Framlingham College

Framlingham College
Address
College Road Framlingham Nr Woodbridge , Suffolk , IP13 9EY England
Coordinates	52°13′36″N 1°20′21″E
Information
Former name	The Suffolk Memorial to Prince Albert
Type	Independent day and boarding
Motto	Studio sapientia crescit (Wisdom grows with study)
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England
Established	1864
Department for Education URN	124884 Tables
Chairman of Governors	AVM T. W. Rimmer
Principal	Mrs J. L. M North
Staff	81
Gender	Coeducational
Age	3 to 18
Enrolment	691
Houses	7
Colour(s)	Sky blue, Chocolate brown
Former pupils	Old Framlinghamians
Website	http://www.framlinghamcollege.co.uk

Framlingham College is an independent, coeducational boarding and day school in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 years of age.

History of Framlingham College

Prince Albert by John Partridge, 1840. Royal Collection.

Framlingham College was originally called the The Albert Middle Class College in Suffolk in memory of Prince Albert and was founded in 1864 by public subscription as the Suffolk County Memorial to Queen Victoria's husband, Albert, Prince Consort, and was incorporated by Royal Charter. The individuals most involved in setting up of the school were Sir Edward Kerrison, 2nd Baronet, Richard Garrett and the Earl of Stradbroke. The land on which the college was built was originally part of the Castle estate, left by Sir Robert Hitcham in 1636 to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. The architect was Fredrick Peck of Furnival's Inn, London. Built to accommodate 300 boys, the college opened its doors to pupils on 10 April 1865.

In J. R. de S. Honey's book Tom Brown's Universe: Public School in the Nineteenth Century, he reviewed the 64 leading public schools of the time and classified Framlingham as being in 'Group 4' of these schools, considering it to be a school that interacted less than it should with other leading schools.

During 1940, because of Framlingham's position close to the Suffolk coast (a likely site for a possible German invasion), and as a result of the crisis unfolding at Dunkirk, pupils from the college were evacuated for a short time to Repton School in Derbyshire.

The college's prep school at Brandeston Hall was opened by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone in July 1949. The hall had been purchased and restored by The Society of Old Framlinghamians as a memorial to those of their number who "in two Great Wars gave their lives for the freedom of the world".

The school

Framlingham College

Brandeston Hall

Louise North became Principal of Framlingham College and Head of the Senior School in September 2019. She was formerly Senior Deputy Head at Oakham School, Rutland. The school received an excellent ISI Inspection Report in February 2015 and an Outstanding Ofsted report in February 2011.

Pupils are accommodated in seven boarding and day houses: three for girls and four for boys. The facilities at Framlingham College include a theatre with tiered seating for 250, a design and technology centre, a music department including various studios and recording facilities, a library, a Sixth form centre which opened in 2014, a leisure centre that houses an indoor swimming pool, a fitness suite and weights room. The original library, which was given to the college by Charles H. Berners, Esq. DL in 1899, was extended in 1998.

The school has two campuses situated on approximately 135 acres. The college campus sits in an elevated position and looks directly across to the 12th-century Framlingham Castle beyond. Between the college and the castle lies the 34-acre Framlingham Mere, owned by the college and managed by Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The Mere is a nature reserve. The prep school campus at Brandeston Hall is a mock tudorbethan hall set in its own grounds and faces the medieval Church of All Saints, Brandeston.

Education

The most recent ISI inspection (2015) adjudged the teaching and learning at the college as 'Excellent'.

Sport

View of the school from the nearby Framlingham Castle, the eponymous 'Castle on the Hill'.

Framlingham College campus includes an indoor swimming pool, multi-gym, weights room and large playing fields. Other facilities include a modern sports hall, two floodlit artificial hockey pitches, indoor rifle range, tennis, netball and squash courts. As well as its own golf course on site, home matches are played at Aldeburgh Golf Club. The cricket square hosted an England XI in 2010. Framlingham College featured in The Cricketer magazine's Top 100 Cricketing Schools for 2016. The major sports are rugby, hockey, cricket, athletics and tennis for boys, and hockey, netball and tennis for girls. The girls also have a cricket team and have an annual fixture against the MCC. Pupils can also take part in golf, squash, football, badminton, athletics, basketball, swimming, archery, shooting, canoeing, table tennis, and equestrian.

List of Heads

• 1864–1871 The Rev. A. C. Daymond MA.
• 1872–1881 The Rev. W. W. Bird MA.
• 1881–1886 The Rev. A. H. Scott-White BSc, BA.
• 1887–1913 The Rev. Dr O. D. Inskip MA, LLD.
• 1913–1929 F. W. Stocks MA, JP.
• 1929–1940 W. H. A. Whitworth MC, MA.
• 1941–1955 R. W. Kirkman MA.
• 1955–1971 W. S. Porter TD, MA.
• 1971–1989 L. I. Rimmer MA.
• 1989–1994 J. F. X. Miller MA.
• 1994–2009 Mrs G. M. Randall BA.
• 2009–2019 P. B. Taylor BA (Hons).
• 2019- Mrs J. L. M. North.

Framlingham college in the Media

Framlingham College was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary called Classmates in 2003. The buildings and interiors of Framlingham College were used in series 2 of the BBC comedy Detectorists, first broadcast in November 2015.

Notable Old Framlinghamians

See also: Category:People educated at Framlingham College

• Charles Alderton: American pharmacist, and the creator of the carbonated soft drink Dr Pepper.
• Brian Aldiss, OBE, Science fiction author
• Norman Borrett, Schoolmaster and accomplished sportsman. Described by the Times as "arguably Britain's most talented post-war all-round amateur sportsman".
• Dr. David Bull, television presenter (The Wright Stuff, Most Haunted Live)
• Alain de Cadenet, former racing driver and television presenter
• Lt. Col. Herbert St Maur Carter, DSO, MD, Royal Army Medical Corps surgeon decorated by the British and Serbian governments
• Ashley Cowan, former Essex County Cricket Club cricketer
• Sir Valentine Crittall, 1st Baron Braintree, MP
• Stanley Dance, biographer of Duke Ellington, record producer
• Sir George Sampson Elliston, KGStJ, MC, MA, Conservative MP for Blackburn, Member of the Corporation of London
• Len Evans, OBE, AO, 'Godfather of Australian Wine'
• Brigadier Andrew Freemantle, CBE, Chief Executive of RNLI
• Sir William Hale-White, KBE, FRCP, Guy's physician; writer of Materia Medica (1895)
• Sir William Bate Hardy Kt, MA, FRS, renowned biologist and physiologist, Vice President of the Royal Society
• Sir Arthur Vere Harvey, Baron Harvey of Prestbury, MP
• Sir Mark Hedley, High Court Judge
• Sao Hkun Hkio, The Sawbwa of Mongmit, Burma
• General Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson GCB, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, President of the Royal British Legion
• Christina Johnston, Soprano with the Prague State Opera
• Prince Constantin Karadja, Romanian diplomat and Righteous Among the Nations
• David Larter, Northamptonshire & England cricketer
• Alistair Cooke, Baron Lexden, OBE, Conservative historian and politician
• Sir Frederick Minter GCVO, JP - whose company restored the King's Beasts at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
• Sir Alfred James Munnings, KCVO, PRA (1878–1959), artist
• Rob Newton, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club cricketer
• Keito Okamoto, Japanese singer and member of the group Hey! Say! JUMP
• Rt Hon Sir James Paice, Conservative MP 1987 - 2015, Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2010–2012
• Group Captain Percy Charles Pickard, DSO and two bars, DFC; World War II pilot and leader of Operation Jericho
• Henry Pryce Jackman, composer
• Barry Purves, Academy Award-nominated animator, director and screenwriter
• Stuart Rossiter, writer and postal historian
• Peter Rodulfo, artist and sculptor
• Charlie Simpson, musician, Busted and Fightstar
• Imogen Slaughter, actress
• Air Vice Marshal Harry George Smart, CBE, OBE, DFC, AFC, Commander, British Forces in Iraq
• The Rt. Hon. Lord Jeremy Sullivan, Lord Justice of Appeal and Senior President of Tribunals
• Squadron Leader William Vale, DFC and bar, AFC
• The Rt. Hon. William Robertson Warren, KC, Prime Minister of Newfoundland
• Laura Wright, singer and former member of All Angels
• Ivor Noël Hume, OBE, archaeologist
• Kenneth Mayhew, RMWO, World War II veteran, decorated with the highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
• The Wizard of New Zealand (Ian Brackenbury Channel), New Zealand icon and educator
• Tim Inskip CB CIE DSO MC, British Indian Army major-general and cricketer

Victoria Cross and George Cross recipients

Three Old Framlinghamians have won the Victoria Cross, and one the George Cross (converted from the Albert Medal).

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

• Lieutenant Gordon Muriel Flowerdew, VC (1885–1918). Awarded for a cavalry charge in March 1918, in France in the First World War, from which he died of his wounds the following day. This was the last British cavalry charge in military history.
• Lance Corporal William Henry Hewitt, VC (1885–1966). Awarded for an attack on a pillbox in September 1917.
• Captain Augustus Willington Shelton Agar, VC, DSO, RN (1890–1968). Awarded for an attack on the Russian Navy in June 1919 at Kronstadt, Russia, in the North Russia Campaign.

Recipients of the George Cross

• Commander Henry De Beauvoir Tupper, GC. Awarded the Albert Medal (later replaced by the George Cross) on 21 February 1919, for gallantry in saving lives at sea on 4 August 1918 while serving on HMS Comet during World War I.

See also

• List of Victoria Crosses by School

External links

• Framlingham College official website
• Old Framlinghamian official website
• Profile on the ISC website