150 Years in Godalming for Charterhouse
This year Charterhouse celebrates the 150th anniversary of its relocation from central London to Godalming in Surrey.
Founded in 1611 by one Thomas Sutton, who held high public office and was one of the wealthiest men in Jacobean England, the school was originally based near Smithfield in London. It was in response to the recommendations of the Public Schools Commission of 1864 that the Governors agreed to move. Having purchased 68 and a half acres of the Deanery Farm Estate, just outside Godalming, 120 boys in three boarding houses eventually arrived in June 1872 to establish Charterhouse there.
The school never looked back and never stops developing. It is now fully coeducational from the age of 13 and has an impressive array of facilities: an Art Studio, Technology Centre, Theatre, Music Centre, Golf Course, Sports Centre, Athletics Track, Modern Languages Centre, Health Centre, and a Science and Mathematics Centre that was completed in 2018.
Many of these facilities are named after former pupils, such as the Ralph Vaughan Williams Music Centre; by happy coincidence, 2022 also marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the composer, whose life and work will be celebrated in a concert series featuring both professional musicians and the school’s pupils.
Offering both A Levels and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in 6th Form, Charterhouse is a consistently popular choice with our families. Book a chat with Gina to find out whether it could be the right option for your daughter or son.
Photos by kind permission of Charterhouse School
