Eastbourne College

The College was founded by the Duke of Devonshire and other prominent Eastbourne citizens in 1867.

The College is in the Lower Meads area of Eastbourne, in a mainly residential area. Most of the school buildings are on a central campus area but many others are scattered in the immediate vicinity, such as the Beresford hockey and the links rugby pitches.

The motto, Ex Oriente Salus, is a play on "Eastbourne", meaning "The haven[the bourne]from the East". Salus also means health.

Dr Charles Hayman, an Eastbourne medical practitioner and member of the town's first Council, together with other prominent local citizens, decided an independent school 'for the education of the sons of noblemen and gentlefolk' should be established and the support of the 7th Duke of Devonshire was sought. The Duke was supportive of the venture and provided 12 acres (4.9 ha) of land for purchase at a modest price. This link with the Cavendish family is evidenced by the stag in the school emblem.

From 1867 to 1869 it occupied Ellesmere Villa, now called Spencer Court; the location is now marked by a blue plaque. Architect Henry Currey was assigned by the Duke to design a new school building, and College House, now School House, was built in 1870. The school chapel was constructed that same year.

During the 1880s, the school went through an impoverished period. Through the intervention of George Wallis, first mayor of Eastbourne and the work of new headmaster Rev Dr Charles Crowden, formerly of Cranbrook School, the school was saved from financial disaster.[2]

In 1967 Eastbourne College celebrated its centenary. Ex Oriente Salus - A Centenary History of Eastbourne College was published for the occasion and consists of a compilation by Vincent Mulcaster Allom, who spent over 30 years teaching at the school, of old photographs, news articles and illustrations of the school.

The college admitted its first girls in 1969 when the sixth form became coeducational and is now fully coeducational.

Front view of the Wargrave House

Boarding Houses

• Gonville (Boys)
• Nugent (Girls)
• Pennell (Boys)
• School (Girls)
• Wargrave (Boys)

Day Houses

• Blackwater (Girls)
• Craig (Boys)
• Powell (Boys)
• Reeves (Boys)
• Watt (Girls)

Many of these houses were donated to the school in wills and named after their benefactors; for example, Powell was given to the college by Stanley Powell.

Eastbourne College in 2008

In the 2011 GCSEs 100% of candidates achieved A*-C. It was the school's eight consecutive year in which 60% or more of pupils scored A*-A grades.[5][6] In 2008 pupils achieved a 100% pass rate in the A Levels with 77% receiving A-B grades.[7]

The Chapel is within the 'central' tradition of the Church of England, and the College has a full-time Chaplain. Assembly takes place there on Mondays and Wednesdays. There are Sunday services throughout term time, and at the beginning and end of each term there is a whole school service in All Saints' Church, immediately adjacent to the school. There is a student-led College Christian Union which is attended by students of various Christian traditions. There is also a Bible study group (The Connection) led by two members of staff which meets weekly throughout the year.

Every year a confirmation service is held in the Chapel. The Chaplain prepares candidates for confirmation in the months preceding this service and this includes an awayday at Ashburnham Place.

The services on Speech Day, the Christmas Service of Nine Lessons and Carols and all other whole-school services of thanksgiving are held at St Saviour's, the College church.

The College's current chaplain is Reverend Daniel Merceron, a former Army Chaplain.

The Second World War saw the evacuation of Eastbourne College to Radley College, and the plaque with its generous inscription commemorating this move and referring to "sympathy... and easy comradeship" has long been a significant feature of the Radley's Chapel Cloister. The Warden at the time, J C Vaughan Wilkes, was a son of the proprietors of St Cyprian's prep school with which Eastbourne College long had close connections. After the war, the College acquired St Cyprian's playing fields and the Memorial Gates were installed at the entrance.

At the turn of the millennium the Arnold Embellishers, a society of friends of Eastbourne College, decided that there should be a similar memorial in Eastbourne itself, and on Sunday 23 June 2002, in a short ceremony introduced by Eastbourne's Headmaster, Charles Bush and Angus McPhail unveiled a plaque in their own Cloisters. The inscription reads "In memory of those who made it possible to survive the Second World War by taking us to Radley College and, when peace returned, bringing us safely home, under the leadership of the Headmaster Francis John Nugee MA". Many of the headmasters of Eastbourne College were Radley boys.

In celebration of the occasion, the Radley v Eastbourne cricket match was revived.

On 17 October 2011, Gus Christie, chairman of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, opened the Birley Centre.[9] It was named after Michael Birley, former Headmaster of Eastbourne College (1956-1970), and now has facilities such as a recording studio and a state of the art theatre space.

The Southern Railway made great use of steam locomotive names for publicity, and the carrying of pupils to boarding schools at the beginning and end of school terms was a significant traffic flow.[10] Locomotives of the 'V' or "Schools" Class, introduced in 1930, were hence named after prominent English public schools. The fifteenth locomotive, no. 914, was named Eastbourne after the college. Built at Eastleigh in October 1932, no. 914 remained in service until withdrawn by British Railways in July 1961.[11]

• List of Victoria Crosses by School

• College Archives
• Allom, Vincent Mulcaster; Eastbourne College (1967). Ex Oriente Salus - A Centenary History of Eastbourne College. ISBN 978-0950355900.

• "Schools Guide 2012 - Eastbourne College". Tatler.

• School website
• Eastbourne College Society
• Profile on the Good Schools Guide
• ISI Inspection Reports
• Ofsted Social Care Inspection Reports