St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown

St Andrew's College
Nec Aspera Terrent
Location
St Andrew's College
Grahamstown, Eastern Cape South Africa
Coordinates	33°18′30″S 26°31′07″E / 33.30833°S 26.51861°E / -33.30833; 26.51861
Information
Type	Private, Boarding
Patron saint(s)	St. Andrew
Established	1855
Headmaster	Mr Alan Thompson
Exam board	IEB
Grades	8–12
Number of students	450 boys
School color(s)	Blue and white
Fees	R 182 700 p.a. (Boarding) R 81 600 p.a. (Day Scholars)
Website	www.sacschool.com

St. Andrew's College is an Anglican school for boys located in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was founded in 1855 by the Right Reverend John Armstrong, the first bishop of Grahamstown. It is a full boarding school, with a number of day boys. St. Andrew's College caters for 480 pupils from around the globe. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools group. The school is closely associated with its brother school, St. Andrew's Preparatory School, and its sister school the Diocesan School for Girls (DSG).

St. Andrew's College clock tower

History

In a letter dated August, 1855, Bishop Armstrong writes:

The last event I have to record was the laying of the foundation stone of our infant college, which I dedicated to St. Andrew, as on St. Andrew's Day I received consecration. It was a bright day in our annals. The clergy in their surplices, with Archdeacon Merriman at their head, moved in procession with a large body of lay people to the site of the chapel, where the Lieutenant-Governor and his Staff were waiting.

The laying of the foundation stone took place on 15 August 1855. Prior to this there existed a Grammar School, founded by Bishop Robert Gray in 1849 on the site currently occupied by the Good Shepherd School, under the management of Mr. M.C. Bendelack, who was soon succeeded by the Rev. F. Bankes. Mr. Bankes was appointed Principal of the new college, retaining also the title of Head-Master of St. Andrew's College Grammar School, as his school and all funds belonging to it were merged into the new institution. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge gave £1000 towards the building to which they added £500 in 1857, and a like sum in 1860. A supplementary sum was subscribed by friends of the Bishop.

St Andrew’s College was incorporated by an Act of the Cape Parliament in September 1887, this Act was amended in 1932 and 1985. It has since been controlled by a council composed of communicant members of the Anglican Church, administering the school in terms of a trust deed, leaving its internal economy and discipline in the hands of the principal, who in terms of the 1887 Act was required to be a cleric. The Bishop of Grahamstown is ex officio Visitor to the college.^[1]

Campus

A general plan showing the layout of the school building and fields as drawn by the architectural practice of Sir Herbert Baker

The school campus straddles the main road from Cradock, Eastern Cape into Grahamstown and is an open campus with buildings, sports fields and other facilities spread over a number of city blocks.

Chapel

The chapel, dedicated to St. Andrew and designed by Sir Herbert Baker, is at the heart of the school.

Chapel, St Andrew's College, Somerset Street, Grahamstown

The foundation stone of the new chapel was laid by the Rt Revd Charles Cornish, bishop of Grahamstown on St. Andrew's Day, 1905, the jubilee year of the college. But chiefly owing to lack of funds the stone remained built into a buttress at the back of Espin Cottage, and no start was made until 1913 when the building was begun on plans by Messrs. Herbert Baker & Kendall of Cape Town. A corner stone, to commemorate the building, was laid by the Hon. Sir Lewis Mitchell, C.V.O. on 8 September that year.

The design for the new chapel is in the early Gothic manner, but in order to suit the comparatively sunny climate of the Eastern Cape, there is just that suggestion of Italian treatment which prevents it from being a direct copy of an English type. The form is that of a central nave of six bays, spanned by an open timber roof with massive beams, king posts and struts, the prototypes of which form such an attractive feature in: so many old English churches. There are two narrow side aisles to serve as passages, each having .space for one row of additional seats in case of emergency. The chancel has an apsidal east end, and is to be covered by a groined roof constructed in concrete, the sanctuary windows being kept high in such a way as to cut into the semi-circular line of the vault in an effective manner. Instead of transepts, the plan provides a projecting vestry .on the north side so as to preserve the cruciform plan, while the side aisles at the west are terminated against small projecting porches.

At the west end the-baptistry is placed projecting westward of the wall and forming a semi-circular recess, which is to be covered with a grained ceiling. Springing from the projecting baptistry are buttresses which are carried up with .diminishing outline and form a picturesque bell cote to terminate the west end of the roof. As far as possible local material was used. The walls throughout were built in Grahamstown stone with a rough face, both inside and out. This stone demands a simple treatment for the dressings-so that most of the windows are plain-but those around the apse include some effective tracery.

The roof is covered with tiles made in the province on the Broseley pattern, and laid to a steep pitch. The aisles are paved with red tiles, while the floor of the chancel is paved in somewhat the same manner, and the floor under the seats is, of course be boarded in the ordinary way.

The nave is about 70 feet (21 m) × 20 feet (6.1 m) irrespective of the side aisles; the chancel and sanctuary 37 feet (11 m) × 20 feet (6.1 m); from the floor of nave to ridge of roof about 35 feet (11 m) The total accommodation is for 330, of which number about 30 may be seated in the choir. Contrary to the custom of college chapels, the seats are all arranged facing the east instead of being placed down the two sides, facing one another.

The contractors were Messrs. Carr & Co., Paarl.^[2]

Boarding houses

Six houses comprise the school:

• Upper
• Merriman named after the Rt Rev'd Nathaniel Merriman, previously known as Lower House
• Graham
• Armstrong named after the Rt Rev'd John Armstrong this house was built in 1898^[3]
• Espin named after Canon John Espin, built 1902.^[3][4]
• Mullins

Curriculum

The school follows the curriculum set by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), which is the curriculum followed by most private schools in South Africa.

Extracurricular activities

The school has an active pipe band. The band is an important part of the traditional life of the school, the pipe band leads the cadet corps during parades. St Andrew's College is one of the few schools in South Africa that still trains a cadet corps. The cadet corps is attached to the First City Regiment

The school has three cultural societies whose membership is by invitation:

• Alchemists meet twice a term to discuss matters of general, non-scientific interest.
• Astronomers meet 6 times a year where boys present papers of a scientific nature to the club which is discussed over supper.
• Cornish for a selected group of boys who share a love of poetry.

Rugby Union is the most played sport at the school, the school has produced at least two Springbok rugby players, Ryan Kankowski and Nick Mallett. Rowing is a popular and well supported competitive sport, the school has produced at least one Olympic rower, James Thompson.^[5]

School hymn

The school hymn is Jesus Calls Us, O'er the Tumult, the office hymn for the feast of St. Andrew.

Notable Old Andreans

The year of matriculation is given in brackets, where it is known

Sportsmen

• Pat Fairfield, motor racing diver, winner of the 1937 Rand Grand Prix, died after an accident in the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans^[6]
• Andrew Birch, cricketer for the Warriors^[7]
• Anton Murray, former South African Test cricketer
• Antony Roy Clark, cricketer
• Bevil Rudd, Olympic Gold Medallist - 400m (Antwerp, 1920)
• Bill Taberer, rugby player
• Bill Lundie, former South African Test cricketer
• Brian Skosana, rugby player
• Cecil Dixon, former South African Test cricketer
• Chase Minnaar, rugby player
• Claude Floquet, former South African Test cricketer
• Clem Currie, former Springbok rugby player^[8]
• Cuth Mullins, rugby player
• Daantjie van der Vyver, former Springbok rugby player^[8]
• Dane van der Westhuyzen, rugby player
• Fanie Cronje, former Springbok rugby player^[8]
• Frank Douglass, former Springbok rugby player
• Harry Birrell (cricketer)
• Heinrich Smit, rugby player who represented Namibia at the 2015 World Cup
• Henry Taberer, former South African Test cricketer
• Jack Dold, former Springbok rugby player
• Jackie Powell, former Springbok rugby player
• James Price (cricketer)
• James Thompson, Olympic Gold Medallist - Men's lightweight coxless four, London 2012 Summer Olympics
• Lewis Gordon Pugh, pioneering swimmer and environmentalist
• Martin Hanley, former South African Test cricketer
• Michael Price, cricketer for the Warriors^[9]
• Nick Mallett, former Springbok rugby player and coach
• Peter van der Merwe, South African cricket captain, 1965—67
• Pompey Norton, former South African Test cricketer
• Philip Court played in the 1966 South African Gazelles rugby union tour in Argentina
• Ronald Wylde, athlete
• Ross Geldenhuys, rugby player
• Russell Bennett, former Springbok rugby player^[8]
• Ryan Kankowski, Springbok rugby player
• Tom Hobson, former Springbok rugby player^[8]
• Thomas Gubb (1926), rugby union international, represented Great Britain on 1927 British Lions tour to Argentina
• Tyler Paul, rugby player

Engineers, scientists, lawyers and medical men

• Sir Basil Schonland (1910), South Africa's Scientist of the 20th Century, Order of Mapungubwe - Gold class (OMG), important in the development of radar.
• James Henry Greathead, engineer renowned for his work on the London Underground railway.
• William Bleloch, metallurgist
• Ernest Edward Galpin, botanist
• Reginald Frederick Lawrence, biologist
• Guybon Atherstone, railway engineer
• Lennox Broster, surgeon
• Newton Ogilvie Thompson, Chief Justice of South Africa 1971–1974^[10]
• Charles Cummings (lawyer), Chief Justice of the Sudan in 1946^[10]
• Sir Stanley Rees, High Court judge in England^[11]
• Kim Bailie, aerospace engineer^[12][13]
• Francis Wilson (economist)

Clergymen

• Peter Hinchliff

Musicians, actors, authors and artists

• Stephen Gray (writer)
• Bongani Ndodana-Breen, musician and composer
• Ian Roberts, actor, playwright and singer
• Ernest Glanville, author
• Peter Cartwright (actor)
• Jonty Driver, poet and writer
• Ivan Mitford-Barberton, sculptor and writer^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Nobility and politicians

• Edward Coke (1955), Earl of Leicester CBE, Holkham Estate, Norfolk. Past chairman of the Historic Houses Association
• Desmond Lardner-Burke, lawyer and politician in Rhodesia
• Kingsley Fairbridge
• Thomas Graham
• Robert Coryndon, British colonial administrator
• Randolph Vigne, member of the Liberal Party of South Africa^[14]

Businessmen

• Sir Michael Edwardes (1947), business executive
• Graham Mackay, Chairman and CEO of SABMiller
• Mark Patterson, Co-founder of MatlinPatterson Global Advisers
• Jacko Maree, former CEO of Standard Bank^[15]
• Antony Ball, founder Brait Capital Partners^[16]

Soldiers, sailors and airmen

• Air Marshal The Reverend Sir Henry Paterson Fraser
• Duane Hudson, British intelligence officer
• Brigadier Sir Miles Hunt-Davis, KCVO, CBE, Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.
• Colonel Sir Ernest Lucas Guest KBE, CMG, CVO, LLD^[17]
• Air Vice Marshal John F. G. Howe CB, CBE, AFC, RAF
• Major-General William Henry Evered Poole CB, CBE, DSO
• Rear Admiral M.R. Terry-Lloyd SSA SM
• Rear Admiral Kenneth Snow, RN

Victoria Cross Holders

Two Old Andreans have been awarded the Victoria Cross:

• Major Charles Herbert Mullins, VC in the Boer War^[18] and
• Lieutenant-Colonel John Sherwood-Kelly, VC in the First World War^[19]

Notable staff

• Charles Fortune, broadcaster and writer, especially noted for his cricket commentaries on radio.
• Danie Craven, international rugby administrator.
• Harry Lee (cricketer)
• George Cory, chemist and historian
• Arthur Matthews (mathematician), first lecturer in mathematics and physical science, and later professor of mathematics at Rhodes University

Headmasters

St Andrew's College 18th headmaster, Paul Edey.

• The Revd F. Bankes (1855–1859)^[20]
• The Revd F.Y. St. Leger (1859–1862)^[20]
• The Revd G.E. Cotterill (1863–1865)^[20]
• The Revd Langford S. Browne (1865–1875)^[20]
• The Revd G. Gould Ross (1875–1881)^[20]
• The Revd Canon John Espin (1882–1902)^[20]
• The Revd W. S. Macgowan (1902–1908)^[20]
• The Revd Canon Percy W.H. Kettlewell (1909–1933)^[20]
• The Revd Canon C.B. Armstrong (1934–1938)^[21]
• Dr Ronald F. Currey (Oxon) (1939–1955)^[21]
• Freddie Spencer Chapman (1956–1962)^[21]
• J.L. Cawse (1962–1964)
• The Revd Canon John Aubrey (1965–1971)
• Eric B. Norton (1972–1980)
• Arthur F.G. Cotton (1981–1993)
• Antony R. Clark (Cantab) (1994–2002)
• Mr David B. Wylde (Oxon) (2003–2008)
• Mr Paul A. Edey (2009–2014)
• Mr Alan Thompson (2015–)

See also

Notes and references

Further reading

External links

• Official website
• Old Andrean site

Coordinates: 33°18′30″S 26°31′07″E / 33.308400°S 26.518480°E / -33.308400; 26.518480