Aldro

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Aldro is a preparatory school in Shackleford, near Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom. It caters for about 200 boys between the ages of 7 and 13.

The school prides itself on its academic and sporting achievements, particularly in football, rugby, hockey, cricket and shooting. It also has an impressive record in chess competitions, with the under 9, 12 and 13 teams each winning national championships in 2004.

[edit] History

Aldro was founded in Eastbourne in 1898 and moved to its present home in 1940.

The oldest buildings on the site were originally part of Hall Place (later known as Shackleford House), built for William Edgar Horne, MP for South West Surrey from 1910 to 1922 and appointed 1st Baronet in 1929.

They were converted by the school during and after the Second World War. A large, timbered barn, for example, became the school chapel, and was consecrated in 1949. It survived a fire in the 1970s. A former workshop next door became the science laboratory, and the estate’s potting shed became a carpentry workshop.

The oldest building is thought to be the octagonal cider press, standing close to the main entrance, which has been used as a small museum and as a home for a model railway.

Over the years there have been many new additions to the site. For years the large lake doubled as a swimming pool and as a race course for inter-house rowing competitions. Today there is a heated swimming pool.

Other more recent facilities include a theatre, an art, design and technology centre, tennis courts and a nine-hole golf course. The Centenary Building, opened in 1999, contains a library and new classrooms, and a new dining hall opened in 2003.