St Lawrence Dover College
Independent day and boarding school in England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St Lawrence Dover College was a proposed co-educational independent day and boarding school in Dover, Kent. It was scheduled to open in September 2026 as the result of a merger between St Lawrence College in Ramsgate and Dover College.[1] The school was to operate on the existing Dover College site and was to be part of the Repton Family of Schools, a group of independent schools in the UK and internationally.[2]
| St Lawrence Dover College | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
Dover College, Effingham Crescent, Dover, Kent England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent day and boarding school |
| Established | 2026 (planned) |
| Local authority | Kent |
| Chair of Governors | Ian McIntyre |
| Head of school | Matthew Brown (appointed, current Head of St Lawrence College) |
| Head of Senior School | Phil Tattersall‑King |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 2 to 18 |
| Affiliation | Repton Family of Schools |
The school was set to occupy the previous Dover College sites,[3] including some of the medieval buildings of Dover Priory, on a site just east of the eponymous railway station.[4]
History
St Lawrence College (1879-2026)
St Lawrence College was founded in 1879 as a boys' school as South Eastern College. The name was changed in September 1906 because of its location in the St Lawrence area of Ramsgate.[5] The school quickly outgrew the single house, leading to the construction of the main building of the present day college by 1884. The chapel was completed in 1927. During the world wars, the school was evacuated to Chester (1915) and Courteenhall in Northamptonshire (1940) because of its position on the South-East coast. Later in the school's existence, girls were admitted, and the current mix of sexes is now roughly equal.
In 2024, the school was named "Most Nurturing Co-Educational Independent School 2024 – South East England" and "Best Boarding & Day School 2024 – South East England".[6]
Dover College (1871-2026)
Dover College was opened as a boys' school on 15 September 1871.[7]
In August 1917, part of the school was damaged during an air raid, and the decision was finally taken to evacuate the college from Dover to Leamington College in Leamington Spa in the Midlands; the school returned to Dover in 1919 with only 150 pupils. During World War I, in common with many other schools, Old Dovorians became officers in the British Armed Forces and as a result suffered high casualty rates. 177 former pupils died; 58 Dovorians were awarded the DSO and 89 the MC – of the foreign awards 8 were awarded Croix de Guerre and 6 the Russian Order of Saint Stanislas. One Naval officer – Arthur Leyland Harrison – posthumously received the Victoria Cross for the Zeebrugge raid; another old boy, Gen Sir Reginald Dallas Brooks, was also on that raid and won his DSO before going on to become Governor of Victoria.
During the Second World War, Dover was on the front line, with only the Straits of Dover separating the town from Nazi-occupied France, and one of the most likely areas for a German invasion. As a result, the school was again evacuated, initially for a term to Blundell's School in Devon with which Dover College had a long-standing friendship, and thence to Poltimore House, also in Devon. It returned to Dover in 1945 with 168 boys. During the war 102 former pupils died; Lt Col Terence Otway won a famous DSO for his action in capturing the Merville Battery on D-Day.[8]
In 1957 was the first public school in the UK to formally create an International Department.[9] In 1974, Dover College was one of the first English public schools to become fully co-educational.
Merger
In September 2026, St Lawrence College and Dover College are set to merge to form St Lawrence Dover College.[10] The school will be based on the current Dover College site, with the St Lawrence site set to be sold for development, with proceeds funding school operation.[1] The school will be led by Matthew Brown as head, with Phil Tattersall‑King as head of senior school.[3]
Following the announcement that the St Lawrence College Ramsgate site would close as part of the merger, students staged protests on February 25, 2026. Demonstrators raised concerns about the loss of the Ramsgate campus, the impact of relocation to Dover, and the level of consultation undertaken prior to the decision.[11]
Notable alumni
St Lawrence College
- Alfred Bellerby, Olympic long jumper[12][13]
- Hubert Broad, World War I aviator and test pilot[14]
- John Russell Carlisle, Director of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association[15]
- Sir Conrad Corfield KCIE, CSI, MC and Chief Advisor in India[16]
- Professor Durward Cruickshank FRS, crystallographer[17]
- Michael Curtis, newspaper editor
- General Richard Dannatt, Baron Dannatt GCB, CBE, MC, DL, former Chief of the General Staff, defence advisor to the Conservative party[18]
- Gordon Edington, CBE, chair NCH[19]
- Captain David Hart Dyke CBE, LVO, ADC, Captain of HMS Coventry during the Falklands War[20]
- Ted Fillary, cricketer
- Humphrey Hawksley, BBC World Affairs Correspondent (BBC News)
Dover College
- Simon Cowell (b. 1959); TV personality[21]
Further reading
- Dover priory: a history of the Priory of St Mary the Virgin and St Martin of the New Work by Charles Reginald Haines (1930) – a comprehensive history of the priory