Haileybury and Imperial Service College

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Coat of arms of Haileybury College
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Coat of arms of Haileybury College
This article refers to the school in England. For its Australian counterpart, see Haileybury College, Melbourne.

Haileybury College is a famous British independent school, sometimes referred to as a public school, founded in 1862. It is a modern co-educational boarding school welcoming pupils at 11+, 13+ and 16+.

Contents

[edit] History

Haileybury College
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Haileybury College

The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, 20 miles from central London in rural countryside on a site occupied until 1858 by the East India Company College. Its architect, William Wilkins, later designed the National Gallery in London, and Downing College Cambridge, which bear some similarities. The school is built around four ranges which enclose an area known as Quad, which is the largest academic quadrangle in the UK and one of the largest in the world.

The buildings reopened as Haileybury in 1862. The large dome which dominates the skyline was added as part of Arthur Blomfield's Chapel, completed in 1877. The dome was badly damaged by fire when only a year old and had to be extensively repaired. On 7th July 1932 the Memorial Dining Hall was opened by the future King George VI & Queen Elizabeth as a monument to former pupils who had died in the Great War. For a number of years this building was one of the largest unsupported domes in Europe and it has very interesting acoustics. Until the 1990's the entire school of over 700 pupils dined within this building at a single sitting for breakfast, lunch and supper all brought to a silence for the grace before and after each meal by a massive brass howitzer shell, captured from a German gun implacent during World War I which had been converted into a gong. A gilded plaster boss in the centre of this dome represents an oak tree being struck by lightning. Known as Little Lightning Oak this decoration is a representation of Lightning Oak, the massive oak tree which stands on Terrace, the area of grass in front of the School and visible in this photograph. This tree was struck by lightning and all but destroyed but, miraculously, re-sprouted. The tree was seen as a metaphor for the school, decimated by war but growing back stronger. In 1942, Haileybury absorbed the Imperial Service College, which had already absorbed the United Services College.

As well as the Memorial Dining Hall, there are other impressive memorials to 1,435 alumni who perished in wars. The War Memorial on Terrace which originally commemorated those lost in World War I was unveiled by General Sir Alexander Godley, KCB, KCMG on 7th July 1923. This was designed by former pupil Sir Reginald Blomfield. Known as The Cross of Sacrifice this simple stone cross with a bronze sword applied was the prototype for a memorial that can now be found in every Commonwealth War Cemetery and has been used for many other war memorials around the world.

Seventeen former Haileybury pupils have received the Victoria Cross, and three the George Cross.

[edit] Currently

Today Haileybury is a coeducational school for 11-19 year-olds, with recent girls' boarding houses, (Colvin, Melvill, Allenby, Albans, and Hailey) and many facilities. There are still 7 boys houses in the school, (Edmonstone, Lawrence, Bartle Frere, Kipling, Batten, Thomason and Trevelyan). The Ayckbourn Theatre is a fully functional modern theatre. The college chapel organ was built by Klais in 1997, with two manuals and thirty stops. There is a modern sports centre and a synthetic running track. Haileybury has a rackets court, built in 1908, which is unusual in having a double gallery. During World War II, it was damaged by the blast from a V-2 Rakete (sic) and was not restored until 1952. The school supports a professional coach.

Groups originating from Haileybury support a number of charities such as The Children's Trust in Tadworth, the Home Farm Trust and the Boys' Club in Stepney once managed by Old Haileyburian Clement Attlee. Attlee was noted for his promotion of fellow Old Haileyburians.

Haileybury is attached to a junior school, Lambrook Haileybury, at Winkfield Row, near Bracknell, where it moved in 1998 from Windsor.

[edit] Notable alumni

Past pupils are known as Old Haileyburians.

[edit] Arts

[edit] Armed forces

[edit] Business

[edit] The church

  • John Jamieson Willis - Bishop of Uganda

[edit] The law

[edit] Learning

[edit] Politics

[edit] Civil service

[edit] Sports

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] External links

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