Lancing College is an independent boarding and day school founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. The school is based in 550 acres (2.2 km2) of countryside in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. Lancing educates c.550 pupils between the ages of 13 and 18; the co-educational ratio is c.60:40 boys to girls.
The college is situated on a hill which is part of the South Downs, and the campus dominates the local landscape. The college overlooks the River Adur and the Ladywell Stream, a holy well or sacred stream within the College grounds has pre-Christian significance. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a family of more than 30 schools founded by Woodard (others include Hurstpierpoint College, Ardingly College, Bloxham School and Worksop College).
Roughly 65% of pupils are boarders, at a cost of £32,910 per year; c.35% are day pupils, at a cost of £23,130 per year. Occasional overnight stays are available to day pupils at an additional cost.
The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Girls were first admitted in 1970. The school is dominated by a Gothic revival chapel, and follows a high church Anglican tradition. The College of St Mary and St Nicolas (as it was originally known) in Shoreham-by-Sea was intended for the sons of upper middle classes and professional men; in time this became Lancing College, moving to its present site in 1857.
The school's buildings of the 1850s were designed by the architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter, with later ones by John William Simpson.
In 1998 Lancing commissioned the choral piece Triodion to mark its 150th anniversary. In 2003 it was one of fifty of the country's leading 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, although the schools made clear that they had not realised that the change to the law (which had happened only a few months earlier) about the sharing of information had subsequently made it an offence. 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. Jean Scott, the head of the Independent Schools Council, said that independent schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and that they were unaware of the change to the law (on which they had not been consulted).
The foundation stone of the college chapel was laid in 1868, but the chapel itself was not finished in Woodard's lifetime. In fact, the chapel remains unfinished. It stands at about 50 metres (with foundations going down 20 metres into the ground), but the original plans called for a tower at the west end which would raise the height to 100 metres. The apex of the vaulting rises to 27.4 m (90 ft). It was designed by R. H. Carpenter and William Slater, and is built of Sussex sandstone from Scaynes Hill.
The chapel was dedicated to St Mary and St Nicolas in 1911, although the college worshipped in the finished crypt from 1875. Inside can be found, amongst other things, the tomb of the founder, three organs, and a rose window designed by Stephen Dykes Bower, completed in 1977, and the largest rose window in England, being 32 ft in diameter. It is the largest school chapel in the world.
The eastern organ is a two-manual mechanical organ built by the Danish firm Frobenius and was installed and voiced in situ in 1986. That year also marked the completion of the rebuild of the four-manual Walker organ at the west end of the chapel - both of which were showcased in the opening concert by the American organ virtuoso, Carlo Curley.
A stained glass window was commissioned in memory of Trevor Huddleston OL, and consecrated by Desmond Tutu on 22 May 2007.
The chapel is open to the public.
During World War II, students were evacuated to Downton Castle in Herefordshire. Both the main college and the prep school buildings were requistioned by the Admiralty and became part of the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS King Alfred.
In 1856 Lancing created its own code of football which (unlike other school codes) was regarded as a means of fostering teamwork.
George Warner Allen (1916–1988), artist
Tim Battersby, composer, musician and lyricist
David Bedford (1937–2011), composer
Giles Cooper (1918–1966), radio dramatist
John Lowry-Corry, 8th Earl Belmore, art collector
Frederick Gore (1913–2009), artist, educator and author
Brodrick Haldane (1912–1996), society portrait photographer
Henry Hardy, editor and composer
Sir Peter Pears (1910–1986), tenor
Edward Piper (1938–1990), artist (son of John Piper)
Sir Tim Rice, lyricist
Neil Richardson (1930–2010), composer
Stuart Cloete (1897–1976), novelist
Andrew Crofts (author), ghostwriter
Plantagenet Somerset Fry (1931–1996), historian and author
Mark Mills (writer), novelist and screenplay writer
Jan Morris, author and journalist
Alex Preston, novelist
Tom Sharpe, novelist
Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966), novelist
Philip Womack, author and journalist
Broadcasting, theatre and film
George Baker (1931–2011), actor
Christopher Hampton, playwright
Sir David Hare, playwright
Alex Horne, comedian
Royce Ryton (1924–2009), actor and playwright
Jeremy Sinden (1950–1996), actor
Jamie Theakston, TV and radio presenter
John Williams (actor) (1903–1983), actor
Politics and law
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana (2017-)
Greg Barker, Baron Barker of Battle, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change (2010-2014)
Nicholas Browne-Wilkinson, Baron Browne-Wilkinson, Vice-Chancellor of the Supreme Court (1985–1991), Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (1995–2000)
Tom Driberg, Baron Bradwell (1905–1976), Chairman of the Labour Party (1957–1958)
Sir Roger Fulford (1902–1983), President of the Liberal Party (1964–1965)
Sir Robert Megarry (1910–2006), Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division (1976–1981), Vice-Chancellor of the Supreme Court (1982–1985)
Patrick Maitland, 17th Earl of Lauderdale (1911–2008), Member of Parliament for Lanark (1951–1959)
Hugh Molson, Baron Molson (1903–1991), Minister of Works (1957–1959)
William Rhys Powell, barrister, Member of Parliament for Corby (1983–1997)
Sir Charles Arthur Roe (1841–1926), Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (1895–1898)
John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey (1866–1948), Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (1929–1935)
William Thomas Wells (1908–1990), barrister, Member of Parliament for Walsall (1945–1955) and Walsall North (1955–1974)
Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society (Cabinet Office) (2014-)
Sir Philip Adams (1915–2001), British Chargé d'affaires to Sudan (1954–1956), British Ambassador to Jordan (1966–1970), British Ambassador to Egypt (1973–1975)
David Lloyd (diplomat), British Ambassador to Slovenia (1997–2000)
Sir Christopher Meyer, British Ambassador to Germany (1997), British Ambassador to the United States (1997–2003)
Andrew Page, British Ambassador to Slovenia (2009-2013)
Sir Elwin Palmer (1852–1906), diplomat and colonial administrator
Sir John Richmond (diplomat) (1909–1990), British Ambassador to Kuwait (1961–1963), British Ambassador to Sudan (1965–1966)
Humphrey Trevelyan, Baron Trevelyan (1905–1985), British Chargé d'affaires to China (1953–1955), British Ambassador to Egypt (1955–1956), British Ambassador to Iraq (1958–1961), British Ambassador to Russia (1962–1965), last High Commissioner of Aden (1967)
Edward Twining, Baron Twining (1899–1967), Governor and Commander-in-Chief, North Borneo (1946–1949); Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Tanganyika (1949–1958)
Sir Armigel Wade (1890–1966), Colonial Secretary in Kenya (1934–1939)
Sir Roy Calne, pioneer of liver transplantation
Jack Herbert Driberg, anthropologist
Basil William Sholto Mackenzie, 2nd Baron Amulree (1900–1983), physician and geriatrician
Charles Francis Massey Swynnerton (1877–1938), naturalist
Gino Watkins (1907–1932), Arctic explorer
Michael Ball, suffragan Bishop of Jarrow (1980–1990) and Bishop of Truro (1990–1997)
Peter Ball, suffragan Bishop of Lewes (1977–1992) and Bishop of Gloucester (1992–1993)
Christopher Russell Campling, Dean of Ripon (1984–1995)
Thomas William Cook (1866–1928), Bishop of Lewes (1926–1928)
Charles John Corfe (1843–1921), inaugural Bishop in Korea (1889–1904)
Anthony Charles Foottit, Bishop of Lynn (1999–2003)
Sir Francis Heathcote, 9th Baronet (1868–1961), Anglican Bishop of New Westminster (1940–1951)
Sir Edwyn Hoskyns, 12th Baronet (1851-1925), Bishop of Burnley (1901-1904), Bishop of Southwell (1904-1925)
Trevor Huddleston (1913–1998), Archbishop of the Indian Ocean (1976–1984), Bishop of Masasi (1959–1968), Bishop of Stepney (1968–1978), Bishop of Mauritius (1978-1984)
John Dudley Galtrey Kirkham, Bishop of Sherborne (1976–2001)
Lewis Evan Meredith (1900–1968), Bishop of Dover (1957–1964)
Cyril Jonathan Meyrick, Bishop of Lynn (2011-)
David Reindorp, vicar of Chelsea Old Church, Chaplain to the Honourable Artillery Company and to the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers
Erik Routley (1917–1982), Congregational minister, composer and musicologist
James Leo Schuster (1912–2006), Bishop of St John's (1956–1980)
Henry Edward Champneys Stapleton, Dean of Carlisle (1988–1998)
Mark Napier Trollope (1862–1930), third Bishop in Korea (1911–1930)
Lt-Gen Sir Louis Jean Bols (1867–1930), Chief of Staff to the Third Army (World War I), Chief Administrator of Palestine (1919–1920)
Major-General Eric Louis Bols (1904-1985), General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6th Airborne Division (1944-1946)
Brig Sir Iltyd Nicholl Clayton (1886–1965), policy-maker active in formation of the Arab League
Col. Andrew Croft (1906—1998), explorer and member of the Special Operations Executive
VAdm Herbert Ward Dowding (1843-1915), Naval Officer in Charge, Jamaica (1895-1898)
Lt-Gen Sir John Fullerton Evetts (1891–1988), Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1942–1944), Master-General of the Ordnance (1944–1946)
H.S.H. Maj Prince George G. Imeretinsky (1897-1972), Grenadier Guards and Royal Flying Corps Officer
H.S.H. Sqn Ldr Prince Michael Imeretinsky (1900-1975), Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Officer
Col St George Corbet Gore (1849–1913), Surveyor General of India (1899–1904)
Thomas Percy Henry Touchet-Jesson, 23rd Baron Audley (1913–1963), soldier, playwright
Adm Francis George Kirby (1854-1951), Captain of HMS Phaeton (1897-1902) and HMS Ramillies (1902-?)
Capt John Letts (1897-1918), First World War flying ace
Maj George Henry Wellington Loftus, 7th Marquess of Ely (1903–1969), soldier
Maj Galbraith Lowry-Corry, 7th Earl Belmore (1913–1960), soldier
Lt-Gen Vyvyan Pope (1891 – 1941), GOC XXX Corps (1941)
AVM John Frederick Powell (1915–2008), Director of Education Services RAF
Sqn Ldr / Lt Cdr Jeffrey Quill (1913–1996), Spitfire test pilot
Lt-Gen Sir Alan Reay (1925-2012), Director General Army Medical Services (1981–1984)
Gen Sir Neil Ritchie (1897–1983), Commander-in Chief, Eighth Army (1941–1942)
Maj-Gen David Rutherford-Jones, Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (2007–2009), Military Secretary (2009–2011)
Adm Cyril Everard Tower DSO (1861-1929), Captain of HMS Illustrious (1908-1910) and HMS Swiftsure (1910-1912)
AVM Sir Stanley Vincent (1897–1976), Air Officer Commanding No. 13 Group (1943–1944), Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group (1948–1950), only RAF pilot to shoot down the enemy in both world wars
Maj-Gen Sir Alexander Wilson (1858–1937), Lieutenant Governor of Jersey (1916–1920)
RAdm Sir Robert Woodard, Commander of the Royal Yacht Britannia (1985–1990)
Sir Edgar Beck (1911–2000), Chairman (1961–79) then President (1981–2000) of Mowlem
Sinclair Beecham, co-founder of Pret a Manger
Sir John Gilbert Newton Brown (1916–2003), Publisher of the Oxford University Press (1956–1980)
Sir Michael Darrington, Managing Director of Greggs
Paul Duffen, Chairman of Hull City A.F.C. (2007-2010)
Stephen Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint, Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc (2006–2010), Minister of State for Trade and Investment (2011-2013)
Sir Derek Alun-Jones (1933–2004), Chairman of Ferranti (1982–1990)
Raymond Kwok Ping Luen, vice-chairman and Managing Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Chairman of SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings Limited
Thomas Southey Baker (1848–1902), amateur athlete who was on the winning crew that won The Boat Race in 1869 and played for England in the fourth unofficial football match against Scotland in November 1871.
Reginald Birkett (1849–1898), England footballer, 1880 FA Cup winner
Tony Bloom (1970 - ), Chairman of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club
Edward Cawston (1911–1998), Sussex cricketer
Edgar Field (1854–1934), England footballer, 1880 FA Cup winner
Andy Frampton, footballer
Henry Hammond (1866–1910), England footballer
Elphinstone Jackson (1868–1945), England footballer and co-founder of the Indian Football Association
Sholto Marcon (1890–1959), England field hockey player, gold medallist at the 1920 Summer Olympics.
Richard Meade, England equestrian and gold medallist at the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics
Broderick Munro-Wilson (Sanderson's 1959), Polo Player and Gentleman Amateur Jockey, the owner/rider winner of Grand Military Gold Cups at Sandown 1980 and 1981; the Foxhunters Chase at Cheltenham 1982
H.J.C. Turner (1850-?), England national rugby player
Charles Wollaston (1849-1926), England footballer, five times FA Cup winner, eighth captain of the England national football team
Rajnarayan Chandavarkar (1953–2006), historian and author
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Nazi era scholar
Michael J. Kennedy, Dean of Faculty of Science and Professor of Geology, University of Dublin
Sir Max Mallowan (1904–1978), archaeologist and scholar
Brian Manning (1927–2004), Marxist historian
Henry Nettleship (1839–1893), English classical scholar
Peter Self (1919–1999), scholar
John Dover Wilson (1881–1969), literary critic and scholar
Richard Budworth (1867–1937), former Master and an English rugby union forward
Sir William Gladstone, 7th Baronet (born 1925), former Head Master and Chief Scout of the United Kingdom
Harry Guest, former Master and poet
G.O. Smith, sportsman rated the greatest footballer of the nineteenth century
John Inge, former chemistry teacher and Assistant Chaplain and current Bishop of Worcester
Edward Clarke Lowe (1823–1912), former Second Master, Provost of St Nicholas College Lancing and key participant in the foundation and development of the Woodard Schools, and first Headmaster of Hurstpierpoint College
Arthur Temple Lyttelton, Provost of St Nicholas College Lancing, third Bishop of Southampton (1898–1903)
Sheppard Frere, former House Master, Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Provinces at the University of London (1961–1966), Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire at Oxford University
J. F. Roxburgh (1888-1954), former Housemaster, first Headmaster of Stowe School
Haldane Campbell Stewart (1868—1942), former Director of Music. Musician and composer. Organist and choirmaster at Magdalen College, Oxford (1919-1938, 1941-1942). Cricketer for Kent County Cricket Team (1892-1903). Father of concert viola performer, Jean Stewart, and of Lorn Alastair Stewart (Johnnie Stewart), who was creator of Top of the Pops.
Henry Jacobs (Aug–Dec 1848)
Charles Edward Moberly (1849–1851)
John Branthwaite (1851–1859)
Henry Walford (1859–1861)
Robert Edward Sanderson (1862–1889)
Harry Ward McKenzie (1889–1894)
Ambrose John Wilson (1895–1901)
Bernard Henry Tower (1901–1909)
Canon Henry Thomas Bowlby (1909–1925)
Cuthbert Harold Blakiston (1925–1934)
Frank Cecil Doherty (1935–1953)
John Christopher Dancy (1953–1961)
Sir Erskine William Gladstone KG Bt (1961–1969)
Ian David Stafford Beer (1969–1981)
James Stephen Woodhouse (1981–1993)
Christopher John Saunders (1993–1998)
Peter M. Tinniswood (1998–2005)
Richard R. Biggs (acting, 2005–2006)
Jonathan William James Gillespie FRSA (Sept 2006–2014)
Dominic Oliver (2014–present)
