Dauntsey's School

Dauntsey's School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the village of West Lavington, Wiltshire, England. The school was founded in 1542, in accordance with the will of William Dauntesey, a master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers.

Dauntsey's School
Location
West Lavington
,
Wiltshire
,
SN10 4HE

England
Information
TypePublic school
Independent day and boarding school
MottoHonor Deo
(Motto of the Worshipful Company of Mercers meaning "Honour God")
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1542 (1542)
FounderWilliam Dauntesey
Department for Education URN126532 Tables
HeadmasterMark Lascelles
    VisitorThe Most Rev The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury
    GenderCoeducational
    Age11 to 18
    Houses5 Boarding houses and & 7-day houses
    Colour(s)Black & White & Red & Blue        
    PublicationThe Dauntseian
    Former pupilsOld Dauntseians
    Websitehttps://www.dauntseys.org/

    The School
    The front of the school

    The school was moved to its current site in 1895. The school occupies approximately 65 acres (260,000 m2) of land at the main school campus. The school also owns land at Market Lavington, approximately 15 minutes walk (or 1 mile drive) from the main school. Here the Manor House[1] is used as a Lower School boarding house and has sports pitches and woodlands in its grounds.

    Students typically arrive in Years 7, 9 and 12 (known as First Form, Third Form and Lower Sixth respectively), although a few enter in the other years. Years 7, 8 and 9 (known as First, Second and Third Forms) are collectively known as the Lower School, and Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 are referred to as the Upper School. In addition, Years 12 and 13 (Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth) are collectively known as the Sixth Form.

    Houses

    The School is divided into houses and each pupil assigned to a house for their time in the Lower School, then to a different house in the Upper School.

    Most houses are named after former headmasters, the exceptions being Manor, Farmer, Mercers (named after a building, a generous donor and the Worshipful Company respectively) and Lambert (named after Agnes Lambert; the wife of William Dauntsey).[2] All houses are on the main school site, except Manor.

    Lower School houses

    In the Lower School, houses are mixed gender and each day pupil house has its own room where pupils have a locker and where they must register each morning. The Manor House is the only boarding house for Lower School boarders and is where they live, sleep and eat breakfast and dinner.

    The house a pupil is in does not affect their academic class groups but the houses compete against each other in sporting and other events.

    DayBoarding[3]
    ForbesManor
    Rendell
    Scott
    Opening of the relocated Senior Day Boy houses in November 2005, hosted by ex-headmaster Stewart Roberts and ex-Governor J.P.G. Wathen Esq.

    Upper School houses

    In the Upper School, houses are single gender, and the eight houses are divided equally among day, boarding, female and male pupils. Boarding houses have bedrooms, bathrooms, common rooms and kitchens. Day houses have a room for each year group in the house and basic cooking facilities, along with offices for tutors and House Parents.

    DayBoarding[3]
    GirlsKing-ReynoldsJeanne
    LambertEvans
    BoysHemensMercers
    FarmerFitzmaurice

    Facilities

    In addition to Houses, laboratories and classrooms, the School has:

    • Design and Technology Workshops
    • Squash Courts
    • A School Shop
    • A Tuck Shop
    • A Library
    • A Sports Hall
    • A Swimming Pool
    • Three Astro Turfs
    • A Memorial Hall
    • Drama Rehearsal Spaces
    • A Dance Studio
    • Art Department with Photography Suite
    • Tennis Courts
    • A Climbing Wall
    • Rugby, Hockey, Cricket and Football Pitchs
    • An all-weather Running Track

    Strong Cup

    Strong Cup is the annual point-system senior house competition for boys at Dauntsey's School, so Farmer, Fitzmaurice, Hemens and Mercers are the only houses that are involved. Farmer won it recently in 2011, and again in 2013. Hemens won the cup most recently in 2014. The points are awarded from inter-house events throughout the academic year. Such events include athletics, swimming, rugby, cricket, tennis, hockey, football, general knowledge quiz, tiddlywinks, basketball, water polo, music and a minor sports festival which includes badminton, squash, skittles, chess and table tennis.

    Jolie Brise
    The Jolie Brise

    Jolie Brise, a gaff rigged pilot cutter owned and operated by the school, is sailed by Dauntsey pupils throughout the year.[4]

    In summer 2000 Dauntsey crews took part in The Tall Ships' Race 2000, which took her from Southampton to Hull, Brixton, Sunderland, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Boston (Lincs) and Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, Jolie Brise was declared the overall winner of this prestigious international race. She also won The Tall Ships' Races 2002, which took her from Alicante to Malaga. In 2009 the Jolie Brise came second, in its class, of the Tall Ships Race, the final destination of which, was Belfast, where the ships were greeted, after a transatlantic race, by an estimated 400,000 people. Jolie Brise also won the Tall Ships Race in 2015 and again in 2016.

    History

    The school was founded in accordance with the will of Alderman William Dauntesey, Master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers.[5]

    Dauntesey was himself from West Lavington, the son of John Dauntesey, and when he died in April 1542, he left money in his will dated 10 March 1542 for the founding of the School. He gave the Mercers' Company lands in London so that they could build a schoolhouse for a grammar school at West Lavington and also support seven poor persons in an almshouse, within the same charity. The master of the school was to be appointed by the heir of Dauntesey's brother Ambrose Dauntesey, but the company was to have the power of dismissal. In 1868, a Schools Inquiry Commission noted that "By ancient custom, the owner of the Dauntesey estate at West Lavington, now Lord Churchill, appoints".[6]

    Three and a half centuries after the school's foundation, the school moved to its current site at the north end of West Lavington, Wiltshire. The new school buildings were designed by the architect C.E. Ponting and in May 1895 the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain officially opened them and inaugurated Dauntsey's Agricultural School.

    In 1929 the school bought the Manor House estate at Market Lavington, which now provides accommodation for lower school boarders. In 1930, the school changed its name to Dauntsey's School although it remained largely dedicated to an agriculture-based education. At that time it fulfilled the role that the County Agricultural Colleges fill today, the latter partly sponsored by the state. The intake of pupils in the 1930s was a broad cross-section of the Wiltshire farming community, from farm labourers' children to those of wealthy gentlemen farmers. It continued thus, with the addition of sons of commissioned officers in the armed forces, until 1971.

    In 1967, the 'Olive Block' opened, which is now Fitzmaurice House. 1970 saw the foundation of the sailing club, while, in 1971, the first girls were admitted. In 1972, the farm buildings were closed and the school became a primarily academic institution. In 1977, the school acquired Jolie Brise. The school continues a wide range of building and expansion projects to this day, including the recent building of the Upper School girls' day houses, and a re-vamp of the sports hall. More recent developments have included an astroturf for hockey purposes.[7]

    The school's affiliation with the Mercers Company remains, and the Master Mercer is a regular guest of honour or speaker at school events. The company also helps with the financial support of students' individual ventures, including gap years and sporting tours, where the company sees fit.

    Main article: Independent school fee fixing scandal

    In 2005, Dauntsey's School was one of fifty of the country's independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.[8] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.[9]

    Recent headmasters
    • Mr. G.E. King-Reynolds (1969 to 1985)
    • Mr. C.R. Evans (1986 to 1996)
    • Mr. Stewart B. Roberts (1997 to 2012)
    • Mr. Mark Lascelles (2013 to present)

    Bike park

    The school used to have a bike park, which featured in MBUK in 2004 when they held the 'Backyard Jam', though the park has since been bulldozed by the school to avoid lawsuits as the local residents took to using it without permission.

    Fees and charges

    Fees for 2016/17:

    Day pupils £17,940 (£5,980 per term)

    UK boarders £29,700 (£9,900 per term)

    International pupils £34,290 (£11,430 per term).[10]

    Old Dauntseians

    Living

    Deceased

    See also

    References
    1. "Market Lavington Manor". Market Lavington Museum. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
    2. "Dauntsey's School". Dauntneys.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
    3. "Boarding". Dauntneys.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
    4. "Jolie Brise - Jolie Brise". Jolie Brise. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
    5. Wiltshire notes and queries (1899), vol. 2, p. 537: "William Dauntesey, Alderman of London, the well-known benefactor of school and almshouses to his native parish of West Lavington".
    6. Schools Inquiry Commission, Report of the commissioners (1868), p. 55 online
    8. "The Times & The Sunday Times". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
    9. The Office of Fair Trading: OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement Archived 10 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
    10. "Fees - Dauntsey's School". Dauntseys.org. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
    11. "Obituary: Anthony Huxley". The Independent. 4 January 1993. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
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