- Donhead
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Donhead (Wimbledon College Prep School) is a Roman Catholic independent school taking boys from ages 4 to 11, based in south-west London.
The school is situated at 33 Edge Hill, Wimbledon, London SW19 4NP, with its Sports Ground (co-owned with The Old Wimbledonians) at 143 Coombe Lane, London SW20 0QX.
It was founded by the Jesuits in 1933.
ORIGINS The building known as Donhead Lodge was built in 1867 and first occupied by a barrister one Freeman Oliver Haynes. Mr Haynes died in 1880 and soon after a Miss Elizabeth Arnold became the owner. In 1902 the house was taken over by Henry Smail and remained in the families ownership until after the death of Mrs Smail in 1932.
By the early 1930s Wimbledon College was looking for suitable premises in Wimbledon where the junior classes could migrate to form a preparatory school with its own Head Master and the opportunity to purchase Donhead Lodge came about.
Donhead's first pupils consisted of three classes named Elements, Preparatory and Lower Preparatory and numbering approximately 67 boys in total. They entered the school for the first time at 9:50 on a Monday morning on the 5th September 1933 under the guidance of Donhead's first Head Master Fr.Miller.
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See also
Categories:- Boys' schools in London
- Jesuit secondary schools in England
- Education in Merton
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