Cranleigh School

Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey.

Cranleigh School
Address
Horseshoe Lane Cranleigh , Surrey , GU6 8QQ England
Coordinates	51.150°N 0.494°W / 51.150; -0.494
Information
Type	Private School Private boarding and day school
Motto	Ex Cultu Robur (Latin for From Culture comes Strength)
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England
Established	1865
Department for Education URN	125323 Tables
Chairman of the Governors	A. J. Lajtha, MA, FCIB
Head	Samantha Price (started in 2024)
Previous Headmaster	Martin Reader (2014–2024)
Gender	Mixed
Age	13 to 18
Enrolment	680 pupils
Houses	8
Colour(s)	Yellow, Navy, and White
Alumni	Old Cranleighans
Website	www.cranleigh.org

History

School grounds

Cricket Pavilion

It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principles of the Church of England, and on the public school system, for the sons of farmers and others engaged in commercial pursuits'. It grew rapidly and by the 1880s had more than 300 pupils although it declined over the next 30 years and in 1910 numbers dropped to 150.

Cranleigh started to admit girls in the early 1970s and became fully co-educational in 1999. The current headmistress is Samantha Price with former East Housemaster, Simon Bird, as the deputy head.

In 2009 the Good Schools Guide described the school as 'An all-rounder’s paradise, yes, but the academic offering can stand up to almost any school in the land'^[1]

The school's academic block, the van Hasselt Centre was opened by Kate Adie, the Trevor Abbott Sports Centre was opened by Sir Richard Branson and the West House was opened by Baroness Greenfield.^[2] Recent building projects have included two academic blocks, two girls' boarding houses, refurbishment of the art studios, and a remodelled entrance.

Cranleigh School also has a sister school based in Abu Dhabi which opened in September 2014 and three schools in China.^[3]

Notable alumni

See also: Category:People educated at Cranleigh School

Former pupils of the school may join the Old Cranleighan Society. About 6,500 past pupils are currently members. The Old Cranleighan Sports Club in Thames Ditton in Surrey is owned by the Society.

• Anthony Ainley (actor)
• Tony Anholt (actor)^[4]
• Olivia Attwood (TV personality)^[5]
• Stacy Aumonier (writer)
• Thomas Alexander Barns (explorer, big game hunter, author)^[6]
• Sir Nicholas Blake (High Court judge)^[7]
• Hugh Blaker (artist, collector, connoisseur, dealer in Old Masters, museum curator, writer on art)
• Derek Bourgeois (composer)
• Luke Braid (Rugby Player, Junior All Black and IRB Young Player of the Year 2008)^{[citation needed]}
• Sir Gordon Brunton (industrialist)
• David Buggé (cricketer and banker)
• Sir David Calcutt (lawyer)
• Harry Calder (cricketer)
• Rob Curling (television presenter and journalist)
• Michael Cochrane (actor)
• Peter Conder (ornithologist and conservationist)
• Frank Cadogan Cowper (artist)^[8]
• Peter Henry Emerson (photographer)
• Fred Emney [actor)
• Afshin Feiz (fashion designer)
• Eric Fellner (film producer)
• David Garnett (writer)
• Tony Gibson (psychologist and anarchist)^[9]
• Paul Goodman (politician)
• Peter Gordon (radio presenter)
• Bernard Gutteridge (poet)
• G. H. Hardy (mathematician)
• Nick Harper (Global News TV reporter)
• Victor Heerman (director, writer)
• Christopher Herrick (musician)
• Adam Holloway (MP, politician, journalist, soldier)
• Will Howard (cricketer)
• Sarah Ioannides (musician) ^[10]
• Frederick George Jackson (explorer)
• Lieutenant General James Gordon Legge (soldier)
• Patrick Marber (actor, director, screenwriter)
• John Mark (athlete, lighter of the Olympic Cauldron in 1948)
• George May, 1st Baron May (civil servant)
• Stuart Meaker (England cricketer)
• Laurence Naismith (actor)
• Julia Ormond (actress)
• Nitin Passi (fashion retailer)
• Jolyon Palmer (Formula One driver)
• Ollie Pope (England cricketer)^[11]
• Major-General Arnold Reading (Royal Marines general and first-class cricketer)
• Major General Michael Reynolds CB^[12]
• Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia (historian, broadcaster)
• Alan Rusbridger (former Guardian editor)
• Chris Russo (American broadcaster) ^[13]
• Flight Lieutenant Zane Sennett (Red Arrows pilot)^[14]
• Sam Smith (professional rugby union footballer, Harlequins and England U20)^[15]
• Sewell Stokes (novelist and playwright)
• Christopher Trace, the first presenter of the BBC's long-running Blue Peter children's programme
• James William Webb-Jones (Choral conductor; Headmaster of St George's School, Windsor Castle; Headmaster of Wells Cathedral School)^[16]
• David Westcott (GB hockey captain)
• Isabelle Petter (Great Britain hockey player and Olympic bronze medalist)
• Will Barnicoat (U23 Men's European Cross Country Champion, U20 Men's European Cross Country Champion)
• Oscar Beard (Harlequins and England Rugby)
• Gregory Slade (Great Britain Wheelchair Tennis Player and Paralympian) ^[17]

Notable masters

• Steve Batchelor (Great Britain hockey player and Olympic gold medallist)
• Neil Bennett (England rugby player)
• Revd. William Booth (clergyman)
• Luis Cernuda (Spanish poet)
• Andrew Corran (cricketer)
• David Emms (rugby player, headmaster)
• Dan Fox (England and GB hockey player)
• Roger Knight (cricketer)
• Charles W L Parker (England cricketer, Gloucestershire cricketer)
• Sir Michael Redgrave (actor)
• Guy Waller (cricketer; headmaster between 1997 and 2014)
• Hilary Davan Wetton (Conductor)
• Mike Worsley (England rugby player)

Connaught Gallery

Gallery used to display local and national artists together with sixth form students.^[18]

Exhibitions

Dates	Title	Artist(s)
7 - 16 July 1972	Opening Exhibition	Richard Lane[19]
17 November - 1 December 1972	Solo Exhibition	Anthea Horn[20]
March 1973	Solo Exhibition	Dilys Bryon[21]
4 - 12 May 1973	Solo Exhibition	Francis Russell Flint[22]
June 1973	Group Exhibition	Patients and nurses of Brookwood Hospital[23]
July 1973	Paintings	Michael Woods[24]
2 - 21 June 1974	Solo Exhibition	Elizabeth Stuart Lee[25]
13 May - 15 June 1978	Solo Exhibition	Holly Downing[26][27][28]
1979	Solo Exhibition	Mary Farmer[29]

Southern Railway Schools Class

The thirty seventh steam locomotive (Engine 936) in the Southern Railway's Class V, built in 1934 was named "Cranleigh" after the school.^[30] This class of locomotive was known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after English public schools.^[31]