Saint Ronan's School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for boys and girls from 2 to 13 years located in Hawkhurst in Kent, England. It currently has about 440 pupils, the majority of them day pupils, although boarding is available from Monday night through to Thursday night for all pupils from Year 4 upwards. The headmaster is Joe Lewis.
History The school was founded in 1883 and was originally located in Worthing in Sussex. During the Second World War, the school was evacuated to Bicton Park near Exmouth in Devon, but afterwards moved to its present location in Tongswood House.
The house was remodelled in the late 19th century for William Cotterill, owner c. 1868 to 1892, of a mercantile family from Birmingham. Tongswood later belonged to Charles Eugene Gunther (died 1931), head of the Liebig Extract of Meat Company which later became known as OXO, who was High Sheriff of Kent in 1926.
Headmasters 1909–1926: Stanley Harris"Mr. Stanley Harris", The Times, 22 May 1926, p. 8"Stanley Harris", St Ronan's School, retrieved 30 January 2018 1957–1971: Sir Richard Vassar-Smith, 3rd BaronetCharles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), page 3981 1971–1997: Sir John Vassar-Smith, 4th Baronet
Notable alumni
Lindsay Anderson, film and theatre director Julian Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, colonial administrator and hereditary peer Christopher Battiscombe, diplomat Richard Rodney Bennett, composer Bill Benyon, Member of Parliament Raymond Bonham Carter, banker Robert Bray, soldier Richard Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford, peer and restaurateur Nick Brown, Member of Parliament Iain Cochrane, 15th Earl of Dundonald, peer Sampson Collins, cricket journalist Frank Gardner, journalist (BBC Security Correspondent) Michael Grylls, Member of Parliament Patrick Hadley, composer Osbert Lancaster, cartoonist Laddie Lucas, Royal Air Force officer, left-handed golfer, author and Member of Parliament Donald Maclean (spy) Christopher Makins, 2nd Baron Sherfield, peer, Anglo-American diplomat, foreign policy expert, and author César Mange de Hauke, art dealer Airey Neave, British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament Francis Newall, 2nd Baron Newall, peer John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne, British peer, ecological expert, and businessman Thomas Ponsonby, 3rd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, Chairman of the Greater London Council, Labour Chief Whip 1982-1990 John Raven, Classical scholar and botanistJohn Raven by his Friends, edited by John Lipscomb and R. W. David. Published privately by Faith Raven, 1981, , page 12 General Sir Charles Richardson, Chief Royal Engineer and Master-General of the Ordnance E. Clive Rouse, archaeologist Charles Saumarez Smith, British cultural historian specialising in the history of art, design and architecture Mark Shand, travel writer, conservationist and brother to Queen Camilla Philip Sidney, 2nd Viscount De L'Isle, peer James Simpson, naval officer and explorer Michael Whinney, Church of England bishop
References
External links Official site