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1500

1600

Edward Alleyn’s Diary
  • 1617

On 29 September 1617 Edward Alleyn started his diary. This may well not be the first diary he kept in his life, but it is the only one that survives. He could have been modelling it on the meticulous account book kept by his step father-in-law Philip Henslowe (MS VII) which recorded their day-to-day business transactions.

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Granting of Letters Patent
  • 1619

By the granting of Letters Patent on 21 June 1619, James I gave permission for Alleyn’s property and wealth to be used to relieve and maintain poor men and women and to educate children. Boys, with few prospects or opportunities, and pensioners were to be chosen from the four parishes with which Alleyn had connections:

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1700

1800

Margaret Desenfans
  • 1814

On her death, Margaret Desenfans, one of three Founders of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, left the College two marble busts by Christopher Prosperi (for the Mausoleum attached to the Gallery), a french mantel clock from Charlotte Street, furniture and her own fortune.

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  • 1857

By the nineteenth century the College had outgrown the statutes laid down by Edward Alleyn. The Estate of 1,145 acres should have been realising an annual income of £50,000, but through bad management and lethargy was producing only £8,000.

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Alfred Carver appointed Master
  • 1858

Alfred Carver appointed sixteenth Master of Dulwich College. The enlightened Canon Carver absorbed new ideas about science and technology from the Great Exhibition of 1851 and introduced the teaching of science in fully equipped laboratories with permanent staff and external lecturers as well as practical demonstrations.

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The New College
  • 1866

On 26 June 1866 the foundation stone was laid for the Barry Buildings. The Chairman of the Governors, Reverend William Rogers, invited his friend William Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, to lay the first stone of the New College on 26 June 1866.

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The Barry Building
  • 1870

The Barry Building, designed by Charles Barry Junior, was opened by HRH the Prince of Wales on 21 June 1870. The building included innovations such as an internal telephone system known as speaking tubes, and one of the first chemistry laboratories of any British public school.

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The Alleynian
  • 1873

The first issue of The Alleynian was published in February 1873. Since then the school magazine has undergone many transformations in terms of format, content and frequency of publication. By July 2018 the College had published 706 editions.

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The School Song
  • 1885

The school song, Pueri Alleynienses, was a collaboration between the then Master, the Reverend James Welldon, and the College’s first full-time music master, Edward Davey Rendall. Welldon wrote the lyrics and Rendall the score.

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The School Cap
  • 1891

Although the school cap, with blue cross ribbons and the school crest, may have been introduced as far back as 1864, the design patent for the cap is dated 5 August 1891. It has been suggested that in the mid to late 1800s the cap was worn back to front.

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The Orchard
  • 1895

The Orchard has been providing boarding accommodation to pupils since 1895. Its first Housemaster was Edward Davey Rendall, composer of the school song, Pueri Alleynienses. Between 1942 and 1944 it housed undergraduates from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) who were being fast-tracked in order to fill the gap in languages needed by the War Office

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1900

The Suffragettes
  • 1913

Damage to the College's Science Building of around £300 was caused by a fire allegedly started by suffragettes. The lecture hall in the Science Building was wrecked, but the incident was brought under control when a police constable patrolling on Union Road (now Hunt Slip Road) noticed the fire and raised the alarm.

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The German Guns
  • 1919

At a Governors’ meeting on 14 November 1919 it was agreed that a concrete platform be made on the east side of the flagstaff for the German field guns that had been presented to the Dulwich College Officer Training Corps by the War Office in recognition of its work before and during the war.

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Athletic Houses
  • 1920

In 1920 the Senior School was divided into six Athletic Houses, each named after an eminent Elizabethan – Drake, Grenville, Marlowe, Raleigh, Sidney and Spenser. Drake and Raleigh were allocated to day boys.

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The James Caird
  • 1924

The James Caird the lifeboat of explorer Ernest Shackleton is installed at Dulwich College. All Shackleton’s voyages had a scientific as well as exploratory purposes, but it is the James Caird, the 23 foot whaler, that epitomises his fortitude in the face of adversity.

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Ivyholme
  • 1932

Ivyholme, today a boarding house for senior boarders, was opened on 22 July 1932 by the Earl of Harewood. It was designed to accommodate 28 boys. Between 1942 and 1944 it housed undergraduates from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

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Old Blew
  • 1934

The original Blew House, now known as Old Blew, first accepted boarders in 1874. The current Blew House was built in 1934. It was the only boarding house to remain open throughout World War Two despite some roof damage following a bombing raid in 21 July 1944.

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The Pavilion
  • 1934

The cricket Pavilion was designed by architect Danby Smith and built at a cost of £8,000. It was opened on 5 May 1934 by Sir Kynaston Studd who had played cricket for England and who then later went on to become Lord Mayor of London.

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Second World War
  • 1939

On war being declared Dulwich College was briefly evacuated to Tonbridge School. The experience was not a success, and the boys returned by the end of 1939. The College remained open throughout the war; the only major London day school to do so.

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Carver House
  • 1945

On 27 July 1945 it was agreed that the Pavilion would be used as temporary accommodation for The Orchard following the bomb damage to the junior boarding house in February 1944

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  • 1948

The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) came into being on 1 April 1948 following an amalgamation of the Junior Training Corps (Army), the Sea Cadets and the Air Training Corps.

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The Science Wing
  • 1957

Sir Cyril Hinshelwood opened the extension to the Science Block, a suite of laboratories in an additional building to the rear of the Science Block called The Science Wing and paid for by the Industrial Scientific Fund for Public Schools.

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  • 1964

Although societies already existed in the late 1800s, the Dulwich College Union was not established until 1964. Its aim was to encourage boys to introduce new societies. Our oldest society is the Science Society founded in 1874.

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2000

Lime Tree Walk
  • 2016

As part of the campus master plan, attention was paid to outside spaces and landscape, including the new Lime Tree Walk. Completed in July 2016 with the replacement of the 34 ageing trees of ‘Chestnuts Avenue’ by 52 new specimens in ‘Lime Tree Walk’, each one funded by a generous benefactor, this also provided the opportunity to resurface the path with top-dressed gravel.

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Britten's War Requiem
  • 2018

In commemoration of those who served in the Great War, the Foundation Schools - Dulwich College, Alleyn's School and James Allen's Girls' School - performed Britten’s War Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall. Over 500 pupils, colleagues and friends of the community took part.

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Bursaries
  • 2019

Enabling families with academically minded boys from all backgrounds to consider applying to Dulwich College, irrespective of their financial means, is, and always has been, one of our core objectives.

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400th Anniversary
  • 2019

Edward Alleyn founded Christ’s College of God’s Gift in 1619 for twelve ‘poor scholars’ and, four centuries later, we are blessed to have the gift of a diverse, welcoming and international community of Alleynians and Old Alleynians. This year we mark 400 years of Dulwich College history and look forward to the next 100 years.

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2019