Lancing College is a public school (English privateboarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. Lancing was founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard and educates c. 600 pupils between the ages of 13 and 18; the co-educational ratio is c. 60:40 boys to girls. Girls were admitted beginning in 1971. The first co-ed, Saints’ House, was established in September 2018, bringing the total number of Houses to 10. There are 5 male houses (Gibbs, School, Teme, Heads, Seconds) and 4 female houses (Fields, Sankeys, Manor, Handford).
Overview
The college is situated on a hill which is part of the South Downs, and the campus dominates the local landscape. The college overlooks the River Adur, and the Ladywell Stream, a holy well or sacred stream within the College grounds, has pre-Christian significance.[3]
Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith," and the discipline of the prefect's cane. However John Dancy was appointed headmaster in 1953 to improve academic standards, which had taken second place to prowess in sport. Lancing was the first of a family of more than 30 schools founded by Woodard. Other schools include Ardingly College, Bloxham School, The Cathedral School, Denstone College, and Ellesmere College.
Roughly 65% of pupils are either full or weekly boarders, at a cost of £14,850 per term; 35% are day pupils, at a cost of £10,150 per term. Occasional overnight stays are available to day pupils at an additional cost of £74 per night.[4][5]
The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Girls were first admitted in 1970. The school is dominated by a Gothic revival chapel, and follows a high church Anglican tradition. The College of St Mary and St Nicolas (as it was originally known) in Shoreham-by-Sea was intended for the sons of upper middle classes and professional men; in time this became Lancing College, moving to its present site in 1857.
In 2003, it was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.[6] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.
The interior facing westLancing College Chapel viewed from the south east as of 2014Lancing Chapel in 1950
The college Chapel is a Grade I Listed building that was finally completed in 2022. The first phase of its construction began in 1863 with the installation of the foundations of the building, completed five years later. One report states that the foundations are 60 feet (18 metres) deep.[7] The structure itself would not be fully completed until long after Woodard's death in 1891, although the tower at the west end that had been planned in the 1800s would not be built as of 2024;.[8] the tower had been intended to raise the height to 100 metres. The apex of the vaulting rises to 27.4 m (90 ft).[9] It was designed[10] by R. H. Carpenter and William Slater, and is built of Sussex sandstone from Scaynes Hill.
By 18 July 1911, the upper chapel had been built and went into use after its consecration and dedication to St Mary and St Nicholas; this phase of the work was completed through the efforts of Woodard’s son, William. "Despite a shortage of funds, he turned all the vaults and oversaw the completion of all but two bays of the main interior ..." according to a 2024 report. The listing by Historic England provides this more specific summary of the Gothic Revival upper chapel at that time:[11]
The main portion of the Chapel was finished in 1911. It consists of an apse and 10 bays. Central portion with aisles. Great buttresses flank the windows of the aisles. Over the roof of the aisles double flying buttresses connect the buttresses below to the walls of the main building. Balustrade of pointed arcading. Slate roof.
Prior to July 1911, the college had worshipped in the finished crypt since that was consecrated in 1875.[12]
Before the final completion of the chapel in the 21st century, additional work was completed over the decades. As of May 1978, the structure contained among other things, the tomb of the founder, three organs, and a rose window designed by Stephen Dykes Bower, completed in 1977, and the largest rose window built since the Middle Ages, being 32 ft in diameter. It was added by James Longley Construction, a building company which operated from 1863 to 2020, and was also involved in the building of Christ’s Hospital near Horsham. Some reports state that the structure is the largest school chapel in the world.[13]
The eastern organ is a two-manual mechanical organ built by the Danish firm Frobenius and was installed and voiced in situ in 1986. That year also marked the completion of the rebuild of the four-manual Walker organ at the west end of the chapel[14] – both of which were showcased in the opening concert by the American organ virtuoso, Carlo Curley.
A stained-glass window was commissioned in memory of Trevor Huddleston OL, and consecrated by Desmond Tutu on 22 May 2007. The west wall of the chapel was built between 1960 and 2017. That area had remained bricked up since 1978 when bricks replaced the previous corrugated iron facade.[15]
In 2019, permission was obtained for building the western three-arched porch that had been designed by Michael Drury. During this phase, the brickwork in the facade was also completed as were the chapel's buttresses.[16]
Lancing College Chapel was closed to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic and, subsequently, during the construction of the west end porch and refurbishment work on the school kitchens opposite, reopening to the public on 25 April 2022.
In 1856 Lancing created its own code of football which (unlike other school codes) was regarded as a means of fostering teamwork.[18]
Notable alumni
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.(August 2011)
Argent, on a bend cotised Sable a cross couped between two martlets of the first; all within a bordure engrailed Azure; the whole surmounted of a chief Ermine thereon between two purses Or a pale of the third charged with a lily also Or.
^J. Lowerson and J. Myerscough, Time to Spare in Victorian England (Brighton: Harvester, 1977) pp 119–20, cited in Football: The First Hundred Years. The Untold Story. Adrian Harvey, Routledge, 2005
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