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Alleyn's School is an independent co-educational day school situated in Dulwich, south-east London. It is part of a foundation which includes James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) and Dulwich College.
History
Edward Alleyn was a prosperous Elizabethan actor and proprietor of taverns, bear-pits and brothels, whose Rose and Fortune theatres rivalled Shakespeare's Globe. In 1619 he established his "College of God's Gift" (the gift of love). Alleyn's School is a direct descendant of Edward Alleyn's original foundation and was established as a boys' school in 1882. It still exists as part of a foundation alongside Dulwich College and James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) - it split with Dulwich College after the "Dulwich College Act" of 1857, with the upper school of the original foundation moving to a new site further south and the lower school staying put, becoming an independent boys school in 1882 and later also moving to its own site. The original school is now the foundation chapel and the offices for the Dulwich Estate, which belongs to the foundation schools. Alleyn's became a public school with the election of the Headmaster to the Headmasters' Conference (HMC) in 1919. It was a Direct Grant School from 1958 until the abolition of that status in 1975. The Governors then opted for outright independence and co-education.
In 1992 a Junior School was opened for 200 boys and girls aged from 4 to 11.
Alleyn's is claimed to be the best co-ed school in the country by the Good Schools Guide year after year.
The school now has the largest voluntary Combined Cadet Force in the country. The school also runs a Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme in which its field centre in Derbyshire plays an important role.
Interestingly Alleyn's is not allowed to play rugby football after the original separation from Dulwich College. Upon the split the two schools played a rugby match to determine which school would have the right to play the game. When Dulwich College won they confirmed their right to play rugby, whilst Alleyn's would play association football. Alleyn's did make tentative moves towards introducing rugby football very briefly in the late 1970s when the then chaplain (a Welshman and keen rugby player) set up a team and began organizing matches. There was little interest, however, and the attempt did not survive the chaplain's dismissal.
The current headmaster is Dr. Colin Diggory.
Notable alumni
- Sir Frederick Keeble (1870–1952), Sherardian Professor of Botany, University of Oxford, 1920–1927, Scientific Adviser to ICI, 1927–1938, and Fullerian Professor, Royal Institution, 1938–1941
- James Bolivar Manson (1879–1945), painter and Director, Tate Gallery, 1930–1938
- Arthur Watson (1880–1969), Editor, Daily Telegraph, 1924–1950
- Arthur Ewins (1882–1957), chemist
- Alexander Glenny (1882–1965), immunologist
- C. S. Forester (1899–1966), novelist
- Sir Harold Bishop (1900–1983), Director of Technical Services/Engineering, BBC, 1952–1963
- Sir V. S. Pritchett (1900–1997), writer and critic
- Harry Guntrip (1901–1975), psychotherapist and Congregational minister
- Henry Cotton (1907–1987), golfer
- Sir Ronald Leach (1907–1996), Senior Partner, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co.
- Sir Frank Young (1908–1988), biochemist and first Master of Darwin College, Cambridge, 1964–1976
- R. V. Jones (1911–1997), physicist, scientific intelligence expert, and Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Aberdeen, 1946–1981
- Sir Joe Hooper (1914–1994), Director, Government Communications Headquarters, 1965–1973, and Government Intelligence Co-ordinator, 1973–1978
- Stuart Blanch, Baron Blanch (1918–1994), Bishop of Liverpool, 1966–1975, and Archbishop of York, 1975–1983
- Terence Higgins, Baron Higgins (born 1928), politician
- Mickey Stewart (born 1933), cricketer
- Julian Glover (born 1935), actor
- Simon Ward (born 1941), actor
- Kelvin MacKenzie (born 1946), former editor of The Sun
- Douglas Higgs (born 1951), Director, Molecular Haematology Unit of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford
- Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (born 1965), interior designer
- Samuel West (born 1966), actor
- Jude Law (born 1972), actor
Houses
Originally, Alleyn's had six houses, each named after the original house-masters: Cribb, Brading, Brown, Roper, Spurgeon and Tulley. Some time later, two more houses were created: Tyson's and Dutton's. The original houses were not allowed to use any form of blue, since these were the colours of Oxford and Cambridge; however the two later houses were formed under a headmaster who was slightly more liberal in his views and hence allowed them to use dark blue (Oxford) and light blue (Cambridge).
External links
Public schools in London | Schools with Combined Cadet Forces
"Alleyn's School"