Kimbolton School
Kimbolton School is a British HMC co-educational independent day and boarding school in the rural village of Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England.
There are 1009 active students at Kimbolton school, aged 4 to 18, consisting of 518 boys and 491 girls. Boarding and flexi-boarding is available to a limited number of students from the age of 11. There are approximately 700 students in the Senior School, and 300 in the Preparatory School.
Since 1950, the school has occupied Kimbolton Castle and its grounds.
History
The school is the successor to the village grammar school; although there are references to a school at Kimbolton as early as 1531, the generally accepted date for its foundation is 1600. The school originally occupied buildings within the churchyard, but moved to new premises in Tilbrook Road in the late 19th century. In 1949 it was renamed from Kimbolton Grammar School to Kimbolton School, and the following year it bought Kimbolton Castle from the Duke of Manchester.The Senior School is based in the grounds of the Castle, and its Preparatory School is based at the other end of the village, but is connected to the senior school by 'The Duchess Walk', a tree-lined avenue. The school grounds total over.
The School's Latin motto is: "Spes Durat Avorum".
Former headmasters
The School has a tradition of long-serving headmasters. Some of its features are named after them:- Mr. Anderson ~1617
- John Rugby ~1635
- William Rugby ~1641
- Samuel Bird ~1653
- Samuel Taylor ~1664
- John Gardiner ~1681
- Mr. Trott ~1686
- Mr. Crankshaw ~1706
- Matthew Gregory ~1716
- William Wheeler ~1739
- Dr. Owen ~1740
- W. Carr ~1757
- Mr. Boulton
- John Thompson 1778–1826
- John Bligh 1827–42
- James Taylor 1842–47
- John Thornton 1847–54
- Robert Watson 1854–65
- William Ager 1865–77
- Robert Kater Vinter 1877–84
- Edward Ulyat 1884–91
- Arthur Bibby 1891–1913
- William Ingram, 1913–47 - after whom the 1st and 2nd form house 'Ingrams' is now named.
- Cyril Lewis, 1947–73 - who oversaw the movement of the school to the Castle, and after whom the School's theatre/assembly hall is named.
- David Donaldson, 1973–87 - after whom the original science block is named, he also first admitted girls to the school.
- Roger Peel, 1987–2002 - after whom the sports hall is named.
- Jonathan Belbin, 2002–
Campus
The School's total campus area comes to ~105 acres.
The Castle
The Castle was bought by Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, in 1615. His descendants owned the Castle for 335 years until it was sold in 1950.Charles Edward Montagu, the 4th Earl, who was created 1st Duke of Manchester in 1719, had reconstruction works carried out between 1690 and 1720. Sir John Vanbrugh and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor redesigned the facades of the Castle in a classical style, but with battlements to evoke its history as a castle, the portico was later added by Alessandro Galilei. The Venetian painter Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini redecorated some of the reconstructed rooms in 1708. These rooms included the main staircase, now called the Pellegrini Staircase, and the chapel. Gilded furnishings in a Louis XIV-inspired style by French upholsterers working in London were also commissioned.
For a later Duke, Robert Adam produced plans for the Castle Gatehouse and other garden buildings, including an orangery. Only one of these buildings, the gatehouse, was constructed, in around 1764. Mews buildings were added to provide stables, and an avenue of giant sequoias was planted in the 19th century.
The Castle was used by the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II, and the 10th Duke of Manchester sold the Castle to the School in 1950. The furnishings were scattered in sales and some have come to national collections. There is limited public opening during the school holidays and at weekends.
The Castle is mostly used for 6th form and Spanish teaching, and houses staff areas plus the 6th form common-room.
The Castle also used for meetings, weddings and social/public events. On occasion it is used as a television/film location. Most teaching and other activities take place in other buildings, on the school grounds.
The Vanbrugh Library
The Vanbrugh Library at the Senior School holds over 12,000 books and periodicals.School structure
Kimbolton school is divided into sections according to academic year ; some of these sections make use of a culturally fitting House system:Preparatory school
There are around 300 pupils in the Preparatory School, in four houses named after the families that owned the castle: Fitzpiers, Montagu, Stafford and Wingfield. Preparatory school pupils can be identified by their solid purple blazers.| Fitzpiers | Named after one of the original owners of the Castle, Geoffrey Fitz Peter, the then Earl of Essex, during the 13th century. | |
| Montagu | Named after Henry Montagu. Owner of the Castle in the 17th Century. | |
| Stafford | Named after one of the original owners of the Castle, Ann Stafford, widow of the Duke of Buckingham, in the mid-15th century. | |
| Wingfield | Named after the Wingfield family, most notably Edward Maria Wingfield, owners of the Castle in the 16th Century. |
Senior school
There are around 700 students in the senior school, aged 11 to 18. This includes the sixth form.Ingrams
A house originally for boarders, Ingrams, was merged with Dawsons in the 1980s. Ingrams was later revived as a separate house for all First Form and Second Form pupils. Ingrams compete in a separate House competition to the rest of the senior school. As opposed to between houses, the students compete between classes, they have many of the same events as the senior houses.| Ingrams | Named after a former headmaster, William Ingram. |
Middles
In four Houses, named after the two founders and two previous teachers at the school: Balyes, Dawsons, Gibbards, and Owens. Until recently, all the boarders were in Dawsons House; they are now allocated to all four senior houses. Uniform differentiating the senior school from the rest of the school includes–most notably–black, purple and white striped blazers.| Balyes | Named after one of the founders of the School, Henry Balye. | |
| Dawsons | Named after one of the founders of the School, William Dawson. The House motto is Domus Aurea. | |
| Gibbards | Named after a former Master of the School. | |
| Owens | Named after a former Master at the School. The house mascot being a Phoenix, which is emblazoned on the House flag. |
Sixth form
Sixth Form students all wear solid-black suits. Upper Sixth formers are also permitted to choose their own coloured jumpers and–for male pupils–ties.Boarding
The boarding houses are situated on Kimbolton High Street. The boy's boarding house, 'Kimbolton House', is by the top of the High Street, while the girl's boarding house, 'White House', is at the bottom, opposite the church.All of the boarders eat together in the Dining Hall, and attend the Chapel fortnightly.
Notable former pupils
- Louise Brealey, actor
- Charles C. W. Cooke, journalist and broadcaster
- Lieutenant Dennis Arthur Copperwheat George Cross recipient
- Christopher Curry, founder of Acorn Computers
- George Furbank, Northampton Saints and England rugby player
- William Giles, Colonial Manager of the South Australian Company
- Peter Jones, BBC Sport radio commentator and master at the school
- Marcus Jones, Director of Docklands Light Railway and TV celebrity
- Jonathan Kydd
- Mark Lancaster, Conservative MP for North East Milton Keynes since 2005
- Rev. Ronald Lancaster MBE, an Anglican clergyman, was Chemistry master and School Chaplain, and founded Kimbolton Fireworks in 1964
- Raymond Lewin George Cross recipient
- Clive Mantle, actor
- Howard Payne, Olympic and Commonwealth athlete. Commonwealth Gold Medalist 1962, 1966, 1970.
- Henry Peacham, a writer, was an assistant master at the school in the early 17th century
- Ben Saxton, 2016 Olympic sailor
- Dr Simon Thurley, historian, archaeologist, curator, writer, broadcaster, museum director, heritage crusader, Chief Executive of English Heritage
- Robert W. Smith, Secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control
- Richard Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty, member of the British delegation to the Congress of Vienna
- Waldo Williams leading Welsh language poet and master at the school.
- Edward Maria Wingfield, English colonist of America and later Governor of the school
- Martin Yates Conductor
- John Whitworth, countertenor, organist, and professor at the Guildhall School of Music
Old Kimboltonians Association