, motto_translation = Give light out of darkness , established = , closed = , type = Preparatory School , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mike Piercy , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder = John S. Norman , specialist = , address = Brittains Lane , city =

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

, county =

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, country =

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, postcode = TN13 2PB , local_authority = , ofsted = , staff = , enrolment = , gender =

Boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

, lower_age = 4 , upper_age = 13 , publication = , free_label_1 = , free_1 = , free_label_2 = , free_2 = , free_label_3 = , free_3 = , colours = Red and navy , website = The New Beacon Preparatory School is an independent all-boys preparatory school, located at

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

. It admits both day students and boarders aged between 4 and 13. The school also now offers a co-educational nursery for children 3 years of age and over. The school was founded in 1863, and has been on the current site since 1900. It had 62 students in 1913, and had grown to 400 students by 2008. (The school's History webpage suggests Constantine was headmaster from 1976 and served 32 years, so when "numbers grew to reach four hundred with excellence at Common Entrance and Scholarship examinations being maintained" that would be 2008.)

History

In the spring term 1882, John Stewart Norman and his friend Frank Ritchie took over The Beacon, which had been established as a Preparatory school in 1863 at 18 St John's Road, Sevenoaks. As the numbers in the school grew, larger premises were needed, leading to the decision in October 1897 to build a new boarding school in Sevenoaks. Land was acquired from

Lord Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaig ...

Montreal Park Montreal Park is a development in Sevenoaks in Kent which was formerly the home of Lord Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. It was named after his conquest of Montreal in 1760. History In 1764 Lord Amherst returned home after his mili ...

estate at Cross Keys, and construction of The New Beacon began in February 1899. The new building was ready by the end of the Autumn Term 1899. In January 1900 the New Beacon opened for the (continued) education of boys in a building with a capacity for 60 boarders. The exterior of the building changed little over the century, but the addition of a chapel in 1912 meant that the children no longer had to walk to Kippington. By 1913 the school had grown to 62 pupils and the fees were £120 per year for boarding and tuition, plus £1 11s 6d for medical attendance. Other facilities included swimming baths, a miniature rifle range, a playground and two sports fields. During the First World War, staffing was depleted and the school's grounds and gardens had to be tended by staff and pupils. Just over two decades later, during the Second World War, the New Beacon continued with, as at 16 September 1939, 35 boarders. Female staff were recruited and some girls were educated at the school during the war. Thirty-seven former pupils were killed during the Great War, including John Alexander Thynne, Viscount Weymouth, eldest son of 5th Marquess of Bath, killed near Vermelles on 16 February 1916. Another 75 Beaconians fell in the Second World War. Their names are noted on a memorial in the chapel.

Post-war changes and the increase in day boys

After the war numbers continued to grow and the roll call was over 120 pupils in 1948. Over the next few decades, the school tripled in size. The appointment of Rowland Constantine in 1976 saw the end of a long run of headmasters from the Norman family; Constantine was in post for 32 years. The New Beacon is now predominantly a day school. In 2008 Mike Piercy was appointed as Headmaster and is the current incumbent.

Notable alumni

Arts and literature

Robert Byron Robert Byron (26 February 1905 – 24 February 1941) was a British travel writer, best known for his travelogue ''The Road to Oxiana''. He was also a noted writer, art critic and historian. Biography He was the son of Eric Byron, a civil engi ...

, travel writer *

Henry Green Henry Green was the pen name of Henry Vincent Yorke (29 October 1905 – 13 December 1973), an English writer best remembered for the novels ''Party Going'', ''Living'' and '' Loving''. He published a total of nine novels between 1926 and 1952 ...

, novelist *

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...

, novelist *

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

, World War I poet

Military

Air Vice Marshall Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Cresswell Clementi Air Vice Marshal Cresswell Montagu Clementi (30 December 1918 – 26 August 1981) was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander. Background Clementi was the son of Cecil Clementi and Marie Penelope Rose Eyres. He was born on 20 December 1918 in ...

, *

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Archer Clive Brigadier Archer Francis Lawrence Clive, DSO and bar, MC KStJ (24 June 1903, in London – March 1995, in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire) was a British Army officer who served during World War II. Family Clive was the son of Lieutenant-General Sir ...

, was a British Army officer who served during World War II * Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, second husband of

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

Philip Norton Banks Philip Norton Banks KPM, CSE (1889 – 2 April 1964) was the ninth British colonial Inspector-General of Police in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Banks was educated at The New Beacon and Bradfield College and entered the Ceylon Police in 1909 and ad ...

, British colonial Inspector-General of Police in Ceylon *Lieutenant-General Sir

Richard Anderson (British Army officer) Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Neville Anderson (28 September 1907 – 4 September 1979) was a senior officer of the British Army who served in the Second World War and later achieved high office in the 1960s. Military career Born in Chelsea, ...

Politics

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles Sir Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles (born 8 January 1955) is a British former diplomat. He was the Foreign Secretary's Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009–2010. After leaving the Foreign Office, he worked briefly for BA ...

, diplomat * Sir Daniel William Lascelles, diplomat *

Charles Thomas Mills The Honourable Charles Thomas Mills (13 March 1887 – 6 October 1915) was Conservative Member of Parliament for Uxbridge, elected in January 1910 when he was the youngest MP. He was killed, serving as an officer with the Scots Guards on the W ...

, Conservative politician and

Baby of the House Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament from which the term originated. The title is named after the Father of the House ...

, killed in action in World War I *

Arthur Mills, 3rd Baron Hillingdon Arthur Robert Mills, 3rd Baron Hillingdon (13 October 1891 – 5 December 1952), styled The Honourable Arthur Mills between 1898 and 1919, was a British Conservative politician. Mills was the second son of Charles Mills, 2nd Baron Hillingdon, and ...

, Conservative politician *

Lord Mayhew of Twysden Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden, (11 September 1929 – 25 June 2016) was a British barrister and politician. Early life atrick’s father, George Mayhew, was a decorated army officer turned oil executive; his mother, ...

, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland *

William Donald Massey Sumner William Donald Massey Sumner (13 August 1913 – 12 May 1990), known as Donald Sumner, was a British Conservative Party politician who later became a judge. Sumner, the incumbent chairman of the divisional Conservative Association for Orpington, ...

, British Conservative M.P. and later a judge

Sport

Sam Billings Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

, Kent and England cricketer * Douglas Carr, cricketer *

Joseph Choong Joseph Choong (born 23 May 1995) is a British Modern pentathlon, modern pentathlete. He won the gold medal in the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, World title in 2022. Early life Choong was b ...

, modern pentathlete and Olympic gold medallist at Tokyo 2020 *

Zak Crawley Zak Crawley (born 3 February 1998) is an English professional cricketer who plays for Kent County Cricket Club. He plays Test cricket for the England cricket team, having also played One Day Internationals for a short period. Crawley is a top-o ...

, Kent and England cricketer * Eliot Druce, cricketer *

Ben Earl Benjamin Arthur Earl (born 7 January 1998) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and the England national team. Early life Earl's mother worked as a retail industry CEO an ...

, Saracens and England rugby player

Church

* Edward Sydney Woods, Bishop of Croydon and Bishop of Lichfield *

Robert Wilmer Woods Robert Wilmer Woods, (14 February 1914 – 20 October 1997), known as Robin Woods, was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Worcester from 1971 to 1982. He previously served as Archdeacon of Sheffield from 1958 to 1962, and as D ...

, Bishop of Worcester and Dean of Windsor * Frank Woods, Archbishop of Melbourne

Other

Charles Ede Charles Richard Montague Ede (22 October 1921 – 29 May 2002"Ede, Charles Richard Montague (1921–2002)" by Brian Wolfson in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2006, online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 2 ...

, founder of the

Folio Society The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021. It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic fict ...

John Fremantle, 4th Baron Cottesloe John Walgrave Halford Fremantle, 4th Baron Cottesloe, 5th Baron Fremantle, GBE, TD (2 March 1900 – 21 April 1994) was a British aristocrat and public official. He served as the Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain and the South Bank T ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Guy Newey Sir Guy Richard Newey (born 1959), styled The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Newey, is a Lord Justice of Appeal. Early life The son of J. H. R. Newey and his wife Mollie Chalk, Newey was born in 1959 and educated at Tonbridge School and Queens' College ...

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...

Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath Henry Frederick Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath (26 January 1905 – 30 June 1992), styled Lord Henry Thynne until 1916 and Viscount Weymouth between 1916 and 1946, was a British aristocrat, landowner, and Conservative Party politician. Bac ...

, landowner, creator of

Longleat Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster and Westbury in Wiltshire, ...

safari park *

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

, drummer, founding member of the progressive rock band YES *

Colin Coote Sir Colin Reith Coote, DSO (19 October 1893 – 8 June 1979) was a British journalist and Liberal politician. For fourteen years he was the editor of ''The Daily Telegraph''. Biography He was born in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire. He was the son ...

, British journalist and Liberal politician *

Alan Moses Sir Alan George Moses (born 29 November 1945) is a former Lord Justice of Appeal, a Court of Appeal Judge and the former chairman of Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). He is joint Chair of the United Kingdom's Spoliation Advisory ...

, former Lord Justice of Appeal, a Court of Appeal Judge and the former chairman of Independent Press Standards Organisation *

Norman Barrett Norman Rupert Barrett (16 May 1903 – 8 January 1979) was an Australian-born British thoracic surgeon who is widely yet mistakenly remembered for describing what became known as Barrett's oesophagus. Early life Norman Barrett was born on 16 M ...

, thoracic surgeon

Headmasters

The Beacon *John Stewart Norman and Frank Ritchie, Joint Headmasters 1882–1900 The New Beacon *John Stewart Norman 1900-1929 *Frank Norman, Headmaster; and Cecil Norman, Assistant Master 1929–1945 *Cecil Norman 1945–1964 *Denis Pratten 1964 *John Norman 1964–1976 *Rowland Constantine 1976–2008 *Michael Piercy 2008–presentThe New Beacon

Controversy

In 2014, the Charity Commission for England and Wales urged New Beacon School to apologise to a former pupil in respect of statements made by the school to the Press. The statements related to allegations made by the boy against Paul Woodward, a former music teacher, for abusing him at the school between 2005 and 2006. In 2013, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) made an award to the boy in compensation for the abuse the CICA found he had suffered. The ''Sevenoaks Chronicle'' reported that Woodward, who was convicted of sexual misconduct offences against other children and sent to prison indefinitely had been suspended from his post at the school during a previous police investigation involving allegations of sexual abuse but had been allowed back to work by a previous headmaster. The school apologised to the child in 2015, and applauded him for his bravery in bringing Woodward to justice. The victim said that the apology came "too late".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:New Beacon Preparatory School Schools in Sevenoaks Preparatory schools in Kent