Clayesmore School
| Motto | Dieu premier donc mes freres |
|---|---|
| Established | 1896 |
| Type | Other Independent School |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Headmaster | Martin Cooke |
| Founder | Alexander Devine |
| Location | Iwerne Minster Blandford Forum Dorset DT11 8LL  EnglandLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Local authority | Dorset |
| DfE URN | 113912 |
| Students | 664 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Houses |
|
| Website | www |
Clayesmore School is an independent school for boys and girls of the English public school tradition in the village of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England. It is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).
The school was founded by Alexander Devine in 1896 in Enfield, Middlesex. After moving to Pangbourne, Berkshire and then to Winchester, Hampshire it finally moved to Iwerne Minster for the summer term of 1933. In 1974, it was joined on the Iwerne site by Clayesmore Preparatory School, originally Charlton Marshall School, which had been founded in 1929 by R.A.L. Everett. In the following year the school became co-educational.
As of 2014 there are 475 pupils in the senior school (ages 13–18) and 240 in the prep school (ages 3–13). The current headmaster is Martin Cooke. The school is situated on 62-acre (250,000 m2) campus in rural Dorset and the facilities include an astro-turf pitch, theatre, sports centre and extensive range of specialist subject facilities including an art department science block and a new business school.
The school's colors are dark blue, red, and yellow, and also introduced in 2009 the colours of light blue and green.
History
For centuries the land on which Clayesmore now stands was held by Shaftesbury Abbey. After the dissolution it passed to the Bower family. Their family home was built in 1796 roughly on the site of the existing main building. In 1876 the last member of the Bower family, Captain T B Bower, sold the village and estate to George Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton. The Baron demolished the existing house, laid out the Iwerne estate afresh and commissioned Alfred Waterhouse to design the present building (now Wolverton House) which was completed in 1878.
In 1904 the 4th Baron Wolverton put the whole 2,612-acre (10.57 km2) estate up for sale. This was bought in 1908 by James Ismay whose father, Thomas Henry Ismay, had founded the White Star Line shipping company. On Ismay's death in January 1930 the estate was put up for sale in a number of separate lots. Clayesmore bought the main manor house and the 60 acres (240,000 m2) in which it stands and the school moved in in 1933.
Headmasters
- Alexander Devine, 1896–1930
- Aubrey de Sélincourt, 1931–1935
- Evelyn Mansfield King, 1935–1945
- D Peter Burke, 1945–1966
- Roy McIssac, 1966–1979
- Michael Hawkins, 1979–1986
- David Beeby, 1986–2000
- Martin Cooke, 2000–present
Houses
The senior school is divided into five boarding houses; three for boys and two for girls. The three boys' houses are:
- Devine
- Gate
- Manor
The two girls' houses are:
- King's
- Wolverton
Notable former pupils
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Former pupils include:
- Geoffrey Heneage Drummond, VC
- John Brooke-Little CVO, officer of arms and heraldry expert
- Evelyn King, politician
- Tony Hart, artist and creator of Morph
- Mike Scott, television presenter
- Anthony Allen, England rugby union player
- Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles
- John Craxton, painter
- Nicole Faraday, actress
- Johnny Martyn, singer and guitarist
- Stephen Joseph, Pioneer of Theatre in the Round
- Augustus Casely-Hayford, Art and cultural historian
- John Plamenatz, Political Philosopher
- Jeremy Rogers MBE, Designer and builder of racing yachts such as Contessa 26 and Contessa 32
- George Devine CBE, Theatre Manager
- Nicholas Handy, British Theoretical Chemist
- Marcus Cheke, British Diplomat
- Eric Fernihough, Former holder of the motorcycle world speed record
- Edward Ardizzone, CBE RA Artist, writer and illustrator
- Howard Panter, Theatre impresario, Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG)
- Hugh Stewart, film editor
- Sir Rodney Sweetnam, KCVO CBE F.R.C.S. President of the Royal College of Surgeons 1995–98, Orthopaedic Surgeon to HM Queen.
- David Walser, Church of England Minister, Archdeacon of Ely
