Peterhouse Boys' School (or Peterhouse) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, boarding

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

for boys in Mashonaland East,

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. The school was founded by Fred Snell in 1955 and is located on an estate that is shared with Calderwood Park, a conservation area and game park, outside Marondera. The school is one of the schools under the Peterhouse Group of Schools, the other schools being Peterhouse Girls' School, Springvale House Preparatory School and Peterhouse Nursery School. Peterhouse was ranked as one of the Top 10 High Schools in Zimbabwe in 2014. Additionally Peterhouse was ranked as one of the Spears Top 100 Private Schools in The World in 2025. The Peterhouse Group is led by the Rector, who also has responsibility on a day-to-day basis as Headmaster for Peterhouse Boys' School. The school is a founding member of the Association of Trust Schools (ATS). The Rector is a member of the Conference of Heads of Independent Schools in Zimbabwe (CHISZ) and an international member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...

(HMC) which represents over 250 independent schools in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and worldwide.

History

In September 1951,

Edward Paget General Sir Edward Paget (3 November 1775 – 13 May 1849) was a British Army officer. Career Born the fourth son of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, Edward Paget became a cornet in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards in 1792. He was Member ...

, Bishop of Southern Rhodesia, wrote to the Rector of

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal, Balgowan valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Spear’s Schools Index 2025 reco ...

in Natal, offering him the headship of a school that did not exist. Six months later, Fred Snell started working with Canon Robert Grinham and the Ruzawi School Board toward the creation of an independent senior school. Peterhouse opened in 1955 under the rectorship of Fred Snell with 55 boys and within five years the number had risen to 360 according to plan. Peterhouse was founded as an Anglican boys' country boarding school. When the school opened in 1955, the major building programme had been completed; the Chapel had been dedicated; the staff were accommodated in houses around the grounds; and the grounds themselves had been developed, with the playing fields spreading across the slope below the school, and beyond them, plantations of gum and pine. During the rectorship of Fred Snell, the first black pupils joined the school. Bruce Fieldsend, who joined Peterhouse at the beginning, succeeded Fred Snell as Rector in 1968. Under Bruce Fieldsend, Peterhouse continued to flourish and in 1976, the school had an enrolment of 389 pupils – the highest it had ever been. In 1972, the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

had begun to cast a shadow over the land. In 1976 the enrolment began to drop and by the beginning of 1980, Peterhouse was barely half full. After

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, the school began to grow again, and in 1984 Bruce Fieldsend was succeeded by the Reverend Doctor Alan Megahey. Under his rectorship not only did the boys' school grow to over 500 pupils, but in 1985, Springvale House, a preparatory school for boys and girls, was opened and in 1987 Peterhouse Girls' School started. These two schools are both situated on the site of the old Springvale School which had closed during the war and which was on the other side of the main Harare / Mutare road from the boys' school. The three schools now occupy a site of 3 000 acres, of which 700 acres are taken up with Gosho Park, Peterhouse's conservation area and Game Park. In 1994, Mike Bawden succeeded Alan Megahey as rector. In 2002, Jon Calderwood was appointed rector after Bawden returned to England. Calderwood was head of Springvale House from 1985 to 1993 and Head of Peterhouse Girls from 1994 to 2001 before he was rector. He retired as rector at the end of 2012. In 2013 Howard Blackett, formerly headmaster of the

Royal Hospital School The Royal Hospital School (also known as "RHS" and historically nicknamed "The Cradle of the Navy") is a British co-educational fee-charging international boarding and day school with naval traditions. The school admits pupils aged 11 to 18 ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, was appointed rector. Jonathan Trafford, an old Peterhouse teacher and headmaster, took up the position in January 2020.

Coat of arms

On 19 April 1956, Peterhouse was given its name. Then as Fred Snell recorded, much thought and discussion was put into the choice and design of the "Coat of Arms" for the new school. Its name linked it with Michaelhouse, but its symbols the cock, the cross and the crown honoured St. Peter.

Houses

The boys are organised into six boarding houses named after people who were significant in the history of the school or the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe. They are, in order of founding: Ellis House, Paget House, Grinham House, Malvern House, Founders House, Snell House. Each boy is allocated a house upon enrolment, and he remains a member of that house until he leaves. In addition to the houses being buildings in which the boys reside, they compete on a sporting academic and cultural front. In the late 1980s an additional house, Tinokura was created to house D Block boys (aged 12–14) in their first year at Peterhouse.

Sport

Sporting activities on offer include athletics,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, squash,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and weight training.

Activities

The cultural activities on offer are (but not limited too): Art Club, Bridge,

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

, Christian Fellowship, Conservation, Dance (both Ballroom and Hip Hop),

Debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

, Engineering, Interact Club, Kukura neShungu Club, Leo Club, Music,

Photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, Quiz, Social Responsibility, Woodwork, Public Speaking, History Society, Horse Riding etc. Peterhouse Boys' School offers the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award to boys in C Block (Form 2) upwards.

Environmental parks

The school, for educational and recreational purposes uses Gosho Park, a conservation area named after Patrick Gosho that is owned by the Peterhouse Group which is situated on the Springvale Estate (being adjacent to Peterhouse Girls' School and Springvale House). Geography field trips, Biology research projects and leadership courses are some of the activities that take place in Gosho Park. Calderwood Park, a conservation area opened in 2012 on the Peterhouse Boys' estate is also used by the boys with infrastructural developments in progress.

Chapel

The Peterhouse Boys chapel was built along the lines of Coventry Cathedral in England. The school was named after

Peter the apostle Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...

. The foundation stone was laid by the first Archbishop of Central Africa, and one of the school's founders, Edward Francis Paget, in November 1956. The Chapel was dedicated in November 1958 by the then Bishop of Mashonaland (The Right Reverend Cecil Alderson) in the presence of Archbishops Hughes and Paget. The Chapel seats over 600 and is fitted with an organ; the small pipes in the range were brought into the country by ox wagon in the late 1890s. The full organ was installed in 1966.

Relationship with Peterhouse Girls' School

Peterhouse Girls' School is the

sister school A sister school is usually a pair of schools, usually single-sex school, one with female students and the other with male students. This relationship is seen to benefit both schools. For instance, when Harvard University was a male-only school, Ra ...

of Peterhouse Boys' School. The schools, both owned by the Peterhouse Group, interact in various cultural activities and to a lesser extent in sports. The Fifth Form and Sixth Form are co-educational, with pupils from Peterhouse Girls' having lessons at the boys' school.

List of rectors

List of rectors of Peterhouse Boys School.

Alumni

Petrean Society

A Petrean is any pupil who has been a member of the school, normally for a minimum of two years; any person who has been a member of the staff of the school for at least three years; or any person who has been a member of the Executive Committee of the school for at least three years.

Notable alumni

* Gary Ballance (2007) - England International

er. * Peter Beaumont

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

QC (1961) - British barrister and retired judge * Graham Boynton - author, former travel editor of the

Telegraph Media Group Telegraph Media Group Limited (TMG; previously the Telegraph Group) owns ''The Daily Telegraph'' and '' The Sunday Telegraph'' and is a subsidiary of Press Holdings. David and Frederick Barclay acquired the group on 30 July 2004 from Hollinger I ...

* Stuart Carlisle (1991) - Zimbabwe International

er * Rick Cosnett, actor * Munyaradzi Chidzonga (2004) - NAMA Award-winning actor, filmmaker, entrepreneur. * Philip J Day (1972) - British film director, founder of Edge West Productions * Martyn Day (1973) - British lawyer, founder of Leigh Day. * Ben Gotting -

Rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player for

London Scottish F.C. London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is currently playing in the RFU Championship and share the Athletic Ground, Richmond, A ...

* Scott Gray (1996) -

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

International rugby player. * Ken Harnden (1991) - Zimbabwe Olympic hurdler. * David Hatendi (1972) - former CEO of MBCA and NMB, founder of Hatendi Private Equity Advisors,

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

* Nyasha Hatendi (1998) - American actor and producer *

Tonderai Kasu Tonderai Kasu is a community and corporate leader in Zimbabwe. A medical doctor by training, he was the substantive Director of Health and Environmental Services for Chitungwiza, and has been the Acting Town Clerk or Acting Chief Executive, of ...

(1997) - Substantive Director of Health and Environmental Services for

Chitungwiza Chitungwiza is the third populous urban centre in Zimbabwe and town of Harare Province in Zimbabwe. It is located on the outskirts of Harare. History As of the 2022 census, Chitungwiza had a population of 371,244. There are two main highwa ...

and Former Acting Town Clerk (Acting

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

) for Chitungwiza Town Council * Audius Mtawarira (1995) - multi- ARIA Award winning Australian record producer. * Tendai Mtawarira (2002) - Professional rugby player with the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

. Plays for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

at international level since 2008. * Brian Mujati (2002) - Professional rugby player with the Lions and the Springboks. * Tawanda Muyeye – cricketer * Bharat Patel - lawyer, former

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of Zimbabwe * Andrew Peebles (2007) - Zimbabwean Olympic rower * Rupert Pennant-Rea (1965) - former Deputy Governor of

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

; former editor of

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

. * Nicholas Roditi (1963) - British real estate developer and hedge fund manager * Guy Scott - former Vice President and acting President of

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

* Richard Tsimba (1982) - represented

at the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

in 1987, gained 20 caps for his country. * Jason Wallace (1987) -

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in United Kingdom, UK and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first ...

winning author