Re-founding 1612 (1612)
First grammar school, 1697 (1697) (closed 1830)
Second grammar school, 1834 (1834)
As fee-paying grammar school 1868 (1868) (bankrupt 1909)
Under government control 1910 (1910)
As voluntary-aided 1955 (1955)
Hampton School is a fee-charging, boys-only private school in Hampton, London, England. As of 2023, the school charges £24,720 per year for attendance.[2] Until 1975, the school was a voluntary aidedgrammar school, with no fees. The school admits pupils aged between eleven and eighteen.
In 2021, 92% of the school's pupils achieved A* or A at A-Level. The school features 40th in one ranking of fee-paying schools in the United Kingdom by A-Level results.[3]
It has a preparatory school attached to it, for girls aged 3–7 and boys aged 3–11.
History
In 1557, Robert Hammond, a wealthy brewer who was the largest tax-payer in Hampton, left in his will property for the maintenance of a "free scole" and to build a small schoolhouse "with seates in yt" in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Hampton. The endowment was the Bell Inn, some other houses, and one acre of land. Hammond also founded a school at Kingston-upon-Thames.[1]
To mark this early history, Founders' Day is celebrated by the school towards the end of each academic year. The occasion is marked by a procession of boys walking from the school to St Mary's Church for a service including the school choir singing and readings.[citation needed]
Although the school was founded in 1557, there was provision in Hammond's will that the school would only continue as long as the vicar, churchwardens and parishioners carried out his requests. If not, then the properties would revert to his heirs. It seems that the school did not survive beyond 1568, or possibly earlier, and the properties reverted to the heirs.[1]
Subsequently, however, the school re-opened in 1612. This was as a result of a commission established to enquire into the fate of Tudor charities that had disappeared for various reasons. The "learned counsell on bothe sides" reached deadlock at the commissioners. However, in the spirit of compromise and through the generosity of the then legal owner of the properties, Nicholas Pigeon, the school was re-endowed.[1]
The early school was on the site of St Mary's Church by the River Thames. It moved to a site on Upper Sunbury Road in 1880. The new school buildings cost £8,000 and were built in the Elizabethan Tudor style to accommodate 125 day boys and 25 boarders. The school moved to its present site on Hanworth Road in 1939. The new 28-acre site allowed for expansion and the potential to provide for 600–650 boys. The foundation stone was laid on 5 July 1938 and a year later the school was opened.[citation needed]
In 1975, the school converted from voluntary aided status to become a fee-paying private school, after government changes to the administration of secondary education under the Education Act 1975.[4]
Headmaster Barry Martin retired in July 2013 after 16 years of service. He was succeeded by Kevin Knibbs in September 2013.
There have been two incidents in recent years that involved crimes of sexual abuse perpetrated by teachers whilst at Hampton School.[5][6]
In 2020, Andrew Cook was found guilty of 37 sexual offences relating to pupils at the school while working as a teacher between 2011 and 2018. He was sentenced to a 6-year jail term. He had posed as a 16-year-old girl on social media, asked for, and received naked photos from several boys over nine years.[7][8] Cook was a rowing coach at the school. The school dismissed him following an internal investigation in 2018.[5]
In 2022, Christopher Arnold pleaded guilty and was added to the sex offenders register after filming through the window of a female shower room as someone was undressing inside. Arnold, a computer science teacher and assistant head of year, was in a romantic relationship with another teacher at the school.[6][9]
It is next to The Lady Eleanor Holles School for girls, with which it co-operates in a number of co-curricular activities and shares several classes, clubs, facilities (including a swimming pool) and a coach service.
Notable former pupils
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (May 2022)
