St Edmund's School is a coeducational nursery, pre-prep, preparatory and senior school located in Hindhead, Surrey, around 10.5 miles south-west from the town of

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

History

The school was founded in

Hunstanton Hunstanton (sometimes pronounced ) is a seaside resort, seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash. Hunstanton lies 102 miles (164 km) north-north-east of London an ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, in 1874.'St Edmund's School, Hindhead', in ''The Public and Preparatory Schools year book'', vol. 78 (London: A. & C. Black, 1968), p. 812: "ST EDMUND'S SCHOOL, HINDHEAD Tel. : 408 Hindhead. Station, Haslemere, S.R. Head Master.— Peter C. Weeks, MA, Dip. Ed. (Caius College, Cambridge). Number of Boarders. — 130. 25 day boys are taken for the first two years. Fees £160 a term... founded in 1874...." The school's original buildings in Hunstanton were purchased in 1901 by Howard Cambridge Barber and became the home of Glebe House School. The school moved to Hindhead, Surrey, in 1900, into a large country house named Blen Cathra in grounds of some . George Bernard Shaw had lived there for a short time. As the school developed through the 20th century it established itself as a traditional English Preparatory school, preparing its pupils for senior, public school education, regularly sending pupils to the likes of Eton College, Cranleigh, Charterhouse and Canford. In 1968 the school had 130 boarders, and 25 day boys "taken for the first two years". In 1979 The St Edmund's School Charitable Trust was formed to help take the school forward, with Richard Saunders, an old boy, becoming its first Chairman of Governors. For most of its existence St Edmund's was for boys only, however, with the first girls being admitted in 2008, the school is now co-educational. In 2014 the ISI report listed it as having 249 pupils. 173 boys and 76 girls. The school's transition into a modern-day public school has seen it dropping traditional Saturday school for Optional Saturday Morning Activities which include a range of activities from Mountain Biking to cookery. In September 2024 there are 620 pupils with Dr Adam Walliker Headmaster since 2000 . A programme of refurbishments and building projects included a new teaching block (the W. H. Auden Centre), opened by Sir

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...

CBE in October 2014, new sports Hall the Farley Hall in 2021 and dining hall in 2023. In November 2024, the school merged with St Hilary's School,

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

Notable former pupils

:''And see People educated at St Edmund's School, Hindhead'' *

King Abdullah II Abdullah II (Abdullah bin Hussein; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemites, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is traditionally reg ...

- King of Jordan *

Prince Faisal bin Hussein Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein (; born 11 October 1963) is a Jordanian prince who is a son of King Hussein and Princess Muna, and the younger brother of King Abdullah II. Periodically he has served as regent during his brother's absences abroad. ...

- younger brother of

of Jordan *

Timothy Garton Ash Timothy Garton Ash (born 12 July 1955) is a British historian, author and commentator. He is Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford. Most of his work has been concerned with the contemporary history of Europe, with a special ...

CMG FRSA - British historian, author, commentator and Oxford professor *

John Bicknell Auden John Bicknell Auden (14 December 1903 – 21 January 1991) was an English geologist and explorer, older brother of the poet W. H. Auden, who worked for many years in India with the Geological Survey of India and later with the Food and Agricultu ...

- Geologist, explorer and WHO official *

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

- Poet *

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian and actor. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is the son of N ...

Oglethorpe, Tim (21 April 2001). "Interview: Marcus Brigstocke - Savage past of Marcus; Marcus Brigstocke of The Savages on his misspent youth and how he got back on the straight and narrow". ''The Mirror'' (London, England). MGN Ltd.
archive
- Comedian, television and radio personality * Forde Everard de Wend Cayley (1915-2004) - MD, RAMC, MBE, FRCP,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

POW camp survivor *

Jonathan Dimbleby Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby. ...

- Television and radio presenter, writer and political commentator *

Guy Farley Guy Farley is a British film composer, arranger and conductor. Farley has received accolades and nominations throughout his career including 4 nominations at the 2014 Music and Sound awards, winning the best original composition for Marks and Sp ...

- Musician and film composer *

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

Harry Blamires, ''A Guide to Twentieth Century Literature in English'' (1983), p. 130: "Isherwood, Christopher... Novelist, born in Cheshire, and educated at St Edmund's School, Hindhead, Surrey, where in his last year he made friends with W. H. Auden (qv), his junior by two-and-a-half years..." - Novelist * Anthony Loyd - Journalist and war correspondent *

Iain Mackay-Dick Major General Sir Iain Charles Mackay-Dick, (born 24 August 1945) Is a retired British Army officer. He was the Major-General commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District from 1994 to 1997. Military career ...

KVCO MBE - Major General of the Household Division and GOC of the London District * Harold Edward Musson - Buddhist monk and author * Wilfrid Noyce - English mountaineer and author. He was a member of the 1953 British Expedition that made the first ascent of Mount Everest *

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...

- Academy award winning film director *

John Shearman John Kinder Gowran Shearman (pronounced "Sherman"; 24 June 1931 – 11 August 2003) was an English art historian who also taught in America. He was a specialist in Italian Renaissance painting, described by his colleague James S. Ackerman as " ...

- Art historian *

Guy Siner Guy Domville Siner (born October 16, 1947) is an English-American actor best known for his role as Lieutenant Hubert Gruber in Allo 'Allo!'' and Dr. Mittenhand in '' Leprechaun 4: In Space''. Early life Guy Domville Siner was born in New Y ...

- Stage, television and film actor * Anthony Trafford, Baron Trafford - aristocrat, politician and physician * John F. C. Turner - Architect and theorist * Michael Ward - Expedition doctor of the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953

Headmasters

*1874 to 1899 Rev. J. Morgan-Brown MA (Oxf) *1899 to 1929 Cyril Morgan Brown, *1929 to 1933 Ivor Sant *1933 to 1952 Ivo Bulley *1952 to 1978 Peter Weeks MA (Cantab) *1978 to 1991 Tony Pull (Oxf) *1991 to 1995 Andrew Sangster *1995 to 2000 Andrew Fowler-Watt *2000 to present A. J. Walliker, MA (Cantab)

Notes

External links

Official St. Edmund's School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Edmunds School Hindhead Preparatory schools in Surrey