Lancing College: Lancing, West Sussex, UK

Lancing College was founded in 1848 by the Revd Nathaniel Woodard, whose primary goal was charitable. As curate of Shoreham, Woodard saw the poverty and hard times of the agricultural and seafaring working people and the ignorance and unfairness of the middle classes who could not afford a public school education. During his life, he started 11 schools and now there are 43 in the corporation that function under his name. The first three, Lancing, Hurstpierpoint and Ardingly, all began its existence in the vicarage at Shoreham.

The Founder bought a 500 acre farm on the Downs in the parish of Lancing and his first school started to function there in 1854. The Lower Quad, the Head’s and Second Master’s houses, the Dining Hall, Schoolroom and library, designed by RC Carpenter, were the beginning. All the boys (during that time there were no girls or married resident staff) were boarders. It was an isolated, close-knit community, God-fearing and with a great academic discipline. Numbers of students grew rapidly and from the 1870s onwards, under the long Headship of Dr Sanderson (a founder member of HMC) the school became recognised as a national contribution to the young people’s success.