Epsom College

Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans ("Foundationers"). The college takes day pupils throughout with some boarding in 5 of the 13 houses in the senior (14 to 18) part of the school. The headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

Foundation

The school was founded in 1853 by John Propert as The Royal Medical Benevolent College, the aims of which were to provide accommodation for pensioned medical doctors or their widows in the first instance, and to provide a "liberal education" to 100 sons of "duly qualified medical men" for £25 each year.

The establishment of the college was the culmination of a campaign begun in 1844 by the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, the forerunner of the British Medical Association. The scheme saw the medical profession was "in regard to charitable institutions for the aged and infirm, the widow and the orphan, the worst provided of all professions and callings" and took as its aim the alleviating of poverty and debt. Discussions were chaired by Sir John Forbes, Physician to Prince Albert and the Royal Household, and followed similar plans establishing schools for the Clergy and the Royal Navy in desiring to raise money to found "schools for the sons of medical men", providing an education which would otherwise be "beyond the means of many parents".

By 1851, the Medical Benevolent Society had limited itself to the foundation of a single Benevolent College, and met in Treasurer John Propert's house in New Cavendish Street, Marylebone. The new campaign's fund-raising activities included dinners, which were attended by numerous doctors and Members of Parliament, and concerts, for example at one such event, on 4 July 1855, composer Hector Berlioz conducted the UK premier of his symphonic suite Harold in Italy.

The foundation stone was laid on 6 July 1853, and almost two years later, on 25 June 1855, the college was formally opened by Prince Albert and his son, the future King Edward VII in front of an unexpectedly large crowd of around 6,000. In March 1855, Queen Victoria had consented to become patron, which relationship with British monarchs has continued ever since; King Edward VII after the death of his mother, King George V, King Edward VIII in 1936, King George VI from 1937, and then the Queen until the present.

In 1980, it was estimated by a history of the college that a third of its 10,000 alumni had entered the profession. Salmon 1980: 64 The college's patron is Queen Elizabeth II.

Development and charity

It was founded in 1855 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession. Funding for such a bold undertaking proved inadequate to the task, resulting in a reduced number of buildings and therefore insufficient space to support 100 pensioners and 100 boys. In the 1860s, partially as a result of this, the school was opened up to children of non-medical parents. In subsequent decades, pensioners were supported off-site, until there were none on campus by the end of the 19th century. These moves mark the transition towards the college becoming a public school in the modern sense.

The college continued its charitable activities, alongside its strictly educational role, throughout the 20th century. It was only in 2000 that the Royal Medical Foundation was formed as a separate entity, funding the support of four Foundationers at the college, 27 outside it; and paying 20 pensions and supporting one doctor at a medical home.

In the 1920s the junior school side of the college was run down and thereafter it catered only for 13- to 18-year-olds. In 1976, girls were first allowed into the sixth-form. Twenty years later, the school became fully co-educational.

Its campus is on the outskirts of Epsom, near Epsom Downs on the North Downs, near the racecourse, home to the annual Epsom Derby. Its buildings date from 1853 and are mostly influenced by the Gothic revival architecture, described by Prince Albert as the "pointed style of the 14th Century". In 1974, the main building and the College Chapel attained Grade II listed status.

Epsom College in Malaysia

In 2009 it was announced that the college was to open a new school in Bandar Enstek, just south of Kuala Lumpur. Epsom College in Malaysia was officially opened in September 2014. The school offers the best of British education to pupils from 3 to 18 years of age. Students are offered a wide variety of recreational and competitive sports opportunities, such as badminton, squash, hockey, tennis, and swimming.

OFT inquiry

In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by ''The Times'' newspaper, although the schools made clear that they had not realised that the change to the law (which had happened only a few months earlier) about the sharing of information had subsequently made it an offence. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared. However, Jean Scott, the then-head of the Independent Schools Council, said that independent schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and that they were unaware of the change to the law (on which they had not been consulted). She wrote to John Vickers, the OFT director-general, saying, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed".

Houses

House colours are seen in the stripes in the ties worn by the majority of boys (those not wearing colours or prefects' ties); on a rectangular brooch occasionally worn by the girls; and at the neck of school pullovers. They are also used in house rugby and athletics tops.

Sport

Association football

Association football became the major sport for boys in the Lent Term in 2014. Previously the sport was an option and played at Sixth Form level only. Now it is played across all age groups from Under 12 to U18. The college is currently part of the Southern Independent Schools Lent Term League.

Rifle shooting

Epsom College has a long history of target rifle shooting, both small-bore and full-bore, and over the last 40 years has consistently been the premier rifle shooting school in the UK. The college rifle team has won the national schools fullbore championships – the Ashburton Shield – 15 times, holding the record for the highest number of Ashburton wins by a single school., thus making it as one of the best rifle teams in the country. They have won the Ashburton Shield, the premiere event at the annual Schools' Rifle Championships more often than any other school, recording a record-breaking 15th Ashburton win in 2011 (the 150th year of the competition).

Rugby football

Rugby football is a major boys' sport during the Michaelmas term. Rugby sevens is played in the Lent Term. In 2001, the Epsom College U15 team won their age group in Daily Mail Cup, beating The John Fisher School by 17–12 at Twickenham in the Final. In 2006, the U16 Epsom sevens team won the 2006 Sevens National Championship at Rosslyn Park by beating Millfield 29-19.
In 2005 Epsom College U15 Team lost to Bedford 10–5 in the Semi final of the Daily Mail competition.

The Epsom College Director of Rugby is former Ireland international Paul Burke.

Eccentricities

Air raid shelters

During the Second World War, in preparation for the possibility of attack from the air, several air raid shelters were built, the outlines of which are still visible in aerial photographs and satellite imagery as a row of negative cropmarks in the grass on the Chapel Triangle. In his 1944 book, ''Sunday After The War'', Henry Miller called these "shelters from aerial bombardment".

The fives courts

Near Wilson Pitch, there are the remnants of several open air fives courts, one of which is said to be a doubles court. In the late 1960s these were functional courts, albeit of odd design.

Headmasters

*(1855–1870) Robinson Thornton Salmon 1980: 96–100
*(1870–1885) The Rev. William de Lancy West
*(1885–1889) The Rev. William Cecil Wood
*(1889–1914) The Rev. Thomas Northcote Hart-Smith
*(1914–1922) The Rev. Canon Walter John Barton
*(1922–1939) The Rev. Canon Arnold Cecil Powell
*(1939–1962) Henry William Fernehough Franklin
*(1962–1970) Archibald Duncan Dougal MacCallum
*(1970–1982) Owen John Tressider Rowe
*(1982–1992) John B. Cook
*(1993–2000) Anthony Beadles
*(2000–2012) Stephen Borthwick
*(2012–2022) James Piggot
*(2022–) Emma Pattison

Sundry items of interest

*There is a Schools Class steam engine named after the school
*Wartime plane crash on Epsom racecourse by an ex Hart Smith pupil

Southern Railway Schools Class

The school lent its name to the thirty-eighth steam locomotive ( Engine 937) in the Southern Railway's Class V, of which there were 40. This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English public schools. 'Epsom', as it was called, was built in 1934. The locomotive bearing the school's name was withdrawn in the early 1960s.

Notable pupils

Usually this section will reflect past pupils, known as "Old Epsomians" (OEs). Where a current pupil is notable outside the school environment, such a pupil is listed in this section.

A to D

* Alexander Gordon (Alick) Bearn ''(C 1936–1940)'' (b 29 March 1923, d 15 May 2009). Pioneering geneticist known for his research into Wilson's disease
* Roland Boys Bradford ''(left 1907)'' (23 February 1892 – 30 November 1917) recipient of the Victoria Cross during First World War
* Jeaffreson Vennor Brewer ''(1866–1870)'' rugby union international for England in 1875Epsom College, ''Epsom College register, 1855–1954'', (Old Epsomian Club), 1955
* Professor Neville Butler ''(G 1933–1935)'' (b 6 July 1920, d 22 February 2007), paediatrician
* Paul Burke ''(G 1989–1991)'', Irish International Rugby Union Fly-half.
* Christian Candy ''(Rn 1989–1993)''
* Nick Candy ''(Rn 1986–1991)''
* Alex Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, CBE, QC (born 12 February 1948), Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.
* Warwick Charlton (b 9 March 1918, d 10 December 2002, conceived of, had built, and sailed the Mayflower II, replica of the Mayflower, in 1957 from Plymouth, Devon, to Plymouth, Massachusetts
* Alice Davidson-Richards, (b 29 May 1994) England Cricketer
* Tyger Drew-Honey ''(C 2009– )'' (b 26 January 1996), Child actor best known for his role in the hit BBC sitcom Outnumbered.
* Alastair Dickenson, Silver expert
* Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011 was a Nigerian military officer and politician. Ojukwu served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966, the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970

E to K

* McCormack Charles Farrell Easmon ''(left 1907)'', Doctor, Campaigner for Racial Equality in Sierra Leone, and founder of the Sierra Leone Museum
* Charles Syrett Farrell Easmon, CBE, MD, PhD, MRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci, (1946), British microbiologist and medical professor
* Michael Fallon, Member of Parliament for Sevenoaks and Secretary of State for Defence.
* Tony Fernandes ''(H 1977–1983)'', Malaysian entrepreneur, CEO and founder of AirAsia.
* Geoffrey Gillam FRCP (28 January 1905 – 15 February 1970) ''(left 1923)'', consultant cardiologist
* Stewart Granger (6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) ''(left 1923)'', Hollywood Actor
* Sir Charles Felix Harris (b 30 March 1900, New York, d 10 March 1974) Vice Chancellor of London University from 1958 to 1961
* Sir Alfred Bakewell Howitt (1879–1954), doctor and Conservative Member of Parliament
* Keith Irvine, interior designer
*Ciara Janson, ''(Cr 2000–2004)'' (b 27 April 1987) Actress (best known as Nicole Owen from Hollyoaks)
* Richard Stanley Leigh Jones ''(R 1953–1958)'' (born 1940), Australian parliamentarian.
*Desmond King-Hele, ''(R 1941–1945)'' (b 3 November 1927) physicist and author.

L to R

* Derek (William) Lambert (b 10 October 1929, d 2001), Thriller writer, also journalist
* Professor Suzannah Lipscomb, a historian, academic and broadcaster who specialises in the sixteenth century. She has presented programmes across the BBC
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