School

School House, the oldest boarding House at Lancing, is also the largest, comprising 75 students with 15 boys in each year group (Third Form through to Upper Sixth). We enjoy a rich mixture of talents in the House including artists, musicians, engineers, sportsmen, scholars, and thespians; boys from a range of cultures, with different experiences, make for a wonderful blend of characters and rich educational setting.

The ethos is very much about taking advantage of the many opportunities available at Lancing to discover one’s niche and passion. Indeed, the more unusual the shape of the piece, the more exciting the puzzle!

Mr Nat Payne

Mr Nat Payne
Housemaster

History of the House

The second Housemaster was the Revd J S M Walker OL, an outstanding footballer who married Dr Sanderson’s daughter and lived to over 100, (not dying until 1954!) School House had the space to expand westwards and into spaces which became available as the Chapel, Dining Hall and classrooms were completed. Numbers grew rapidly over 50 years (it was also the cheapest house!) and in 1910 it was divided into two: School House Olds (roughly at the eastern and lower end) and School House News (mostly in the Upper Quad and what is now the Gwynne Library).

In 1913 News was renamed Sanderson’s in honour of the Revd Dr Sanderson, Head Master 1862-1889, who really put Lancing on the map nationally. The old schoolroom/library was renamed the Sanderson Room to continue this memorial, and the new café in the undercroft called ‘the Olds Café’, when School reverted to being one house in 2002. The first Housemaster of Olds was G M T (Uncle George) Smythe, mathematician. Later came Alexander Brent-Smith, Head of Music, Arthur Cooper OL, Bill Dovell, Jeremy MacLachlan and Jim Sheppe, whose American origins are remembered in the names of various parts of the house. Tom Sharpe and Stuart Cloete the novelists; Richard Meade, the Olympic gold medallist equestrian; Charles Anson, former Downing Street and Palace press secretary; Greg Barker MP and Rana Mitter, the broadcaster, were in Olds.

News only existed for three years before becoming Sanderson’s. Notable Housemasters of Sanderson’s were J F Roxburgh, who became the first Headmaster of Stowe, taking his Head of House with him; the Revd F A Woodard OL, grandson of the Founder (and father of Rear Admiral Sir Robert Woodard OL, the last Flag Officer of the Royal Yacht, who was in Olds); Basil Handford OL for 20 years (see Handford House); Ken Shearwood, legendary footballer, author and first Registrar; Ted Maidment, later Head of Shrewsbury; David Lutwyche and Dr Andrew Betts. Anti-apartheid campaigner Fr Trevor Huddleston, Lord (Nicolas) Browne-Wilkinson, who succeeded Sir Robert Megarry OL as Vice-Chancellor of the Royal Courts of Justice, and Christopher Silvester the columnist were members of the House.