Worksop College

Infobox UK school
name = Worksop College (Originally St Cuthbert's College)


size = 150px
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motto = "Semper ad coelestia"
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established = 1890
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closed =
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type = Private school
religion =
president =
head_label = Headmaster
head = R. A. Collard Hons.
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r_head =
chair_label = Chairman of the Governors
chair = T. D. Fremantle, M.B.A.
founder = Nathaniel Woodard
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city = Worksop
county = Nottinghamshire
country = England
postcode =
LEA =
ofsted =
staff = 57
enrollment = 458
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 13
upper_age = 18
houses = 8
colours = Navy blue, black and gold
publication =
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website = http://www.worksopcollege.notts.sch.uk
website_name = www.worksopcollege.notts.sch.uk

Worksop College is a co-educational day and boarding school for those aged 13 to 18 in England. Worksop is split into eight houses - Talbot, Mason, Portland, Pelham and School House for boys and Gibbs, Shirley and Derry House for girls. The school is a non-selective school.
Rugby union, hockey and cricket are the main boys' sports, with netball, hockey and athletics for the girls.

Origins

Construction began in 1890 on St Cuthbert's College (changed to Worksop College in the 1930s) and was the last school to be personally opened by Woodard himself, on September 5 1895. The land on which the school was built and the tree-lined drive were donated by the Duke of Portland. In the beginning space was scarce, with only the Great Hall and East Wing complete - a temporary chapel was also erected. Worksop chapel which stands today was opened in 1906 after Lord Mountgarret made funds available. Mountgarret did not live to see the finished building; the new building was opened by Lady Mountgarret in 1906.

The House system

As with many schools Worksop is split into houses.

Boys' houses:
*Mason House (formerly Cross, opened in 1895)
*Pelham House (formerly Fleur de Leys, opened in 1895)
*Talbot House (formerly Crown, opened in 1895)
*Portland House (opened in 1948 when Prep moved to Ranby)
*School House (opened in 1930, closed in 1986, re-opened in 2007)Girls' houses:
*Derry House (opened in 1978)
*Gibbs House (opened in 1986)
*Shirley House (opened in 1934)Closed house:
*Mountgarret (formerly Lion, opened 1895, closed 1993)

Talbot House

Talbot is one of the original houses of Worksop and was known as Crown until the 1930s when all house names were changed by the then headmaster Reverend Shirley (Crown is still the house crest). Talbot is the academic house at Worksop; this has been underlined by the high number of academic scholars and the winning of the House Challenge Competition (similar to University Challenge but contested between houses) for the last 8 years.Current housemaster C.G. Paton has been at the helm since 1994 when he took over from A.J.A. Beal. Housemasters of Talbot (and Crown) include, C.G. Paton (current), A.J.A. Beal, N.M Simmonds, E.E. Peters, J.S.B George, J. Dronfield, H.A. Cartledge, R. Sowerbutts, F.C.M. Richards, E.T. Weddell and R. Browning.

Talbot remains the only boys house to have been located away from the main buildings (it was located in the current Gibbs House from the mid 1960s until the mid 1980s). Talbot is currently housed in the former Scholae quarters where it moved when Scholae was closed in the mid 1980s.

Talbot is a sporting house and was home to Jack Buckner and Tom Buckner in the 1970s and 1980s, both went on to become international athletes. Other international athletes include P.R. Brunyee (1952-1956) who won the English School's high hurldes at intermediate level (1955) and senior level (1956) and still holds the school 110m hurdles record which was set in 1956 (14.90 seconds), Brunyee went on to compete in the Empire Games of 1958 in Cardiff. More recently Talbot was the home of Samit Patel (1998-2003) who represented England at various levels in cricket and is now a full time Nottinghamshire professional.

The McKay brothers, Andy and Mike who were pupils in Talbot in the 1980s are probably the best known non sporting alumni. The brothers are the owners of Manumission, Ibiza, the largest nightclub in the world. They also played a large part in the first series of Ibiza Uncovered. Sam Farmer who was a pupil in Talbot at the same time as the McKay's is currently married to TV's Caroline Quentin and has been featured widely in the press of late.

In the late 90's and early 00's Talbot House saw a group of housemates build an undying and relentless sprit of camaraderie, during the period the house adopted a new unofficial mascot, a Beaver, there are many rumors as to the origin of the name. However, all that can be independently confirmed is that the name does not derive from any of the obvious beaver connotations. The Beavers crowning achievement was in 2003 when they became the only house in Worksop College history to hold all three major house trophies - Rugby, Hockey and Cricket.

Mason House

Mason, along with Talbot and Pelham House, is one of the original houses of Worksop and was called Cross previously. The House is situated next to the Headmaster's house and the School Library. The current head of Mason is W.G. Robinson. The emblem of the house is a golden cross, kept from the original name and crest. They are the current Dorm Run champions, due in no small part to the efforts of Uli Gerlach, House Captain 2006 - 2007.

Pelham House

The shape of Pelham House is slightly reminiscent of a letter 'L', if you can imagine a large version of that letter laid out on the ground and then walls being constructed along its perimeter. Its two arms, as it were, set at right angles to each other comprise the junior and senior wings of the House. Last few years Pelham was the strongest for house sports.The current housemaster of Pelham is T.P. Larkman

Portland House

Portland house is the newest boys house at Worksop and is one of the most popular amongst those pupils entering the school from Ranby House. Portland has a strong sporting tradition. Portland has produced a number of very strong sporting pupils over the last number of years, most recently Steve Lawrence who captained the England under 19 hockey team in 2003. Others include Simon Heggie who was an international 400m runner, Henry Straw who represented England at under 15 level at cricket in 1996 and Joe Root who scored a century for England under 15s in 2006. The current housemaster is Mr T J Halsall.

Shirley house (Motto: "Loyal je Suis")

Founded in 1930s after Rev Shirley, this house is unique amongst the houses as it is co-educational (since the 1990s). Shirley is for day pupils only and there are no boarders (the few remaining boarders were phased out in the mid 1990s). Alumni of Shirley house include N.M. Hall who captained the England Rugby Union team in the 1950s and Phillip Sharpe who scored a century for England at cricket in the 1960s.

School house (Motto: "Semper ad Coelestia")

School house is an all girl house. It was reopened in 2007 after being closed since the mid 1980s and is situated in the old Gibbs building north-west of the main school.

Derry house

Derry is an all girl house. It is situated near the Great Hall and usually holds around 50-60 girls.

Gibbs house

Gibbs House is one of the girls houses of the college. It's the house with the most boarders and fullboarders. Gibbs House is a very strong community, a big family."If it's not purple, it's not good enough!" (quote: a former deputy house captain) Gibbs House has recently been refurbished and now occupies a purpose build facility on the former site of the 1st XV rugby pitch. The new facility cost in excess of £2 million and boasts its own computer suite and laundry.

Mountgarret House

When Mountgarret house was closed in the late 1980s there was uproar amongst Old Worksopians. The dwindling numbers at the College led to the closure, along with School House. The Mountgarret name was brought back to Worksop when the current Headmaster created the Mountgarret Music Centre in 2000, although this was seen by many as a cop out, as Mountgarret was a house rather than a music school.

College buildings

Worksop has many fine buildings including:

*The Great Hall, the centrepiece to Worksop and the first building to be completed. One of the largest rooms in Nottinghamshire, its hammerbeams are spectacular; the original design was based upon Westminster Abbey. With the eyes of all the former headmasters looking down, it is a most imposing structure. Mouse Man furniture was acquired in the 1930s and remains to this day. On the wall facing the 1st XI cricket square can be found many carvings of Old Boys from the time Worksop was opened.
*The Chapel, opened in 1906. The structure was based upon that of Westminster Abbey and the ceiling contains many passages of Latin verse. Worksop is also the owner of a newly refurbished organ which stands nearly the height of the Chapel.
*The East Wing, the first wing of Worksop to be opened, was blessed in 1895 by the Bishop of Southwell. The East Wing is a huge building standing five floors high and contains many quirky floors, which can be entered through trap doors in some very odd places.
*The Squash Courts were once lit by natural light, but the former roof has now been replaced by a lowered ceiling. The courts are an excellent example of early squash courts. The balcony is particularly noteworthy as the courts were designed in back to back format which is quite rare.

The Dorm Run

One of the original sporting events at Worksop was the Dorm Run and was first coined in the late 19th century (so called as people ran for their dorm, Fluer de Leys, Cross, Crown or Lion). The Dorm Run is still a large part of life at Worksop and despite a number of course alterations is still run this day. Well known past winners include:
*David Griffiths (Mason) Commonwealth Games competitor. Winner in 1958, 1959 & 1960.
*Bill Foster (Pelham) International marathon runner. Winner in 1976.
*Jack Buckner (Talbot) European 5000m champion and Olympian. Winner in 1977, 1979 & 1980.
*Tom Buckner (Talbot) AAA steeplechase champion and Olympian. Winner in 1981.
*Simon Lewis (Shirley) Wales international steeplechase runner. Winner in 1991, 1992 & 1993.
*Simon Heggie (Portland) England international 400m runner. Winner 1994.
*Graham Anderson (Pelham) England international hockey player. Winner in 2000.
*Steve Lawrence (Portland) England U21 hockey captain. Winner in 2001.

Jack Buckner would have been the only pupil to have won the Dorm Run four years in succession had it not been for the cancellation of the race in 1978 due to snow and flu epidemic, thus he become one of the 3 time winners of the race (others being Simon Lewis (Shirley) 1991, 1992 & 1993 and Marcus Smith (Pelham) 1995, 1996 & 1997). Buckner held the old record of 18:35, Tom Buckner is second on the list with 19:58 (1981) and Simon Lewis was third and fourth with 19:59 (in 1992) and 20:00 (1993). On the pre 1968 course (using Windmill Lane rather than the Golf Course route) David Griffiths held the record of 19:20 (1959) a year later Griffiths finished 5th at the English School's Cross Country Championships and recorded 19:48 in snowy conditions.

The Dorm Run course was changed in 2004 due to logging on Fred's Hill and the first winner was Sam Palmer (Pelham) in 21:41 (exact length of the course is not known at this time and cannot therefore be compared to other years times).

A list of Dorm Run winners can be found [http://www.simonlangley.co.uk/popups/dorm-run-winners.html]

Rugby

Rugby was first introduced to the College in 1921 and the College quickly found its feet. From 1929 - 1942 the College played exactly 100 games, winning 76, drawing 5 and losing only 19, a quite excellent record for such a comparatively small school. In the early days many 1st XV player were capped by the England Public Schools XV, the first being G Laing in 1930. Laing was also 'invited' to play for Blackheath upon completing his studies at Worksop.

The finest seasons of rugby were enjoyed in the late 1930's and early 1940's where the college remained unbeaten for a number of years. In 1941 the XV notched up some impressive victories: Ampleforth 6-3, Denstone 16-3, St Peters, York 28-0 and Sedbergh 30-0. N.M Hall who captained the 1943 XV (which was also unbeaten) captained the North of Thames XV in the same year and would later captain England a record 19 times.

During the mid-50's Jeff Butterfield was appointed a biology master at the College and not surprisingly this encouraged some great XV's. In 1960 the College rugby sevens team captained by D.E. Tarbatt reached the final of the Roslyn Park competition, narrowly losing out to Edinburgh Academy in the final.

In 2007 the 1st XV recorded their first unbeaten season since 1943 with victories over The Manor School, Trent College, Ratcliffe College, Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Nottingham High School, Pocklington School, Loughborough Grammar School, Ashville College, Denstone College, Lady Manners School, Bryanstone School (on tour South African team) and Silcotes School amongst others. The team scored 477 points and conceded only 47, which gives them the best points difference in the UK for their age group.

Hockey

Hockey has been in existence at Worksop since the late 1920s, it was probably originally introduced due to the sandy nature of the soil on Sparken Hill which led to superbly drained pitches. Like cricket, hockey has always been a strong sport at the College and fixtures are regularly played against some of the strongest schools in the Midlands including Repton School, QEGS Wakefield, Solihull School, Uppingham School and Trent College. In 2005 the College XI reached the semi-finals of the National Schools Competition having beaten Repton School and Trent College en route. In 2008 Worksop have once again reached the last four (they will face Kingston Grammar in April).

Worksop has produced many international hockey players over the years, the earliest coming in 1931 in the form of F.T. Hopkinson (Mason 1929-1934) who was capped by England in 1939. In 2003 Stephen Lawrence (Portland 1998-2003) captained the England under-18 team and in 2005 Adam Dixon (Shirley 2003-2005) achieved the same feat.

During the 2007/2008 season the College has played 17 matches and has won all 17, interestingly enough Worksop has no current England players in the 1st XI this season...

History

The Shirley years

Worksop was known as St Cuthbert's College until Shirley himself decided to change its name in the mid 1930s, Shirley College was his preferred choice. Under Shirley the school prospered and a huge building programme was undertaken - the Sanatorium, Squash courts, Eton Fives courts (replaced in the 1960s by the chemistry department), staff houses, Old Theatre, Art School, West Wing and the top proportion of the North Wing were all completed, as was a state-of-the-art latrine block. Shirley's plan was to turn Worksop into the Eton of the Midlands. School numbers had risen to 500 and the school had created a brilliant reputation amongst English Public Schools with many sixth-formers achieving scholarships to Oxbridge and when Shirley left he took with him many staff and prefects, something that was frowned upon at the time and prompted Shirley to be struck off the HMC register.Fact|date=February 2007

The 1960s

The 1960s were another period of growth for the Worksop; buildings from this time included the former gym (replaced by the new Sports Hall, Swimming Pool (opened in 1954), Churchill Hall, Chemistry Department and Gibbs House (soon to be replaced). The 60s were a time of change at Worksop, with Talbot House moving into the current Gibbs House and becoming the first house to be located away from the main school buildings. The school 1st XV pitch was also levelled at this time and a Jeff Butterfield XV (containing many British Lions) defeated the school XV in the opening match - incidentally the 1st XV pitch is to be redeveloped into Gibbs House, the XV pitch is being moved west into former gorse land. Although much building work was undertaken at this time, much of the work was typical of 1960s architecture.

1980 - present

The 1980s and early 1990s were difficult years for Worksop with school numbers falling (as in most public schools in the UK) and little school development took place. An extension to the Churchill Hall was made in 1981 and would form the newly established Craft and Design Centre, with a young Brian Biddulph at the helm. Roger Knight was appointed head in the early 1990s and the school's reputation fellFact|date=February 2007. This all changed however when the current headmaster Roy Collard took over, and began his impressive working partnership with Carl Bilson. One promise made when he took up the role was to bring back the name 'Mountgarret' to Worksop (Old Boys from Mountgarret apparently donate most to the school). Not long after Collard took over as head, Worksop celebrated its centenary and HRH Princess Anne opened the new school ICT centre. Collard did indeed bring back the Mountgarret name to Worksop by renovating the latrine block of the 1930s into a new music school. Other recent developments include the increased provision of ICT facilities, refurbishment of dated boarding accommodation, new teaching facilities and the new Sports Hall (opened 2003). The new Gibbs Boarding house was opened in early 2007.

Alumni

*Major William Barnsley Allen (Mason) - Victoria Cross recipient in World War 1
*Richard Bacon [ [http://www.visitnottingham.com/exec/103562/9789 Richard Bacon] at visitnottingham.org accessed August 11th 2007] (Mason) - Former Blue Peter presenter and TV personality
*Jack Buckner (Talbot) - International distance runner, European 5000m champion 1986
*Tom Buckner (Talbot) - International distance runner, AAA 3000m steeplechase champion 1994
*Jeff Butterfield (MCR) - Captain of England Rugby Union, circa 1955
*Frank Dick (MCR) - International athletics coach
*Sam Farmer (Talbot) - Husband of Men Behaving Badly's Caroline Quentin
*Kenneth Farnes (MCR) - England fast bowler circa 1930
*G G Able (Mountgarret) - educationalist and Master of Dulwich College (1997- ) [Who’s Who 2004, page 3, (A&C Black: London)]
*Roger Knight (MCR) - Former international cricketer and secretary to the MCC
*Nim Hall (Shirley) - Captain of England Rugby Union, circa 1950
*Dr. Steven Landen (Shirley) - Owner of Major America Properties inc
*Alan Old (MCR) - England Rugby Union international, circa 1976
*Ken Night (Fleur de Lys) - Education minister under Winston Churchill
*Phil Sharpe (Shirley) - England cricket international and century scorer, circa 1956
*Rupert Sheldrake (Pelham) - Well known scientific author
*Samit Patel (Talbot) - Professional Nottinghamshire cricketer
*Dan Smith (Talbot) - Professional rugby player for Bath and England under 21 international
*Chad Varah (Fleur de Lys) - Founder of The Samaritans
*Matthew Lambley] (Shirley) - International hammer thrower
*Sam Walsh (Portland) - Professional rugby player with Rotherham Titans
*Sir David Naish (Mountgarret) - Former president of the NFU
*Bill Foster (Portland) - Former international, veteran marathon runner (pb of 2:15)
*Mark Simmonds (Portland) - Conservative party member of parliament for Boston and Skegness
*Simon Corlett (Portland) - International cricket player and former president of the Irish Cricket Board
*Luke Hathaway (Talbot) - Freqently used as an extra in the BBC's midday soap Doctors

References

External links

* [http://www.worksopcollege.notts.sch.uk/ Worksop homepage]
* [http://www.owsociety.org/ Old Worksopian Society]
* [http://www.woodard.co.uk/ Woodard Schools website]