Jump to content

Emanuel School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 84.9.121.228 (talk) at 19:24, 11 July 2006 (Notable Old Emanuels). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Emanuel School is a co-educational independent school in Battersea South-West London, England.

History

Emanuel School is one of the three schools administered by the Westminster Schools’ Foundation. It came into being by the will of Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre, dated 1594. In it she wrote:

"I will and devise that myne executors shall cause to be erected and builte a meete and convenient house with rooms of habitation for twentie poor folkes, and twentie other poor children...."

Emanuel School was founded in 1594. At the time, Lady Dacre wrote that one of the main aims of the Foundation was

"for the bringing up of children in virtue and good and laudable arts so that they might better live in time to come by their honest labour”.

With Lady Dacre's benefaction in 1594, Emanuel Hospital, as it was first called, began. The children wore a long brown tunic, rather similar in cut to that still worn by Christ's Hospital. Thanks to the interest of Queen Elizabeth I, cousin to Lady Dacre, a charter was drawn up, buildings were erected on a site in Westminster, and the school and hospice continued their work.

In 1883, the school sought larger, newer buildings for the children, and the boy boarders, as they all were then, moved to the present buildings on the edge of Wandsworth Common. These buildings had been put up as an orphanage after the Crimean War by the Royal Victoria Patriotic Fund, and in a much adapted form still constitute the main teaching block of the school.

Present day

Recent additions include a brand new sports centre complete with climbing walls, dance studios, teaching rooms and a multigym, plus the conversion of the old gymnasium into a brand new dining facility and refectory overlooking the schools own playing fields. Future changes include the multi-million pound refurbishment of the old Victorian building to comprise a brand new library and media resources centre, new ICT facilities, a theatre, exhibitions spaces, drama studios, refurbished classrooms and corridors.

The current Headmaster, Mark Hanley-Browne, is a member of HMC (Headmaster's and Headmistresses' Conference).

Notable Old Emanuels

Famous Masters