The Old Palace of John Whitgift School is a selective

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for girls in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The Old Palace is protected as a

Grade I 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 ...

listed building 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 ...

. It consists of a pre-school for the ages of 3-4, a preparatory department for the ages of 4-11 and a senior school for pupils aged 11–18. The school is operated by the

Whitgift Foundation The Whitgift Foundation is a charity based in Croydon, South London, England. The purpose of the charity is to provide education for the young and care for the elderly. The main activities of the charity are the operation of three independent s ...

, along with

Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...

and

Trinity School of John Whitgift The Trinity School of John Whitgift, usually referred to as Trinity School, is a British independent boys' day school with a co-educational Sixth Form, located in Shirley Park, Croydon. Part of the Whitgift Foundation, it was established in 1 ...

, and is consistently ranked as one of the top performing independent girls' schools in London.

History

The school was founded in 1889 by the Sisters of the Church. The " Old Palace" itself was for 500 years the summer residence of the

Archbishops 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 ...

. In the 19th century the Archbishops ended their residence at Croydon Palace and used

Addington Palace Addington Palace is an 18th-century mansion in Addington located within the London Borough of Croydon. It was built on the site of a 16th-century manor house. It is particularly known for having been, between 1807 and 1897, the summer resid ...

, also in

, instead. The Palace was sold and subsequently used as a bleaching factory, amongst other things. The building was rescued by the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

in 1887 and given to the Sisters Of The Church who used it for educational purposes. In 1945, the school became a

Direct Grant Grammar School A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

and in 1975, became a fully independent day school for girls. The school joined the Whitgift Foundation in 1993. The school merged with

Croham Hurst School Croham Hurst School was a day independent school for junior and senior girls located in South Croydon, England. It was established in 1899, and closed in 2008 when it was absorbed into Old Palace School, Croydon. History The school was establi ...

, a former independent school, in 2008. It is also home to a suspected ghost - The Green Lady - who was said to have lived there around the time of Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Grounds

The senior school building was for centuries the summer palace of the

. It began life as the manor house, part wooden from at least the 12th century, and stone from the 14th century. The core of today’s palace was built in the 15th century. The guardroom – once a reception room, now a library – dates from the time of Archbishop Thomas Arundel (1396-1414), and is one of the earliest uses of brick in Britain. Archbishop John Stafford (died 1452) built what is now one of the finest medieval great halls left in southern England. A number of monarchs from Henry VI to

banqueted under its high arched-brace roof, each sitting on Stafford’s stone throne, part of which survives against the west wall. Elizabeth made numerous visits, and her bed, always travelling with her, was set down in what is now known as Queen Elizabeth’s room, a large 15th-century first-floor space, with moulded ceiling joists. The chapel dates from the 15th century, and includes a gallery pew in dark oak often referred to as ‘Queen Elizabeth’s Pew', built by Archbishop William Laud. Beneath this is a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

font gifted in Victorian times from St George’s Church, Southwark, the same font where

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

had

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...

christened. The senior school also houses modern, purpose-built facilities including seven laboratories, a heated indoor swimming pool, and an Art and Technology building. In 2001 a building for the Junior Department and one housing the Sixth Form and P.E. area were opened. The school also benefits from access to

grounds and facilities. Today, the pre-school and preparatory school are on a separate site to the senior school, on Melville Avenue in South Croydon. The preparatory and pre-school buildings used to be Croham Hurst School before they were acquired by Old Palace.

Notable former pupils

Jane Featherstone Jane Featherstone (born 1969) is an English television producer and founder of Sister Pictures, a television production company. Prior to that, she was the chief executive of Kudos and co-chairman of Shine UK, now part of Endemol Shine Group. B ...

- television producer * Sarah Jones - Labour MP for

Croydon Central Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

from 2017 * Helen Young - weather forecaster and television presenter * Sonia Sodha - columnist * Jane Steen - Church of England

Bishop of Lynn The Bishop of Lynn is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of King's Lynn in Norfolk; the See was erected un ...

in Norfolk

Houses

All students are assigned to one of four houses named after notable people associated with the Palace. The houses, and their colours, are Anselm (yellow),

Hatton Hatton may refer to: Places Canada * Hatton, Saskatchewan England * Hatton, Cheshire West and Chester, a former civil parish * Hatton, Derbyshire * Hatton, Lincolnshire * Hatton, London, in the London Borough of Hounslow * Hatton, Shropshire, a ...

(green), Laud (purple), and

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

(blue).

References

External links

Old Palace School website

Old Palace Old Girls' Association website
{{authority control Independent schools in the London Borough of Croydon Educational institutions established in 1889 Independent girls' schools in London 1889 establishments in England Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of Southwark