Dulwich College
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Dulwich College is an independent, fee-paying school, called a public school in the UK, in Dulwich, south-east London, England. It was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor and contemporary of Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars.
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History
The school was reconstituted by an Act of Parliament in 1857, when it moved from its old site in Dulwich Village, where the chapel still remains, and built on its present site. The new college buildings were designed in a hybrid of Palladian and Gothic styles in red brick and terracotta, by Charles Barry Junior (the eldest son of Sir Charles Barry, who designed the Houses of Parliament).
The reformed school's new master, Carver, was the first master not to share the name of the school's founder "Alleyn" (or latterly "Allen"). Upon the reform the school was split in two, with the "A" stream moving up to the new location, and the "B" stream staying in the village, where it became "Alleyn's School", which now exists on the other side of Dulwich Village.
Recent developments
Although it has always been a private foundation, for some time in the middle part of the 20th century a large percentage of the pupils were on full scholarships funded by local authorities in and around Greater London. These "assisted places" gradually disappeared and were abolished in 1997.
Alleyn's and JAGS belong to the same foundation, and the college has also founded two international schools in Phuket and Shanghai.
Use of the college in films
Recently, Dulwich College was used as part of the film set for the Tomb Raider film, and Legally Blonde. In Tomb Raider, Lara Croft can be seen in the Dulwich College Great Hall during the auction at the beginning. In Legally Blonde, at the end, the graduation ceremony is held in the Great Hall, due to the fact that Reese Witherspoon was in England for the filming of The Importance of Being Earnest.
Renowned alumni
- Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) writer
- Chiwetel Ejiofor (born 1976) film actor
- C.S. Forester Writer -1899-1966. At Dulwich College 1915-1916
- Edward George (born 1938) Governor of the Bank of England
- Gordon Jacob (1895-1984) composer
- Raymond Dennis Keene, OBE Chess Grandmaster, Born 1948. At Dulwich College 1959-1966
- Phil Manzanera musician
- Bob Monkhouse (though expelled)
- Michael Ondaatje (born 1943) writer
- Anthony Payne (born 1936) composer, "elaborated" the sketches of Elgar's 3rd symphony
- Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) explorer (though only at the College for one year)
- Hartley William Shawcross (1902-2003) lawyer and politician, lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials
- Graham Swift (born 1949) writer
- P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) writer
External links
- Dulwich College (http://www.dulwich.org.uk/)