The A-Z of Oakham School

THE A–Z OF OAKHAM SCHOOL

is for…

is for… shburton uchanan

In 1966, the School’s Shooting 1st VI, captained by Chris Frame, went to Bisley and won the Ashburton Shield for the first time in its history. To celebrate this achievement, it was decided to name the new dining hall the ‘Ashburton Hall’, although it was more commonly referred to as ‘The Trough’. Some may remember that this building stood where the Merton now is, next to the current ‘Ashburton building’, then known as the ‘Haywood building’ (see H for Haywood). The Ashburton Hall was in use from 1966 to 1987. It was finally taken down in 1989.

A is also for Ancaster, Athletics, Art, Activities, A-levels.

John Buchanan, Headmaster from 1959 to 1977, is the man behind the decision to become co-educational and when he retired, the Girls’ House ‘Orchard Close’, which had opened in January 1975, was renamed ‘Buchanans’ in summer 1977.

B is also for Barrow, Barraclough, Battlefields, Big Band, Bursaries, Biology, Boarding, Business.

Top left: The Ashburton Hall (left) next to the Haywoods building (right) in the 1960s

Bottom left: Lunch in the Ashburton Hall in the 1960s

A BFront of Buchanans

The OO Club and Aurore, the School Archivist, have teamed up to share some of the stories behind the people and places that have shaped Oakham School.

Written by Aurore Guillomot-Bonnefond and Charlotte Woodward

Cis for… hapman

In 1910 Georgian-style Junior House was built. Its first Housemaster was Frank Chapman. Junior House was a Junior School that included a Boarding House and classrooms for the youngest boys. In 1960 and after much extension work and refurbishment, the House was renamed ‘Chapmans’ in memory of the first Housemaster. It became a fully-fledged Senior House two years later.

C is also for Clipsham, Chapel, Chapel Close, Choir, College House, CCF, Cricket, CONGO, Computer Science, Cross Country, Co-Education, Classics, Citizenship, Chemistry.

Current Oakhamians who know the playing fields in the centre of campus as ‘Donkey’ might be surprised to hear that their official name is ‘Doncaster Close’. Those fields were purchased by the then Headmaster, Dr John Doncaster. An Old Oakhamian himself (1790), Dr Doncaster became the third OO to serve as Headmaster and he became one of the most famous. His headmastership lasted from 1808 to 1846.

D is also for Deanscroft, DofE, Design and Technology, Drama, Decem.

Dis for… is for…

oncaster ives

FFives is one of the oldest games played at the School. The first interhouse competition was recorded in 1907 and the first interschool matches took place a year later. A co-educational sport at Oakham, fixtures still take place against rival schools to this day. F is also for Farside, Football, Fencing, Foundation, Fun Run, French, Freddie Groome Enterprise.

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Eis for…

A Day Girls’ House, Gunthorpe’s population of 80 13–17 year olds are

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Haywoods is a Boys’ Boarding House, built in 1989, on Kilburn Road. It welcomed the Deanscroft boys when their House was converted

into Stevens for girls. It was named after Colonel Tom Haywood, who had been a Trustee of Oakham School from 1963 to 1970. Colonel Haywood was High Sheriff of Rutland in 1952 and was awarded an OBE for services to agriculture in 1962. Whilst a Trustee to the School, he was serving as Lord Lieutenant of Rutland (19631974). Another building bore his name before then, though. The Haywood building, opened in September 1965, and housed the Geography and Modern Languages Departments. This building was renamed ‘Ashburton’ when the name passed on to the Boarding House (see A for Ashburton). Another Haywood figure played an important part in the School’s history – John Haywood. He was a Cricket Master from 1904 to 1924, with an interval from 1915 to 1919 when John served in the First World War. He eventually came back to the School between 1946 and 1954.

H is also for Hockey, Hambleton, Hodge Wing/Hodges/Rev Edward Vere Hodge.

Need we say more? Part of the annual ritual of the School year, when public exams were cancelled in 2020, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, Oakham devised its own assessments and Bridging Courses to give pupils a sense of completion of their studies and to prepare them for life beyond School. E is also for Expeditions, English, Evensongs.

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housed, along with the Hambleton girls, in the former Catmose hospital. The conversion of the hospital and the construction of the twin Day Boys’ Houses, Barrow and Clipsham, were part of a major work development of the Schanschieff site.

Houses were opened in 1997 and the day girls of Talbots were transferred to their new Houses.

is also for Games, Geography, Gamelan, Grounds and Gardens, German, Greek.

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K is for…

In 2010 the Eburru Schools Project was launched. Every year, a few selected Form 6 pupils organise fundraising events, collecting money to fund their February trip to Kenyan primary schools. They help build new classrooms, new desks, paint walls, install water drains, teach classes… A truly inspiring and life-changing experience for the pupils.

K is also for Kayaking.

is for…

‘Jerwoods’ is our Lower School campus and was named after OO John Michael Jerwood (‘35), whose generosity to the School helped to build many of our campus’s iconic buildings, including the Jerwood School of Design, the Smallbone Library, as well as the Lower School site. The new campus on Burley Road was opened in 1974. Three generations of Jerwood sons studied at Oakham School. At the turn of the 20th century, five brothers were at Oakham: Henry (1898), Edward (1902), Frank (1905), John Hugh (1909), and Bernard (1911). Frank is the School’s first Olympian, winning a Bronze medal with the Rowing Eight

J O

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at the 1908 London Olympics. He served the School as Chaplain from 1914 until he retired in 1937, and was the first Housemaster of Wharflands (1920–1937). He was also Captain in the OTC. His son, Harold Peter (’27), went on to captain the Leicester Tigers in the 1947–1948 season. His brother John Hugh was killed in the First World War on 21 March 1918 at St Quentin. He was the father of John Michael. The last Jerwood to come to Oakham School was Peter Henry (’64), Frank’s grandson. J is also for Johnsons/ Archdeacon Robert Johnson, Japan.

‘Who is the man in the painting in the entrance of the Merton building?’ Well, the simple answer is, ‘Thomas Merton’. Thomas Merton was educated at Oakham School from 1929 to 1932. He played rugby in the 1st XV in 1932 and was a School Prefect. Merton was ordained in 1949. The teachings of the Trappist Monk are still followed and studied avidly today. The ‘Merton’ building stands on the site of the old Ashburton Dining Hall and the opening ceremony took place on 26 November 1991.

M is also for Mehra Faculty of Science, Music, Matron, Modern Foreign Languages.

Co-education brought with it all the major girls’ sports, and netball is no exception. The 1st team in Oakham School’s history dates back from the Spring Term 1972. The year 2001 saw no less than six netball teams, including the 1st VII, celebrating an unbeaten season. Not forgetting that in the 2021–2022 season, our U19 and U14 teams both went to compete in the National Finals for the first time.

N is also for ‘Nero – The Musical’, Non-Uniform Day.

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The history of lacrosse at the School is a fragmented one. The sport was played regularly from 1976 to 1980. It was only firmly re-established as a girls’ game thanks to the efforts of Mrs Sarah Gomm in 1994. It is one of the most contested interhouse competitions and Rushebrookes, current reigning champions, hold the most victories in this discipline!

L is also for Lincoln, Latin, Lunchtime Music concerts, Littles/Tony Little, Leavers’ Ball.

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etball erton L

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is for… is for… enya Project acrosse

erwood rchestra ool

The Chamber Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra are just two of the many musical ensembles that pupils have participated in over the years.

O is also for Old Oakhamian Club, The Oakhamian, The OO Magazine, Old School, Optimum, Orchard Close, Old Hall, OSCA.

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Before the completion of the Sports Hall and its indoor swimming pool in 1975, the pupils ‘enjoyed’ the pleasures of the outdoor pool. Opened as part of the Tercentenary celebrations in 1884, it was built “in a field below the Cricket ground”; it was 80ft long, 30ft wide and with a depth of between 3 and 6 ft. Further extension followed in May 1934 and a filter was installed to purify and sterilize. The refurbished pool was opened on 23 June 1934 by the Olympic diver Pete Desjardin. In summer 1954, a “tubular steel diving platform” alongside the wooden diving board was installed”.

P is also for Peterborough House, Eric Pickering-Clarke, Pavilion, Politics, Physics, Psychology.

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Below:

Rev Frank Jerwood, School Chaplain, c. 1920

right: John Hugh Jerwood, standing on the right, with Basil Vaughan Wood, sitting on the chair, early 1900s

right: A model of the Jerwoods campus, 1970s

The 1997 Lacrosse team

right: A Lacrosse team in the 1990s

Top: The School’s first Netball team, 1972, coached by Anne PropertWilliams

The undefeated 1st VII, 2001, coached by Jo Welch

A rehearsal in Chapel in the 1990s

The orchestra rehearsing in the Barraclough Hall in 1975

The Outdoor Pool,1960s

G.A. Cherry diving in the Swimming Sports Competition, 1951

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Uniform is for…

U is also for Upper School.

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre was part of a large development campaign started in the early 1980s. On 16 November 1984, Queen Elizabeth II visited the School and officially opened the new theatre. The old theatre, the Barraclough Hall, had been transformed by the installation of a modern auditorium with raked seating and a large stage below the audience, a gallery and a foyer. It was equipped with a computerized lighting system and sophisticated sound equipment. In 2014 the School celebrated 30 years of the QET by hosting a group of OOs from the world of stage and screen in conversation in front of an audience of current and former pupils and staff.

Q is also for Quatercentenary,

house, The Queen’s visits.

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Rugby at Oakham has enjoyed a long and illustrious history. The first rugby season ever recorded at Oakham School was in 1892-1893. The team was then captained by TA Watson. The first time the 1st XV were undefeated was in 1953, under the leadership of their captain, BAF Smith (’54). The 1971 team won for the first time against Uppingham. Oakham School won the Daily Mail cup twice, in 2002 and 2003. Rugby Sevens is always a highlight of the Spring Term and in 2022, our U18 team were runners-up in the Vase Competition at Rosslyn Park.

R is also for Rushebrookes/Robert Rushbrooke, Round House, Remembrance, Red Book, Rutland, Religion and Philosophy.

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R ugby is for… S W T

Voluntary Action

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Along with D of E and CCF Voluntary Action is one of the Service options pupils from Form 4 onwards participate in each week to give back to the community.

V is also for The Visitor, Veterans, Visitors Lodging.

is for… is for…

argant ilson Rev Terence Treanor

Walter Lee Sargant, affectionately known as ‘Tom’ by his pupils, was Headmaster from 1902 to 1929. He led the School through the difficult times of the First World War. Having purchased the field by the cemetery (Farside) around 1916–1917, he ‘initiated cultivation [...] in aid of food production. We boys worked on planting potatoes and cabbages, and a few cultivated small plots on which they could grow their own lettuces and radishes’ (extract from the sketchbook of OO Felix Bayley). Sargant retired in 1929 and lived in the house he had built, Orchard Close, best known nowadays as Buchanans House! His name is ever present on our campus today. The Sargants Laboratory was opened on 16 May 1959 and the Junior Day Boys’ House of Sargants was created in 1960. The boys moved from Hodge Wing to their new Junior House on the Jerwoods campus in 1974. S is also for Sanatorium, Schanschieffs site/Simon Schanschieff, School Council, School House, Service Weekend, Speech Day, Sports Day, Sports Hall, Smallbone Library/Graham Smallbone, Rod Smith, Squash, Steeplechase, Stevens/Michael Stevens.

OO Terence Treanor (’47) followed in the footsteps of another Old Boy, Frank Jerwood, when he came back to Oakham School to serve as School Chaplain between 1966 and 1978. Up to his retirement in 1994, Rev Treanor fulfilled a vast number of roles at School. He became the first Housemaster of Talbots (1973-1974) and of Lincoln (1974-1989), and was a Tutor in Stevens (1989-1994). He taught Religious Education from 1966 and was named first Head of RE in 1979, a position he held until 1994. He is closely associated with the Old Oakhamian community as he was the Honorary Secretary of the OO Club from 1967 to 1994. Even when he retired, Terence still retained his ties with the School, accepting the role of the first School Archivist in 1994, until 2005.

T is also for Talbots/G. Talbot Griffith, Tennis, Trustees, Tom Grant Football Festival, Trips.

Old Oakhamian Lynn Wilson (‘57) became a Trustee (1983-1996) and a benefactor of Oakham School. Several sporting facilities bear his name. The Springfields playing fields on Ashwell Road were acquired in the early 2000s. They were then renamed ‘Wilson Fields’ in honour of Lynn Wilson who had also funded the construction of a pavilion on the fields. The official opening ceremony took place on 16 May 2005. Today, the Wilson Fields are used by our rugby players and cricketers and are the venue of the Christmas Fun Run and the Tom Grant Festival of Football, amongst other interhouse competitions. Did you also know that the WA stood for ‘Wilson Auditorium’? Part of the Mehra Faculty of Science, this modern and university-like auditorium was opened in 2011. Lynn Wilson is also remembered on Farside where he helped build the first ‘all weather sporturf hockey pitch’, opened on 31 January 1991. W is also for Wharflands, Water Polo, War Memorials.

Queen Anne

Top: Lynn Wilson speaking to the hockey players at the opening of the all-weather hockey pitch on 31 January 1991

Bottom: The opening of the Wilson Fields by the Wilson family on 16 April 2005

Above: The VA Phab Easter Party, 2022

Far Left: Community Service, 2008

Middle left and left: Voluntary Action pupils in 2009

The 1st XV in action in 1974

The Barraclough Hall in the 1960s, prior to the refurbishment

The Rugby 1st XV, 1895

Top left: Walter Lee Sargant

right: The Sargants Laboratory in the 1970s

right: Sargants House Prefects, 1991

Rev Terence Treanor, c.1975

Peterborough House, 1992. An example of all the colours of the uniform

Right: The Junior School uniform: a grey blazer and vest for the boys, a navy blue blazer and white shirt or red turtle neck for the girls, with the tartan trousers or skirt, and white or red socks, c.1975

pres is for… Y

The three battles of Ypres, Belgium were some of the bloodiest and deadliest battles of the First World War.

Oakham School remembers 12 Old Boys who fought and fell at Ypres.

Roll of Honour:

John Ernest North Albrecht (2 August 1917)

Geoffrey Carew Barber (25 April 1915)

Robert Charlton (9 August 1915)

Alfred Cecil English (30 December 1917)

Charles Horace Grey (20 September 1917)

Frederick Howard Jackson (28 October 1914)

Xis for… is for…

Bottom left: The Football 1st Girls’ XI, winners of the U18 Independent Schools Football Association Girls Cup in 2015

Middle: The 1860 Cricket 1st XI, the oldest cricket team photograph held in the Archives

Top right: The 2017 Cricket 1st Girls’ XI, the School’s first girls’ cricket team

Bottom right: The 2003 Hockey 1st Boys’ XI welcomed Crista Cullen on their side. She was the third girl to join the Boys’ 1st team, after Sally Copp and Louisa Turney

Leonard Arthur Kingham (10 August 1917)

Orde Murray-Browne (12 June 1916)

Geoffrey Lancelot Porter (24 April 1915)

Horace Leslie Cunningham Ravenhill (24 April 1915)

Paul Meredith Steeds (12 October 1917)

Herbert Alfred Vincent Wait (2 December 1917)

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Geoffrey Porter and Horace Ravenhill had both emigrated to Canada where they worked as farmers. They enlisted together on the same day, in the 7th Battalion, Canadian Infantry. They tragically died on the same day at the Battle of St Julien during the Second Battle of Ypres.

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From the left: John Albrecht in the Rugby 1st XV, 1914

Leonard Kingham (back) and Herbert Wait in the Cricket 1st XI, 1915. Both Kingham and Wait were in Junior House in 1910 (see C for Chapmans)

Captain Geoffrey Barber. © IWM HU 113298

Private Horace Leslie Cunnigham Ravenhill. © IWM HU 124728

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1995

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1992

Bottom right: The Big Band tour to Zimbabwe, Summer 1992

The Cricket 1st XI,

The Big Band tour to Zimbabwe, Summer

right: Peter Witchell taking a Music lesson in Zimbabwe, 1992

Music Tours and Sports Tours have been a key part of Oakham School life for several decades, with the Sports Tour to South Africa, taking place every three years.