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A history of Uppingham School
Foundation The first recorded Uppingham schoolboy was Henry Ferne from York, who was Chaplain to Charles I. The first 270 years During that period various features of life in the School developed, which are still in evidence today. Uppingham became a full boarding school, with all pupils having individual studies, and this pattern was being established around 1800 - some of these original studies still survive (though not now in use!). Today Uppingham has a thriving theatre, and it is interesting to note that the first recorded School play was performed in 1794. The main recreation in the 18th century was cricket - the first recorded cricket match, described in the school magazine, was in 1815 - and the game still thrives at Uppingham. In 1846 the Institution of School Praepostors, or Prefects, was established and still operates. As now, certain pupils were to gain distinction in later life, an early example being Professor Thomas Bonney, at Uppingham in the 1850s, the most distinguished geologist of his time, and President of the Alpine Club. 1853-87: The Headmastership of Edward Thring He also won national and transatlantic reputation as an original thinker and writer on education. His ideas are still important today: - Every pupil must receive full and equal attention; as much time should be spent in class on an ordinary as on a brilliant pupil; those not intellectually gifted should have opportunities to succeed in other occupations; scattered boarding house enshrine a different and higher life; each pupil must have a small study of his own. At a time when Maths and Classics dominated the curriculum he encouraged many ‘extra’ subjects - French, German, Science, History, Art, Carpentry and Music. In particular Thring was a pioneer in his introduction of Music into the regular system of education; thus were the foundations laid for Uppingham’s present flourishing musical life. He also opened the first gymnasium in an English school, the forerunner of the present Sports Hall, and later added a heated indoor swimming pool. He also commissioned a number of impressive buildings, notably the Chapel designed by the famous Gothic Revival architect G E Street. Again, as now, certain pupils were to gain distinction in later life. E.W. Hornung was at the School in the 1880s, he wrote several novels, but his fame rests upon his creation of the character A.J. Raffles. 1888 to the First World War The buildings of the School also continued to grow with the construction of the Tower block, through which you still enter the School, and the combined gymnasium and concert hall - which in 1972 was converted into the School Theatre. Pupils continued to go on to later fame - Patrick Abercrombie, pioneer Town Planner; Sir Malcolm Campbell, motor racer; James Elroy Flecker, poet and playwright: CRW Nevinson, official war artist in both wars; WH Pratt (Boris Karloff), film actor; EJ Moeran, composer; Lt General Sir Brian Horrocks, Commander of the XXX Corps under Montgomery, and later a TV lecturer on battles and war; and APF Chapman, Captain of the England Cricket team 1926-30, winning the Ashes. From 1918 to today The buildings of the School continued to expand. 450 ex-pupils died in the First World War and the School Hall was built in their memory. Also built in this period were the main classroom block in the centre of the School, the Cricket and Rugby pavilions, and a school sanatorium. In 1956 the new Science Block was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh; it was extended in the 1960s. In 1989 a new Maths Block, to house Mathematics and Computing was opened by Professor Stephen Hawking. New squash courts were built and in 1970 the Sports Centre, incorporating the old swimming pool was opened, with the later addition of a climbing wall and a well-equipped weights room. In 1981 a new Music School and a new Buttery, where the pupils can buy snacks, were built. In 1995 the new Arts and Design Centre was built, the Leonardo Centre, designed by old pupil Piers Gough. In 2003 The Language Centre opened, built in the gardens of the Thring Centre. Finally in 2006 a New Music Centre opened on School Lane, incorporating all the old houses that were there, to accommodate the growing demand for music at the School. In the post-War period sports other than the main ones of rugby, hockey, cricket, athletics, swimming and shooting began to be introduced including tennis, basketball, badminton, fencing, squash, sailing, soccer and golf. In 1945 Douglas Guest became Director of Music and this area of School life developed even further. The concert choir was increased until it contained over half the School: a bandmaster was appointed; music scholarships were introduced; and various music societies were created. All these innovations still flourish. In the 1960s Uppingham pioneered the introduction of Design and Technology into the curriculum, with Uppingham being the first independent school, and one of the first 5 schools in Britain, to evolve and introduce A-level Design. Design was taught in the Thring Centre, opened in 1965. These subjects were then transferred with Art, Woodwork and Metalwork to the Leonardo Centre, opened in 1995. The years since the 1970s have also seen a considerable expansion in the subjects taught, particularly at A-level, with the introduction of Politics, Ancient History, Design, Business Studies, Theatre Studies, Classical Civilisation, Spanish, Italian, Philosophy & Religious Studies, ICT, and Physical Education. And pupils still go on to success in later life - Sir Neville Faulks (High Court Judge); John Aldridge (Royal Academician); Sir Patrick Renison (Governor of Kenya); Donald Campbell (world water speed record holder, killed on Coniston Water in Bluebird); John Schlesinger (film director); John Suchet (journalist & broadcaster); Piers Gough (architect); Peter Cropper (leader of the Lindsay String Quartet); Tim Melville-Ross (former head of CBI and Institute of Directors); Stephen Dorrell (Health Secretary 1995-97); Stephen Fry (actor and writer); Dickson Poon (businessman and non-executive Chairman of Harvey Nichols); Jonathan Agnew (England cricketer and Chief Cricket Correspondent for BBC Radio); Rick Stein (chef and restaurateur); Johnny Vaughan (TV presenter); Charles Dunstone and David Ross (co-founders of Carphone Warehouse), Jenny Willott (MP), Charlie Simpson (musician & former member of Busted); Harry Judd (musician & member of McFly). Today
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