Berkhamsted School

Senior boys' houses

• Adders was formed in 1915 to accommodate the so-called "train boys" who, by nature of their daily commute to school, were often excluded from school activities.
• Bartrum, the newest house, founded in 2019.^[5]
• Bees, dating back to 1897 and situated on Mill Street next to Swifts.
• Cox's, opened in 1958 in response to the growing numbers of day boys.
• Fry's is named after one of Berkhamsted's former headmasters, Thomas Charles Fry.
• Greenes, found along the cloisters of the Grass Quad. The School's association with the Greene family is recognised in its name.
• Loxwood, also found along the cloisters. This house was named after a former girls' school house.
• Swifts, established at the same time as Bees.
• Tilman (formerly Incents), until September 2010, was both a boarding and day boy house. The boarding accommodation is situated along Chesham Road, and is the birthplace of Graham Greene.^[6]

Senior girls' houses

• Holme
• New Stede
• Old Stede
• Russell
• St David's
• Stephenson, founded in 2017, named in honour of microbiologist and biochemist Marjory Stephenson.^[7]
• Wolstenholme, founded in 2011, named after Sue Wolstenholme who was a school governor for 35 years.^[8]

Founding

High clergy of the 16th century frequently distinguished themselves by their furthering of the educational establishment and, in this respect, Berkhamsted owes much to John Incent. In 1523, he called upon the brothers of the local brotherhood of St John the Baptist to divert the funds they had hitherto donated to the monastic hospital (which had closed) to the Brotherhood House, about which little is known. In 1541, however, Incent applied to the King, Henry VIII, in pursuit of a licence "to purchase £40 in land by the year," and was successful. It is considered an act of great piety that Incent chose to found a school outside what had become his sphere of influence.

By 1544, Berkhamsted School's first building, now known as 'Old Hall' was complete, later to be described by William Camden as "the only structure in Berkhamsted worth a second glance."^[9] The formal opening is recorded in the Ancient Documents:

When the building of the said Schoole was thus finished, the Deane sent for the chiefe men of the Towne into the Schoole, where he kneeling downe, gave thanks to Almighty God, which had given him life to see the perfection of that work, which both he, the towne and the country had beene about for the space of 20 years as is manifest by the pmisses. First he read his licence. Then he called for Richd Reeve, and placed him in the seate there made for the Schoolemr. and so did ordaine, make and pnounce him to be the first Master of the said Schoole and after that tooke him by the hand and did give him and his successors for ever possession of the lodgings appteining to that office. In like manner he placed John Audley to be Usher, and John East to be Chaplen. This done he did give possession by his deed bearing date the 23 of March in the 36 yeare of Henry the 8 to the said Richd Reeve John Audley and John East and their successours for ever, of all the land to the sd Schoole then appointed, which are expressed pticularly in an act of pliamt. made 2 & 3 Ed 6. Finally the Deane began TE DEUM LAUDAMUS which being finished with certaine other praiers and ceremonies, the whole Companie did there drink together and so depted.^[10]

Yet the legal foundation was not nearly so sound. When Incent died some 18 months later, his entire wealth (over £330) became the king's, his documents stating that Berkhamsted's founder, a highly educated lawyer, had died intestate. The authenticity of this claim is rightly questioned: shortly after Incent's death, a complaint was made to the king "by some evill persons that the Deane had laid to the Schoole more revenues than his licence [£40 annually] did permitt him." Furthermore, Henry VIII stood to gain £196 and "a front of pearls" from the Dean's estate. However, there had been no formal incorporation of the school, and records suggest that Incent had spent much time since the opening preparing, but not realising, legal protection. An investigation into the claims that his annual endowment had been exceeded was commissioned and undertaken by John Waterhouse, a favourite not only of the king, but also a confidant of Incent, who had been present at the opening. His choice of commissioner suggests the foundation still had royal approval, something that had allowed the school to survive the first attack against it. The most enduring legacy of the foundation nonetheless remains the building itself.

A delicate establishment

Quick facts Foundation of Berkhamsted School Act 1548, Long title ...

Foundation of Berkhamsted School Act 1548
Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	An Act for the Foundation of a School in Barckhamstede.
Citation	2 & 3 Edw. 6. c. 20 Pr.
Dates
Royal assent	14 March 1549

Close

Incent's death, which itself had created a threat to the school, was followed by that of Henry VIII in January 1547. The Dissolution of Colleges Act 1545 (37 Hen. 8. c. 4), which could have jeopardised the post of chaplain at Berkhamsted, was replaced by new legislation, the Dissolution of Colleges Act 1547 (1 Edw. 6. c. 14), and the foundation was declared "unperfect". The Foundation of Berkhamsted School Act 1548 (2 & 3 Edw. 6. c. 20 Pr.) was introduced in Parliament to settle the various claims to the Incent estate, but only those concerning the most immediate relatives of John. Thus claims to land of the school's endowment in Sparkford near Winchester were made and tried, resulting in significant loss to the school.

An additional threat came when Edward VI, acting on advice, re-established the school under his own name. In reality, there was both initial benefit and ultimate disadvantage in this. Richard Reeve, the first headmaster, held strict Protestant views, and was dismissed by the Bishop of Lincoln, acting upon Queen Mary's instructions, in 1555. He was replaced by William Barker, who offered an alternative religious policy, for he himself was removed when Elizabeth gained the throne.

'So Mean a School'

It is some indication of the extent of Berkhamsted's degeneration under Fossan that his successor, Edmund Newboult, was recommended by the Bishop of Hereford as "of parts sufficient for so mean a school," an endorsement described as "comically unenthusiastic".^[11] The most prominent historical source on Newboult remains a reply he made to an educational researcher some years into his tenure, noting that "The Statues of the Schoole were made in the time of popery, therefore not observed." During his 17 years of office, Newboult does appear to have provided a solid educational environment at Berkhamsted, at least relatively speaking, something continued under his successor, Thomas Wren. In his wake came John Theed, member of a prosperous Buckinghamshire family, and Berkhamsted's longest serving headmaster. Indeed, throughout the 18th century, there were to be only four occupants of the post, an age not only of stability but stagnation. Nonetheless, the three inspections^[12] carried out during the three years found no cause for concern, and in their record is revealed the first reference to curriculum content, the boys having been examined on Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Theed was the school's second pluralist^[13] (it is no inspiration that the first was Fossan): his obituary in The Gentleman's Magazine recorded him as vicar of Marsworth and made no mention of his Berkhamsted role – some suggest this is characteristic of an insouciant, unambitious approach to the school. A similar charge could not be made against Evan Price. Having served as usher for 16 of Theed's less proactive years, Price had become accustomed to the day-to-day running of the school. On Theed's death in 1734, his succession, still the jurisdiction of the sovereign, brought Price to the headmastership, despite his not having attended university and his flamboyant record – as curate of Bovingdon, he had been involved in an "unseemly brawl" during a burial he was officiating.

Victoria Cross holders

Three former students have won the Victoria Cross: Arthur Mayo during the Indian Mutiny; and George Pearkes and Brett Mackay Cloutman, both during the First World War.

Headmasters of Berkhamsted School, 1544–1996

Between the school's opening in 1544 and the formation of the collegiate school in 1997, there were 30 headmasters, whose average length of service was 15 years.

Principals of Berkhamsted Collegiate School

1. Priscilla Chadwick (1997–2008)

Principals of Berkhamsted School

1. Mark Steed (2008–2015)
2. Richard Backhouse (2016–present)