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Churcher's College
Address
Ramshill Petersfield & Liphook, Hampshire, GU31 4AS United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°00′32″N 0°55′41″W / 51.009°N 0.928°W / 51.009; -0.928
Information
Type	Private day school
Motto	Credita Caelo (trust in heaven)
Established	1722; 303 years ago (1722)
Founder	Richard Churcher
Local authority	Hampshire
Department for Education URN	116579 Tables
Chairman of the Governors	Michael Gallagher
Headmaster	Simon H. L. Williams
Gender	Co-educational
Age	3 to 18
Enrolment	1185
Houses	Collingwood   Drake   Grenville   Nelson   Rodney
Former pupils	Old Churcherians
Website	http://www.churcherscollege.com

Churcher's College is an independent, fee-charging day school for girls and boys, founded in 1722. The Senior School (ages 11–18) is in the market town of Petersfield, Hampshire with the Junior School and Nursery (ages 2 years, 9 months–11) in nearby Liphook. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).

The College was founded in Petersfield in the 1720s by the will of Richard Churcher to educate local boys in the skills needed for service in the East India Company.

Alumni are known as Old Churcherians or OCs.

History

The school was founded under the will of Richard Churcher in 1722. Churcher was a wealthy local philanthropist who had made his fortune through interests in the British East India Company. His will, dated 1722, decreed that the College was to educate:

10 or 12 local boys from Petersfield, of any age from 9 to 14, in the arts of writing, arithmetic, mathematics and navigation so they could be apprenticed to masters of ships sailing in the East Indies.

Under the terms of the will, Churcher's College was created as a non-denominational foundation, a status it has kept to this day. The original school, built in 1729, is in College Street. The school became increasingly popular due to its successes, and in 1881 moved to its present location in Ramshill, accommodating 150 boys, on land donated by the J&W Nicholson & Co family of gin makers.

From 1946 to 1964 Broadlands, opposite the college grounds in Ramshill, was the preparatory school for Churcher's. It was Grade II listed in 1949.

For much of the 20th century Churcher's College operated as a voluntary aided grammar school. In 1979, Hampshire County Council decided to cease to maintain the college, which became an independent fee-paying school. The school's expanding population (by the mid-20th century the school educated some 400 boys, of whom about a quarter boarded in three separate houses: Mount House, Ramshill House and School house) has necessitated the addition of a number of modern buildings alongside the original 1881 buildings.

Girls were first admitted to the Sixth Form in 1980, and the school became fully co-educational in 1988. Reflecting its naval history, the college's houses are named after the naval heroes Drake, Grenville, Nelson and Rodney, with the later addition of Collingwood.

In 1993 the school purchased Moreton House School in Petersfield, which became Churcher's College Junior School. Like the senior school before it, the junior school is very successful, and soon outgrew its premises. Following an unsuccessful attempt to relocate in Petersfield, the school eventually purchased an existing school campus in Liphook (Littlefield's School), which from 2003 became the junior school's new site.

Sport and Outdoor Pursuits

The school enjoys a strong sporting tradition and reputation, understanding the power of sport in developing individuals as well as bringing the whole community together.

Sport gives Churcher's College pupils the chance for both achievement and opportunity. They champion all pupils, recognising not only sporting excellence but also progress and endeavour - the aim is to provide every pupil with positive sporting experiences.

The school strives to develop good character, teamwork skills, leadership opportunities and a life-long appreciation of physical activity.

Weekly Sport

Senior School pupils take part in a double PE lesson and a double Games lesson every week.

The PE lesson curriculum is designed to help pupils find their sporting 'niche' through exposure to a variety of physical activities and sports, improving fitness and physical literacy.

Games lessons are centred on our Major Sport Programme, teaching skill development in specific sports and providing positive competitive experiences.

Major Sport Programme:

Beyond the timetable

In addition to timetabled sport, there are many other opportunities. There is something for everyone from aquatics, athletics or other team sports through to individual fitness.

Elite Athlete Support

Recent national success for our sporting teams in Hockey, Netball and Rugby demonstrates how we support student development to an elite level, where appropriate.

The Elite Athlete Support Programme supports athletes' physical development with important performance factors such as strength, conditioning and sports psychology, it also teaches pupils how to balance sport with academic work and home life.

Sports Facilities

We offer extensive on-site sports facilities, which are enhanced and updated regularly. Highlights include:

• 12 astroturf all-weather hockey pitches
• 12 astroturf tennis courts, four hard courts and one indoor court
• 4 hard-standing netball courts
• 4 rugby pitches (plus a further two at Penns Place)
• A fully equipped fitness suite
• High-specification 25m indoor swimming pool
• Five-lane ECB standard artificial cricket nets
• Cricket square (with an additional square at Penns Place)
• Climbing wall
• Gymnasium
• Dance studio
• Purpose-built sports hall

A Comprehensive Adventurous Activities Programme

The school offers a whole range of opportunities to get stuck into and learn about the great outdoors both in the UK and overseas.

Run throughout the entire course of a pupil’s time there, the programme builds on itself steadily with the aim to instil practical and social skills step by step.

Pupils are given progressively larger opportunities and expeditions as they move further up the school, using the ever-growing skills and experiences gained.

The programme is run by professional and experienced staff with relevant and appropriate qualifications. As well as current teachers, some of the adventurous activities staff come from outside of Churcher’s, enabling the school to draw on a much larger pool of experience and connections. Alongside regular trips to give pupils valuable life skills, all facilities at the school are utilised, including the swimming pool, climbing wall and extensive green space.

The school encourages students to widen their horizons and develop skills for life by taking risks outside simple comfort zones.

As a result, the aim is for pupils to develop into well-rounded, self-confident and socially-aware individuals.

Notable alumni

• Michael Auger (born 1990), member of the band Collabro which took the top prize in the TV show Britain’s Got Talent, 2014
• Brig Henry Baxter CBE GM, Commander of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1973–6; awarded the George Medal 1957 for removing an IRA bomb in Armagh
• Charles Beeson (1957–2021), TV director
• Dr Geoffrey Boxshall FRS, Natural History Museum 1974 to date
• Rhidian Brook, writer and broadcaster
• Arthur Brough, actor (Are You Being Served?)
• Rt Rev Harry Carpenter, Bishop of Oxford 1955–70
• Calum Chambers, footballer for Aston Villa F.C. and England
• Howard Drake OBE, High Commissioner to Jamaica from 2010 to 2013, and Ambassador to Chile from 2005 to 2009
• Sir Jeremy Farrar, Professor of Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford and Director of the Wellcome Trust
• Tim Footman, writer and quiz show regular
• Reg Gammon, artist
• Jim Hetherington, former England rugby union player
• Simon Ings, writer
• Edward Kelsey, actor (The Archers – Joe Grundy, DangerMouse)
• Alex Lawther, actor (The Imitation Game, The End of the F***ing World)
• Rear Adm Philip Mathias MBE, Director since 2010 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Nuclear), and President in 2004 of the Admiralty Interview Board
• John Peters (RAF officer), pilot shot down in first Gulf War on 17 January 1991
• Stuart Piggott (1910–1996), archaeologist
• Fiona Pocock, rugby union player for England
• Barrie Roberts (1939–2007), author, folk singer, freelance journalist and criminal lawyer
• Tim Rodber (born 1969), former England rugby union player
• Tiny Rowland (1917–1998), businessman and chairman of the Lonrho conglomerate 1962–1993
• Tim Spanton (born 1957), journalist
• Rear Adm Chris Snow, Flag Officer Sea Training since February 2009, and commanded HMS Ocean from 2005 to 2006
• Robert Tronson, TV and film director, including police dramas and The Darling Buds of May

References

1. Bosberry-Scott, Wendy (September 2009). Which School? 2010. John Catt Educational Ltd. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-904724-66-7.
2. "Churcher's College: History". Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
3. "Hampshire Gardens Trust: Broadland House". Retrieved 21 February 2015.
4. "British Listed Buildings". Retrieved 21 February 2015.
5. Rhodes Boyson, Secretary of State for Education and Science (2 July 1979). "Schools reorganisation". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 969. House of Commons. col. 486W. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
6. "Moreton House School, Petersfield, Hampshire". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
7. "MORETON HOUSE SCHOOL, Petersfield - 1093562". Historic England. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
8. "AC Alumnus' Got Talent!". Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
9. "IMDb: Charles Beeson". IMDb. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
10. 'BOXSHALL, Dr Geoffrey Allan', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 8 July 2013
11. "OC Rhidian Brook's Novel Made into Film". Retrieved 6 November 2022.
12. Dennis Nineham (29 May 1993). "Obituary: The Right Rev Harry Carpenter". Independent. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
13. Iqbal, Nosheen (6 December 2020). "Covid scientist Jeremy Farrar had recurring nightmare about failing A-levels". The Guardian.
14. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
15. "Old Churcherians". Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.

Further reading

• Atcheson, Nathaniel & Robert, The history of Churcher's College, Petersfield, Hants: with a sketch of the life of Mr. Richard Churcher, the founder. 1823. Google -Book Internet Archive J Butterworth & Son. New York Public Library.

• Educational institutions established in 1722
• Petersfield
• Private schools in Hampshire
• 1722 establishments in England
• People educated at Churcher's College
• Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference