A Brief History of Uppingham School

1500s
Year/sEvent
1584Uppingham School Founded by Archdeacon Robert Johnson.
The original school room built near the churchyard in Uppingham
1584-1588David Black, Headmaster 
1587The Foundation Charter granted (now hangs in the Kendall Room)
1588-1592George Daniell, Headmaster 
1592The Hospital built, now houses the School Library
1592-1605William Pickering, Headmaster 
1600s
Year/sEvent
1602Henry Ferne, first known Uppingham School Boy, becomes Chaplain to Charles I
1605-1614The Revd Ishmael Borough, Headmaster
1614-1631The Revd John Clarke, Headmaster
1631-1641The Revd Ezekial Johnson, Headmaster
1641-1669The Revd Francis Meres, Headmaster: 30 plus boys now attend the School
1643First record of decisions made by School Governors
1669-1684The Revd Thomas Stockman, Headmaster
1700s
Year/sEvent
1721-1734The Revd Ambrose Reddall, Headmaster
1734-1747The Revd William Hubbard, Headmaster
1747-1756The Revd Henry Laybourn, Headmaster
1757-1771The Revd Henry Knapp, Headmaster
1771-1777The Revd John Fancourt, Headmaster
1777-1793The Revd Jeremiah Jackson, Headmaster
1783First Old School House Studies
1793-1822The Revd John Butt, Headmaster

1800s
Year/sEvent
1811-1824The Revd Thomas Roberts, Headmaster
1815First recorded cricket match against Oakham School
1824-1839The Revd Josiah Rowles Buckland, Headmaster
1827‘The Upper’ is rented as 1st XI cricket field for the first time
1839-1845The Revd George Ash Butterton, Headmaster
1845-1853The Revd Henry Holden, Headmaster
1846First mention of Praepostors in school literature
1848School seal first used
1848Railway comes to Manton
1851The Hospitaller (first School Magazine) published
1852First OU Cricket Match
1853The first Lodge (boarding house) accepts pupils
1853-1887Rev Edward Thring Headmaster, transformed the school in his 34 years of leadership
1855First Music Master appointed
First Cricket match against Oundle School
1856First School Songs introduced
Lorne House opens
1857Uppingham Football rules established
1859West Deyne opens
Old Constables opens
Athletics introduced as a sport
First gymnasium in an English School
1860Bathing place (i.e. first swimming pool)
1861Brooklands opens
1863Highfield(s) opens, the ‘s’ dropped after 1888
Old School Room (OSR) built
Uppingham Rovers (OU Cricketers) play their first match
1864First inter-house games cups
First cricket pavilion built on The Upper
1865The Chapel consecrated
Paul David appointed as first Music and Choir Master - now known as Director of Music – the first appointment of its kind at any school
1866West Bank opens
1868The Lower School completed - now The Lodge (boarding house)
1869First Headmasters’ Conference held by Edward Thring at Uppingham
1871Fircroft opens
1872-1940Redgate opens (closed in 1940)
1872First Music School established
1875-1877School transfers temporarily to Borth, Wales, due to Typhoid epidemic in Uppingham
1877The Leicester Playing Fields are created
1883Swimming Pool opens (a first for any school in the country)
1888-1907The Revd Edward Carus Selwyn, Headmaster
1889Rugby code for football adopted
Uppingham School Rifle Volunteer Corp (CCF) started
Galilee Chapel to house Brock's statue of Thring
1890The present School House opens
1891-1992The Hall (boarding house) opens (closed in 1992)
1894The railway comes to Uppingham
1895Meadhurst boarding house opens
The Routh Cup (for cross-country) first awarded
1896Farleigh opens
1897The Tower (Victoria Block) built
1898First rugby match against another school - Rugby
1900s
Year/sEvent
1905The Boer War and Paul David Memorial Concert Hall and Gymnasium (now The Theatre) opens
1908-1915The Revd Harry Ward McKenzie, Headmaster
1910The Old Music School completed
1914The Middle Playing Fields purchased
1915The Chapel Organ installed (extensively refurbished in 1965)
1916-1934The most Revd Reginald Herbert Owen, Headmaster
1919The (original) Lodge (The Lower School) moves to Nevill Holt, and is no longer an integral part of Uppingham School
1921The First World War Memorial Shrine in the Chapel is dedicated
1923-1929East Block classrooms and Memorial Hall built
1923Second Cricket Pavilion on The Upper built
1926Scheme for the School to purchase the boarding houses from individual Housemasters is established
1928Constables opens
1928-1929Masons’ Lawn laid and Masons’ Gate erected
1929The Leicester Pavilion completed
1931The Memorial Hall organ installed
1934-1944John Frederick Wolfenden (Lord Wolfenden), Headmaster
1935The Sanatorium opens (combining Woodfield Sanatorium and Fairfield Isolation block)
1939-1946Kingswood School shares the facilities at Uppingham throughout WWII
1940Redgate closed
1944-1965Martin Lloyd, Headmaster
1950WWII Memorial and new Library opens
1957The New Science Block completed
1964School Shop opens for business
1965Chapel Extension built to accommodate growing numbers at the School
The Thring Centre opens and houses the Design andTechnology Department
1965-1974John Caress Royds, Headmaster
1969Memorial Hall divided horizontally to accommodate two floors
Community Service starts (known as the Pioneer Group or Public Service for the first few years)
1970Sports Centre built
1972Theatre opens
The Headmaster ceases to be Housemaster of School House
1975-1982Coll MacDonald, Headmaster
1975Fairfield opens as Uppingham’s first Sixth Form girls’ house
1981New Music School and Buttery open
1982-1991Nicholas Raymond Bomford, Headmaster
1984Quatercentenary celebrations; The Queen visits
1986Johnson's, Uppingham’s second Sixth Form girls’ house, opens
1989Maths Block constructed
1991Lee Astro laid to provide an all weather sport surface
1991-2006Stephen Charles Winkley, Headmaster
1993The Lodge opens as a Sixth Form boys' house
1994The Lodge becomes a Sixth Form girls' house
Woodfield opens as a new Lower School for entry at 11+
1995The Leonardo Centre opens to house Art, Design and Technology
1997Thring Centre becomes the Sixth Form Centre
1998Arboretum (between Spring Back Way and The Middle Playing Fields) established
2000s
Year/sEvent
2001Sunley Astro, Uppingham’s second all weather sport surface, laid
Samworths' opens as Uppingham’s first 13+ girls’ house
2002Fairfield becomes a 13+ girls’ house
2003The Languages Centre opens
2004New House opens as a 13+ girls’ house
2005The Chapel is re-ordered
2006The Paul David Music School is completed
Constables becomes a 13+ girls’ house (having been a boys’ house since 1928)
The Williams Studio Theatre opens
The Middle Pavilion completed
2006-2016Richard Stuart Harman, Headmaster
2007A new Chapel Organ installed
2008Third Astro laid on the Middle Playing Fields
2010The Uppingham School Sports Centre (USSC) opens (officially opened in March 2011 by Lord (Sebastian) Coe
Windmill House acquired to house the RS and Philosophy Department
2011Woodfield converted into a Health Centre, and the Sanatorium, previously housed alongside Johnson’s, closes
Johnson’s accepts girls from 13+
2014New Science Centre opens (officially opened in November 2014 by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys)
2016Dr Richard J Maloney, Headmaster