St Piran's is a

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

located on Gringer Hill in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, Berkshire, England. The school was known as Cordwalles School until 1919 and has been co-educational since the 1990s.

History

The origin of St Piran's was in 1805 at a small school, the Revd John Potticary's school in

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, at 2–3 Eliot Place. After moving to its present location in 1872, it operated as a boys' boarding school under the name of Cordwalles School until 1919. Up to this time, it was among a group of preparatory schools – which included

Stubbington House School Stubbington House School was founded in 1841 as a boys' preparatory school, originally located in the Hampshire village of Stubbington, around from the Solent. Stubbington House School was known by the sobriquet "the cradle of the Navy". The sc ...

and

Eastman's Royal Naval Academy Eastman's Royal Naval Academy, originally in Southsea and later at Winchester, both in England, was a preparatory school. Between 1855 and 1923 it was known primarily as a school that prepared boys for entry to the Royal Navy. Thereafter, it wa ...

– that maintained strong connections with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. In that year, 1919, the school was bought by Major Vernon Seymour Bryant who renamed it St Piran's. It reopened in 1920 with 23 boys, increasing to 65 the following year. After becoming an educational trust in 1972, the school became co-educational in 1993, and boarding ended the same year. In 2005, St. Piran's celebrated its 200th anniversary with a bicentennial pageant. In 2008 a new geography room and lower school hall were completed.

Headmasters

, the headmasters of the school have been: * John Potticary 1805–1820 * George Brown Francis Potticary 1820–1850 *

Richard Cowley Powles Richard Cowley Powles (1819–1901), known often as Cowley Powles, was an English cleric, academic and founding headmaster of Wixenford School. Early life He was the son of John Diston Powles, and was educated at Helston Grammar School under D ...

1850–1865 * Thomas Jackson Nunns 1865–1890 * Charles William Hunt 1890–1902 * Cyril Robert Carter 1902–1910 * Theodore William Keeling 1910–1912 * Mervyn Frank Voules 1912–1919 * Vernon Seymour Bryant 1919–1926 * Arthur Grendon Tippet DSO 1926–1943 * Lowther Grendon Tippet 1943–1972 * Guy Gross and Andrew Perry 1972–1980 * Andrew Perry 1980–1982 * Andrew Blumer 1982–2001 * Jonathan Carroll 2001–2019 * Seb Sales 2019–present

Former pupils

* Admiral Sir

Claud Barry Admiral Sir Claud Barrington Barry (17 July 1891 – 27 December 1951) was a Royal Navy officer who became Naval Secretary. Naval service Educated at Cordwalles School and at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and the Royal Naval College, Dartmo ...

, KBE CB DSO *

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

* Cecil Malone *

Victor Mollo Victor Mollo (17 September 1909 – 24 September 1987) was a British contract bridge player, journalist and author. He is most famous for his "Menagerie" series of bridge books, depicting vivid caricatures of players with animal names and man ...

* Vice Admiral Sir

Peveril William-Powlett Vice Admiral Sir Peveril Barton Reiby Wallop William-Powlett, (5 March 1898 – 10 November 1985) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic Station from 1952 to 1954. Naval career William-Powlett attended Co ...

, KCB

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

CBE 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 ...

DSO *

Thomas Field Gibson Thomas Field Gibson FGS (3 March 1803 – 12 December 1889) was a Unitarian silk manufacturer and philanthropist. He supported several novel initiatives to enhance British manufacturing quality and international trade while improving life fo ...

and his cousin Charles Ronalds *

Anthony West (author) Anthony West (4 August 1914 – 27 December 1987) was an English author and literary critic. Biography West was born Anthony Panther West Fairfield, the son of British authors Rebecca West and H. G. Wells. His parents never married, as Wells ...

Cooper, Artemis, ''Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure'' (2012), p.15, . *

Patrick Leigh Fermor Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greates ...

(expelled)

References

External links

School website

Profile
on the

ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

website
Memories of a 1960's pupil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Piran's (school) Independent schools in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Educational institutions established in 1805 Preparatory schools in Berkshire Maidenhead 1805 establishments in England Preparatory schools associated with the Royal Navy