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Dragon School
Dragon School
Address
	Bardwell Road; Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 6SS; United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°46′05″N 1°15′23″W / 51.76818°N 1.25639°W
Information
Type	Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school
Motto	Latin: Arduus ad Solem; ("Reach for the Sun")
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England
Established	1877
Founder	A. E. Clarke
Department for Education URN	123288 Tables
Head	Emma Goldsmith (Prep); Annie McNeile (Pre-Prep)
Gender	Coeducational
Age	4 to 13
Enrollment	800+
Houses	9
Colour(s)	Navy and yellow
Publication	The Draconian
Former pupils	Old Dragons
Website	www.dragonschool.org

The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School. It takes day pupils and boarders.

Originally established for boys, the Dragon School also accepted a small number of day girls with a close connection to the school, first admitting girls as boarders in 1994. The school educates children aged 4 to 13 in two sites in North Oxford: Bardwell Road and Richards Lane. Boarding starts at 8 and there are 10 boarding houses, including one weekly-boarding house. Dragon Lane runs along the edge of the school immediately to the west.

History

The school was founded by a committee of Oxford dons, among whom the most active was a Mr George. In honour of Saint George, the group decided to call themselves Dragons.^[1]

Teaching started in September 1877 at rooms in Balliol Hall, located in St Giles', central Oxford, under A. E. Clarke.^[2] The school expanded and moved within two years to 17 Crick Road, which became known as "School House".^[3] Charles Cotterill Lynam (known as the "Skipper") took over as headmaster in 1886.

In 1894, Lynam took out a lease on land at the current site at Bardwell Road in central North Oxford, just to the west of the River Cherwell. £4,000 was raised through subscriptions from local parents for the erection of new school buildings^[4] and the move was completed within a year. The school was known as Oxford Preparatory School and also Lynam's, but gradually its current name was adopted.

The Dragon School became the second school to take part in the Harrow History Prize in 1895. Over the years, many of its pupils have won this prize, an early winner being Kit Lynam. The school was run for many years by the Lynam family.^[5]

Dragon School playing fields off Bardwell Road

The school has become notable for its large number of eminent alumni.^[6]

Heads

The following have been Heads of the school, several from the Lynam family:^[5]

A. E. Clarke 1877–1886
C. C. Lynam ("Skipper") 1886–1920
A. E. Lynam ("Hum") 1920–1942
J. H. R. Lynam ("Joc") 1942–1965
R. K. Ingram ("Inky") 1965–1989^[7]^[8]^[9]
M. W. A. Gover ("Guv") 1972–1989 (head of day pupils, co-headmaster with "Inky")^[10]^[11]
N. P. V. Richardson 1989–1992
H. E. P. Woodcock 1992–1993
R. S. Trafford 1993–2002
J. R. Baugh 2002–2017
Crispin Hyde-Dunn 2017–2021^[12]
Emma Goldsmith 2021–present

Other teachers

PJ Wilson, Olympic hockey player

Old Dragons

Former pupils of the Dragon School are referred to as Old Dragons. The following people were pupils at one time:

Poppy Adams, writer^[13]
Hatti Archer, long-distance runner^[13]
Alexander Aris (born 1973), elder son of Nobel Prize-winning democracy and human rights campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi and Michael Aris^[14]
Baron Armstrong of Ilminster (1927–2020), civil servant
Mary Creighton Bailey (1913–2008), classics scholar and educator
Henry Barratt (born 1983), rugby union player
Sir Gawain Bell (1909–1995), colonial administrator, Governor of Northern Nigeria
Michael Beloff (born 1942), barrister, President of Trinity College, Oxford
Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984), poet, Poet Laureate from 1972^[13]
Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989), composer
Christopher Booker (1937–2019), journalist and author
Alain de Botton (born 1969), writer and television producer^[13]
Humphry Bowen (1929–2002), chemist and botanist
Jonathan Bowen (born 1956), computer scientist
Julian Brazier (born 1953), politician^[13]
Henry Brett (born 1974), polo player, captain England polo team 2003–06
James Bruce Lockhart (1941–2018) diplomat, intelligence officer, author, and artist
Lord Bruce-Lockhart (1942–2008), politician
Sir Giles Bullard (1926–1992), diplomat
Sir Julian Bullard (1928–2006), diplomat
John Campbell (born 1958), economist
Humphrey Carpenter (1946–2005), journalist, author, and musician^[13]
Bill Carritt (1908–1999), communist, college lecturer, campaigner for the Scottsboro Boys
Noel Carritt (1910–1992), communist, International Brigadier
Tristram Cary (1925–2008), composer
Simon Cawkwell (born 1946), stock market commentator
Hal Cazalet, musician^[13]
Christopher Cazenove (1943–2010), actor^[13]
Jonathan Cecil (1939–2011), actor^[15]
Paul Chahidi (born 1969), actor
Leonard Cheshire (1917–1992), World War II RAF pilot and activist for the disabled^[13]
Colin Clark (1905–1989), economist
Sebastian Croft (born 2001), actor
Hugh Dancy (born 1975), actor^[13]
Jack Davenport (born 1973), actor^[13]
Quentin Davies, politician
Ralph Henry Carless Davis (1918–1991), historian
Dame Cressida Dick (born 1960), former Commissioner (head of) Metropolitan Police London
Henry Dimbleby (born 1970), food campaigner and businessman
Oliver Dimsdale (born 1972), actor
David Fasken (1932–2006), English cricketer and businessman
Rick Fenn (born 1953) rock guitarist, member of 10cc^[13]
Lady Antonia Fraser (born 1932, née Pakenham), historical author^[13]
Bernard Gadney, (1909–2000), rugby player and educator
Douglas Gairdner, (1910–1979), pediatrician
Hugh Gaitskell (1906–1963), politician, leader of the Labour Party from 1955 to 1963^[13]
Lord Geidt, Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II
Tom George (born 1994), world championship rower
Michael Gough (1916–1973), archaeologist
Olivia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster (born 1992), businesswoman and peeress
J. B. S. Haldane (1892–1964), geneticist and evolutionary biologist
Air Chief Marshal Sir Donald Hardman^[13]
Tim Henman (born 1974), tennis player^[13]
Tom Hiddleston (born 1981), actor
Sir Tony Hoare (born 1934), computer scientist
Brent Hoberman, co-founder of lastminute.com
Tom Hollander (born 1967), actor^[13]
Peter Hopkirk (born 1930), journalist, author
Air Marshal Sir Peter Horsley (1921–2001), Royal Air Force commander
Frances Houghton (born 1980), rower and Olympic silver medallist^[13]
Lord Hunt (born 1941), leading authority on turbulence modelling
Sir Tim Hunt, biochemist and Nobel laureate
Edward Impey (born 1962), historian, archaeologist, museum curator, Master of the Armouries and Director General of the Royal Armouries
Brian Inglis (1916–1993), journalist and historian
Max Irons (born 1985), actor
Pico Iyer (born 1957), journalist and author^[13]
Peter Jay (born 1937), television journalist, and former BBC economics editor^[13]
Patrick Jenkin PC (Lord Jenkin of Roding, born 1926), politician^[13]
David Jessel, journalist^[13]
Stephen Jessel, journalist^[13]
C. E. M. Joad, philosopher^[13]
Dom Joly (born 1968), comedian^[13]
Sir John Kendrew (1917–1997), molecular biologist and Nobel Laureate
Andrew Lack (born 1953), biologist and botanist
Ben Lamb, actor^[13]
Paul Lee, TV director and producer
Hugh Laurie (born 1959), comedian, musician and actor^[13]
Rupert Lowe MP
Alan Macfarlane, anthropologist and historian
Lancelot Mallalieu, politician^[13]
Henry Marsh, (born 1950), neurosurgeon and author
Oliver Milburn (born 1973), actor^[13]
Hugh Miles (born 1977), journalist and author
Naomi Mitchison (née Haldane, 1897–1999), novelist and poet^[13]
Philip Moore, Baron Moore of Wolvercote (1921–2009), civil servant and personal private secretary to the Queen
Sir John Mortimer (1923–2009), playwright, barrister and novelist^[13]
Sir Peter Newsam (born 1928), educator (also staff)
Sir Roger Norrington (born 1934), musician and conductor^[13]
Naji Abu Nowar^[16]
Ed O'Brien (born 1968), musician (member of Radiohead)^[13]
Rageh Omaar (born 1967), journalist and writer^[13]
Julian Opie (born 1958), artist
Stephen Oppenheimer (born 1947), genetic researcher and author
Derek Parfit (1942–2017), philosopher
Tom Penny (born 1977), skateboarder
Funki Porcini, musician
Ronnie Poulton-Palmer (born c. 1890), killed in the First World War, rugby player^[13]
Jonathan Pugh (born 1962), cartoonist
William Pye (born 1938), sculptor
Sir Timothy Raison (1929–2011), politician, journalist and author^[13]
Jack Randle (1917–1944), distinguished serviceman, T/Captain, 2nd Bn. The Royal Norfolk Regiment^[13]
Adrian Rawlins (born 1958), film and television actor
Hugo Rittson-Thomas, photographer
William Leefe Robinson (1895–1918), lieutenant, 39 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps^[13]
Aubrey de Sélincourt (1894–1962), writer
Nicholas Shakespeare (born 1957), journalist and novelist^[13]
David Shukman^[13]
Henry Shukman, poet
Nevil Shute (1899–1960), novelist^[13]
Sir John Slessor, Marshal of the Royal Air Force^[13]
Sir John Smyth, serviceman, lieutenant, 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, Indian Army
Richard Sorabji (born 1934), academic and historian of classical philosophy
Timothy Sprigge (1932–2007), philosopher
Jon Stallworthy (born 1935), academic and poet
Robin Stevens (born 1988), children's author
Rory Stewart (born 1973), politician, author and diplomat^[13]
Galen Strawson (born 1952), philosopher and literary critic
Christopher Tolkien (1924–2020), son of J. R. R. Tolkien^[13]
Simon Tolkien (born 1959), novelist and son of Christopher Tolkien^[13]
Basil Tuma (born 2005) Reading FC striker. (Inspired and mentored by the Gaps of 2017)
Peter Tranchell (1922–1993), musician, composer, and teacher^[13]
The 3rd Baron Tweedsmuir (1916–2008), politician, novelist and poet
Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt, Royal Navy admiral
Sam Waley-Cohen (born 1982), jockey and businessman
Tom Ward (born 1971), actor^[13]
Paul Watkins (born 1963), Booker Prize-nominated author
Emma Watson (born 1990), actor^[13]
Nicholas Wheeler (born 1965), businessman, founder of Charles Tyrwhitt^[13]
Admiral Sir Hugo White (born 1939), Royal Navy admiral, Commander-in-Chief Fleet 1992–95^[13]
Jack Whitehall (born 1988), comedian^[13]
Benjamin Whitrow (1937–2017), actor^[13]
Conrad Wolfram (born 1970), technologist
Stephen Wolfram (born 1959), scientist and technology entrepreneur
John Woodcock (1926–2021), cricket writer
Rupert Wyatt (born 1972), writer and film maker
Shaun Wylie (1913–2009), mathematician and World War II codebreaker
Wayne Che Yip (born 1981), director^[13]
Baroness Young (1926–2002), politician