The History of Hurstpierpoint College
Hurstpierpoint College was founded by the Reverend Nathaniel Woodard in August 1849 and is part of the Woodard Corporation. St John’s Middle Grammar School, as it was named at the time, was based in a cottage in Star Lane, Shoreham with just two boys as pupils. As the school grew it was transferred to The Mansion House in Hurstpierpoint Village, West Sussex in 1850.
Woodard commissioned architect Richard C. Carpenter to design a new College, and the early English gothic building that was constructed in the 1850s is still the central part of the campus today. The school is designed around two quadrangles, with an Inner and Outer Quad, and incorporated into the main building is the College Chapel, St John’s. It was built to accommodate up to 300 pupils and opened on 21st June 1853 to around 150 boys.
Hurstpierpoint College in Wartime
Hurst staff and students served in the First World War. 108 boys and four members of staff lost their lives in this conflict.
During the Second World War, Hurst students and staff were again called up to serve their country. 75 lost their lives in this war.
As a Hurst community, we still remember each of them – and those killed in more recent conflicts – at our Remembrance service every November. Their names are read out every year by current pupils.
In addition to the Rolls of Honour in the College Chapel, the College also launched an online wartime memorial record in 2014. This is available for members of the public to view.
