Elstree School
Preparatory school in Berkshire, England
title: "Elstree School" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1848-establishments-in-england", "educational-institutions-established-in-1848", "grade-ii*-listed-buildings-in-berkshire", "preparatory-schools-in-berkshire", "private-schools-in-west-berkshire-district", "woolhampton"] description: "Preparatory school in Berkshire, England" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elstree_School" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Preparatory school in Berkshire, England ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox school"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Elstree School |
| image | Elstree Building.JPG |
| caption | Elstree School building from side |
| image_size | 220px |
| coordinates | |
| motto | Clarior Ex Obscuro (Brighter, out of the darkness) |
| established | |
| type | Independent |
| religious_affiliation | Christian |
| head | Sid Inglis |
| address | Woolhampton |
| city | Reading |
| county | Berkshire |
| country | England |
| postcode | RG7 5TD |
| local_authority | West Berkshire |
| urn | 110140 |
| gender | Co-educational |
| lower_age | 3 |
| upper_age | 13 |
| houses | North, South, East and West |
| colours | Blue, red, green and yellow (respectively) |
| | website | | | embed | yes | | designation1 | Grade II* Listed Building | | designation1_offname | Elstree School, Woolhampton House | | designation1_date | 9 September 1969 | | designation1_number | | ::
| name = Elstree School | image = Elstree Building.JPG | caption = Elstree School building from side | image_size = 220px | coordinates = | motto = Clarior Ex Obscuro (Brighter, out of the darkness) | established = | type = Independent | religious_affiliation = Christian | president = | head_label = | head = Sid Inglis | r_head_label = | r_head = | chair_label = | chair = | founder = | specialist = | address = Woolhampton | city = Reading | county = Berkshire | country = England | postcode = RG7 5TD | local_authority = West Berkshire | ofsted = | urn = 110140 | staff = | enrolment = | gender = Co-educational | lower_age = 3 | upper_age = 13 | houses = North, South, East and West | colours = Blue, red, green and yellow (respectively)
| publication = | website = | module = | embed = yes | designation1 = Grade II* Listed Building | designation1_offname = Elstree School, Woolhampton House | designation1_date = 9 September 1969 | designation1_number = Elstree School is an English preparatory school for children aged 3–13 at Woolhampton House in Woolhampton, near Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire. The school is co-educational.
History
1848–1938 in Elstree, Hertfordshire
The school was founded in 1848 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, at Hill House on Elstree Hill, an 18th-century Grade II* listed building. Today, the building is a Bupa care centre.
Since 1938 in Woolhampton, Berkshire
In 1938 or 1939 at the start of the Second World War (sources differ), staff and 70 boys moved to Woolhampton House in Berkshire which, at the war's end, became Elstree's permanent home, owned and run by the Sanderson family until 1961 when Elstree School was incorporated. Ian Sanderson remained headmaster until 1969 when Terrence McMullen became headmaster.
The building
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/elstree-school-old.jpg" caption="Elstree School House engraving before 1893"] ::
Woolhampton House is a 17th-century Grade II* listed building.
Notable former pupils
- Sir Alexander Robert Badcock (1844–1907), army officer
- James Blunt (b. 1974), singer-songwriter
- Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall (1923–2019), field marshal
- John R. Buckmaster (1915–1983), actor
- Sandy Wilson (1924–2014), songwriter-lyricist
- Christopher Bonham-Carter (1907–1975), naval officer
- Felix Cassel (1869–1953), lawyer
- Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), poet, writer and traveller
- Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton (1845–1940), engineer
- Sebastian Faulks (b. 1953), novelist
- Walter George Headlam (1866–1908), classical scholar and poet
- J. Bruce Ismay (1862–1937), managing director of the White Star Line and survivor of the RMS Titanic
- Sir Philip Bennet Joubert de la Ferté (1887–1965), Royal Air Force Commander
- Archibald Campbell [Archie] MacLaren (1871–1944), cricketer
- George Monbiot (b. 1963), environmental activist and writer
- Richard Tice (b. 1964), politician
- John Whitehead (1860–1899), ornithologist and explorer
- George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848–1934), Anglican priest
Notable teachers
- William Bather (1861–1939), first-class cricketer, was assistant master at the school 1884–1894
- Danyl Johnson, singer on series 9 of The X-Factor, dance teacher
- Frederic Meyrick-Jones (1867–1950), taught at the school from 1894 to 1896
- Edgar Stogdon (1870–1951), athlete and cricketer, was headmaster from 1900 to 1903
Sports
During the autumn term, soccer is the main sport, along with hockey and tennis. During the Lent term, rugby takes over from soccer, and hockey and cross country running continue. During the summer term, cricket is the main school sport, with swimming, athletics and tennis also popular throughout the term. The school's sports day is the focus of a pupil's summer term.
References
Bibliography
- Hugo Vickers, Elstree 175: Celebrating 175 years of Elstree School (London: Unicorn, 6 July 2023)
- I. C. M. Sanderson, A History of Elstree School and Three Generations of the Sanderson Family, Publ. Elstree School, 1978 (privately published)
- John Eddison, A History of Elstree School, 1979 (mentioned in: Frances Wilson, How to Survive the Titanic Or the Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay, Chapter 3, Note 10)
References
- Donald P. Leinster-Mackay. (1984). "The rise of the English prep school". Falmer Press.
- {{NHLE
- "Hill House". Bupa.
- (11 November 2023). "Elstree School, Berkshire". Independent, Special, Boarding and International schools.
- {{NHLE
- Anon., revised by James Falkner. (2004). "Badcock, Sir Alexander Robert (1844–1907". Oxford University Press.
- "Danyl Johnson Update". Elstree School.
- Herbert Buckmaster. (1933). "Buck's Book : Ventures – Adventures and Misadventures". Grayson & Grayson.
- G. R. Rubin. (2004). "Cassel, Sir Felix Maximilian Schoenbrunn, first baronet (1869–1953)". Oxford University Press.
- David George Hogarth. (1928). "The life of Charles M. Doughty". Oxford University Press.
- W. L. Randell, rev. Anita McConnell. (2004). "Crompton, Rookes Evelyn Bell (1845–1940)". Oxford University Press.
- Gethin Chamberlain. (31 May 2008). "James Bond: Sebastian Faulks' schoolboy fantasy inspires 007 novel". The Daily Telegraph.
- N. G. Wilson. (2004). "Headlam, Walter George (1866–1908)". Oxford University Press.
- J. Gordon Read. (2004). "Ismay, Joseph Bruce (1862–1937)". Oxford University Press.
- Edward Chilton, rev. Christina J. M. Goulter. (2004). "Joubert de la Ferté, Sir Philip Bennet (1887–1965)". Oxford University Press.
- Michael Down. (2004). "MacLaren, Archibald Campbell (1871–1944)". Oxford University Press.
- George Monbiot. (7 November 2019). "Boarding schools warp our political class – I know because I went to one". The Guardian.
- B. B. Woodward, rev. V. M. Quirke. (2004). "Whitehead, John (1860–1899)". Oxford University Press.
- (1907). "Shropshire, Historical, Descriptive, Biographical".
- J. A. Venn. (1954). "Edgar Stogdon". Cambridge University Press.
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