other achievements is excellent", with pupils displaying "excellent attitudes towards their learning and highly developed study skills". The report also stated that "the school is highly successful in creating an ethic of hard work and enthusiastic participation". The college maintains a Christian ethos but promotes matters of faith from a non-denominational perspective that is sensitive towards pupils of other faiths and none. Morning assemblies are led by the head and the school chaplain, with an evening service for boarders every Sunday and a weekly prayer breakfast for staff on Wednesday mornings. Since 2009 it has hosted an annual Festival of Literature, which is open to the public and includes events for local primary schools. Speakers and performers have included Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, former Children's Laureate Anthony Browne, broadcasters

Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career. Education After ...

and Michael Portillo, author and illustrator James Mayhew, art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon and the bestselling novelist Rachel Joyce. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the 2021 festival was a virtual event.

Houses

The college has 14 houses, all named after prominent figures in its history. Each of the six, single-sex day houses in the Senior School is in the care of a housemaster or housemistress, while the five boarding houses all have resident house parents, a resident assistant and other resident staff. Prep School pupils are split into four houses for competitions: Monk-Jones, Newbury, Westfield and Grimwade, but the latter is the only bricks and mortar house and is home to the boarders. The Senior School has five houses for boys – Collett, Hayward and Sutton for day boys, and Robert Pearce and Rowe for boys' boarding; and five houses for girls – Alliott, Benson and Tee for day girls, and Trotman and Young for girls' boarding.

College facilities

The FS Young Library was built in 1936 as a permanent memorial to FS Young, college headmaster from 1900 to 1931. Since 1992 it has been run by qualified librarians and is fully supervised for 70 hours a week to provide research and study facilities and assistance for pupils and staff. It is also home to an extensive archive of college records, publications, photographs, cuttings, and memorabilia including old uniforms from the college's early days. Sports facilities include a sports hall, fitness centre and indoor pool, officially opened in 2002 by Olympian swimmer Duncan Goodhew. The playing fields cover more than 100 acres, including 12 rugby pitches, seven cricket squares and 16 cricket nets, three grass hockey pitches, five football pitches and a grass running track. There are also two floodlit

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

pitches for tennis and hockey, all-weather surface courts for netball and tennis and a multi-use games area. The college has been included in ''The Cricketer'' magazine's guide to cricket's top 100 schools in England since 2017 and the Prep School is in the top 50 for the first time in the 2021 edition. In 2020 it became an MCC Foundation Cricket Hub, providing free cricketing facilities and coaching to state-educated young cricketers. The

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Memorial Hall has been used for assemblies, concerts and special events since it was formally opened in 1922 by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. Designed by architect

Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architect ...

(creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales), it was built to commemorate the 62 former college boys who had died in the First World War. The doors were given in memory of EA Knight, a popular master killed on active service in Belgium in 1917. A second Roll of Honour was added in 1949, inscribed with the names of a further 92 former students who died while serving in the Second World War. Wooden chairs in the hall had names individually carved for dedication. The Ferguson Building, opened in 2007 and named after Old Stortfordian Professor John Ferguson, who was a founding member of the Open University, provides a lecture theatre for up to 180 people, meeting room, ICT suite and sixth form social centre. It is built on the site of the old indoor swimming pool and retains some of its original features. It hosts the Ferguson Lectures, which focus on contemporary issues and are open to the public; speakers have included former

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Dr Rowan Williams;

Jason Cowley Jason Cowley is the name of: * Jason Cowley (footballer) *Jason Cowley (journalist) Jason Cowley (born 19 June 1965) is an English journalist, magazine editor and writer. After working at the ''New Statesman'', he became the editor of ''Granta' ...

, editor of the New Statesman; Brendan Simms, Professor of History of International Relations at Peterhouse, Cambridge; Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales; the late Tony Benn, politician; and writer and historian Tom Holland. Other facilities include the purpose-built Charles Edwards Centre, which houses ICT, physics and design and technology, and the Walter Strachan Art Centre, which has a sculpture studio, workshop, gallery space, IT suite, sixth form studio and departmental library.

Notable Old Stortfordians

Former pupils are known as Old Stortfordians. For a more complete list, see People educated at Bishop's Stortford College. * Sir Leonard Pearce (1873–1947),

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, designer of Battersea Power Station * Grantly Dick-Read (1890–1959), obstetrician, pioneer of natural childbirth *Lieutenant-Colonel Sir

Brett Cloutman Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Brett Mackay Cloutman VC MC KC (7 November 1891 – 15 August 1971) was a British Army officer who was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that ...

(1891–1971) VC, MC, KC, awarded the last Victoria Cross of the First World War * Wilfred Bion (1897–1979),

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

, president of the British Psychoanalytical Society, 1962–65 * Malcolm Nokes (1897–1986) MC, Olympic medalist, teacher, soldier, chemist, nuclear scientist * H Leo Price (1899–1943), hockey and rugby international, Bishop's Stortford College headmaster, 1932–1943 * Clifford Dupont (1905–1978), first President of

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

* Leader Stirling (1906–2003), missionary surgeon, Health Minister of Tanzania, 1975–1980 *

Sir Dick White Sir Dick Goldsmith White, (20 December 1906 – 21 February 1993) was a British intelligence officer. He was Director General (DG) of MI5 from 1953 to 1956, and Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1956 to 1968. Early life White ...

(1906–1993), ,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, Director-General of MI5, 1953–1956, Chief of MI6, 1956–1968 *

Alec Clifton-Taylor Alec Clifton-Taylor (2 August 1907 – 1 April 1985) was an English architectural historian, writer and TV broadcaster. Biography and works Born Alec Clifton Taylor (no hyphen), the son of Stanley Edgar Taylor, corn-merchant, and Ethel Elizab ...

(1907–1985), architectural historian *

Edward Crankshaw Edward Crankshaw (3 January 1909 – 30 November 1984) was a British writer, author, translator and commentator; best known for his work on Soviet Union, Soviet affairs and the Gestapo (Secret State Police) of Nazi Germany. Biography William Edw ...

(1909–1984), expert and author on the Soviet Union and the Gestapo * John Glyn-Jones (1909–1997), actor * Roger Hilton (1911–1975),

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, pioneer of abstract art * Denis Greenhill, Baron Greenhill of Harrow (1913–2000), GCMG,

Permanent Under-Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil se ...

of the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

and Head of the Diplomatic Service, 1969–1973 * Peter Wright (1916–1995), Assistant Director-General of MI5 and author of ''

Spycatcher ''Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer'' (1987) is a memoir written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and Assistant Director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. He drew on his own experiences and research into ...

'' * Sir Arthur Bonsall (born 1917), KCMG, Director of GCHQ, 1973–1978 *

Leslie McLean Leslie Eric McLean (19 April 1918 – 16 December 1987) was an English first-class cricketer. McLean was born in April 1918 at Lynton, Devon. He was educated at Bishop's Stortford College, before going up to Christ Church, Oxford. While st ...

(1918–1987), cricketer * General Sir Peter Whiteley (1920–2016), GCB, OBE, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Northern Europe (1977-1979) * Drummond Allison (1921–1943), Second World War poet
Professor John Ferguson
(1921–1989), Christian pacifist, first Dean of Arts at the Open University * John Rae (1931–2006), author, headmaster of Westminster School, 1970–1986 * CIM Jones (1934–2016), Olympic hockey player (

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

) and coach, Hertfordshire cricketer, college head of geography 1960–1970, Headmaster of

Bedford School :''Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Girls' School, Bedford High School, Bedford Modern School, Old Bedford School in Bedford, Texas or Bedford Academy in Bedford, Nova Scotia.'' Bedford School is a public school (English indep ...

* Dick Clement (born 1937),

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, television and screenwriter * John Heddle (1943–1989), politician *

John Richard Patterson John Richard Patterson (17 May 1945 – 29 January 1997) was the founder of the UK-based computer dating service Dateline. ''The Guardian'' called him "history's most successful Cupid," while ''The Times'' characterized Dateline as "probably th ...

(1945–1997), founder of the Dateline computer dating service * Sir Stephen Lander (born 1947), KCB, Director-General of MI5, 1996–2002, and Chair of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, 2004–2009 * Robert Kirby (1948–2009), arranger, best known for his work with

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

Andy Peebles Robert Andrew Peebles (born 1948) is a British radio DJ, television presenter, and cricket commentator. Born in London, Peebles attended Bishop's Stortford College. He began as a nightclub DJ in the late 1960s. Peebles was resident DJ at the C ...

(born 1948), broadcaster * Alan Lyddiard (born Michael Kent, 1949), theatre and film director * Bill Sharpe (born 1952), keyboardist and founding member of jazz-funk band Shakatak * James Duthie (born 1957), hockey player and Great Britain team coach * James Baxter (born 1967), British

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

Guy Wilkinson The Venerable Canon Guy Alexander Wilkinson (born 13 January 1948) is an Anglican priest who was Archdeacon of Bradford from 1999 to 2004. Wilkinson was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and ordained after an earlier career with the E ...

(born 1968), professor of physics at the University of Oxford * Ben Clarke (born 1968), England rugby union player (1992–1999) *

Alastair Lukies Alastair David Lukies CBE (born 1973 Harlow, United Kingdom) is a British entrepreneur who is involved in mobile communications. In 2003, Lukies co-founded Monitise. In 2006, he was recognised as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. ...

(born 1973), entrepreneur and co-founder of

Monitise Monitise Plc was a British company in financial services technology. Monitise was founded by Alastair Lukies and Steven Atkinson in 2003. Its headquarters are in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the US, Turkey, and Cardiff. The compan ...

Iain Mackay Iain Mackay (born 24 April 1985) is a British field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed for the national team in the tournament. Club career MacKay played club hockey with Reading but left after the Olympics to join Hampst ...

(born 1985), hockey international, Olympian * Charli XCX (Charlotte Aitchison; born 1992), multi-award-winning singer-songwriter * Elinah Phillip (born 2000), Olympic swimmer Notable teachers have included: * Percy Horton (1897–1970),

, College art master 1925–1930 * Herbert Sumsion (1899–1995), Organist of Gloucester Cathedral, College director of music 1924–1926 * Viscount Bracken (1901–1958), publisher, politician, First Lord of the Admiralty, College master c.1920–1922 *

Bernie Cotton Bernard James Cotton (born 30 June 1948) is a field hockey coach and former player and captain. He won 73 caps for England and 54 for Great Britain, representing the country at the 1972 Summer Olympics.MBE (born 1948), England and Great Britain hockey player and coach, college geography master 1960s, 1970s, 1990s

References

External links

Bishop's Stortford College Prospectus: HistoryProfile
in the Good Schools Guide *Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI
reports
{{Coord , 51, 52, 12, N, 00, 09, 07, E, display=title Educational institutions established in 1868 Independent schools in Hertfordshire Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Boarding schools in Hertfordshire 1868 establishments in England * Bishop's Stortford