King's School, Rochester

History

The cathedral school in Rochester was founded in 604 AD, at the same time as the cathedral. It was refounded by Henry VIII in 1541 during the English Reformation when the monastery in Rochester was dissolved. It is the second oldest school in the United Kingdom after King's School, Canterbury.

Leadership

The current principal is Simon Fisher. Owen Smith is the Vice Principal (Senior School) and Kellie Crozer is the Vice Principal (Junior School) & Interim Head of EYFS.

Site

The school is housed in a variety of buildings around Rochester (the school also uses Rochester Cathedral for school services).

Senior school

A 16th-century town house rebuilt as an 18th-century Georgian house, the school took it over in 1950 and purchased it outright in 1968. It had originally been built for Richard Watts who had entertained Queen Elizabeth I there in 1573: asked for her verdict on her stay, the Queen had answered, "satis" (from the Latin satis for "enough"), hence the name of the house. Above the entrance portico is a 1578 bust of Watts who represented Rochester in Parliament between 1563 and 1571. At Satis House are the office of the principal of King's Rochester, administrative offices and the Sixth Form Centre.

The oldest building in use which was specifically built for the school. It was completed in 1742, the tower and additional classrooms were added in 1880 and the building extended with porches either end in 1913. During WW2 the building was commandeered for ARP purposes. The wooden roof which had served as the school's assembly hall was removed in 1976. In 1985, it became the Design and Technology Centre.

This was opened in 1909 by Richard Glazebrook, director of the National Physical Laboratory. It originally consisted of a science laboratory and an art room and now contains two computing suites. The Venerable Samuel Cheetham was Archdeacon of Rochester from 1882 until his death in 1908.

It contains 6 laboratories and is currently being refurbished by Taskspace.

This was built in 1840 and later named after the last canon of the cathedral to live there, Canon William Herbert Mackean (1877–1960), Canon of Rochester 1925–58. The headmaster's study and the senior school were housed there until both were relocated Satis House in 1986. The property is marked on early maps as the house of the second prebend. During World War 2 the house was used for ARP purposes and is now used by the senior school English, geography, PE, economics and business studies departments.

Opened in 1982 by the Archbishop of York and named after Ernest William Davies (headmaster 1935–57), it houses the school's art, religious studies and language centres (French, Spanish and German). Memorial gates at the entrance from the Vines were dedicated in 2006.

Preparatory School

Source:

The main building was opened in 1958, extended in 1984 and with a new wing added in 1992. The part of King's Rochester was called the Junior School until 1989.

St Nicholas House

The late Victorian former vicarage for St Nicholas Church, was purchased in 1946 and used as the Junior School until the new buildings were opened in 1958. From 1958 until 1974 it was a boarding house and now contains Preparatory School administrative offices. Adjacent to St Nicholas House was a wartime decontamination shelter which had been converted to Junior School changing rooms. An additional floor and gabled roof were added in 2000 and opened that year in memory of David Dann (King's Scholar 1942–52) and a Governor of the school, to provide additional music facilities.

Rookwood

Previously used as a Junior School boarding house, as the first site of the Pre-Preparatory School (opened in 1988) and for the Nursery School and is now used for extra support lessons. From 1946 to 1961 it was the Headmaster's house.

St Ronan's

Built in 1908, acquired in 1948 and now used as a supplementary boarding house until boarding capacity at School House was increased in 1972 and now houses the Music Department.

The Pavilion

Situated above a bank on the west side of the paddock. The original building was created in 1905. An extension to the north, later called the Colours Room, was added in 1920 in memory of Major Maurice Miskin (1903–10), who was killed in action in 1918. The 25m Rifle Range immediately to the south and used by the Combined Cadet Force was built in 1926.

Conference Centre

Opened in 2006, the Conference Centre consists of a small hall on the ground floor and a basement used as a dining hall for the Preparatory and Pre-Preparatory Schools.

Pre-Preparatory School

Chadlington House

King's Rochester Pre-Preparatory School was opened in 2000 and named Chadlington House after Old Roffensian life peer Peter Gummer (Lord Chadlington). This modern building also now houses King's Nursery School. In 2017 'Armadilla Pods' were constructed in the grounds for music lessons.

Headteachers

Pre-preparatory school

In 2025 the Pre-preparatory and Preparatory Schools were merged to form the Junior School.

Notable alumni

Charles Andrews, organist

Sir Edwin Arnold, poet and author

Sir Derek Barton, Nobel Prize-winning chemist

James Hadley Chase, thriller writer

Michael Brown, Archdeacon of Nottingham

Richard Dadd, artist

Edward Mortlock Donaldson, World War II flying ace

Christopher Gabbitas, singer with the King's Singers

Michael S. K. Grant, IT professional and resident of the BCS

John Griffiths, Warden of Wadham College, Oxford

John Gummer, former Conservative cabinet minister

Peter Gummer, Baron Chadlington, Conservative peer

J. L. Joynes Sr., clergyman and schoolmaster

Richard Keen, lawyer and Conservative Party politician

David Clive King, author

Dinsdale Landen, actor

Harold Stephen Langhorne, Brigadier-General in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Geoffrey Lees, cricketer and educator

G. R. S. Mead, author and member of the Theosophical Society