History

Charterhouse is one of the great historic schools of England and among the most beautiful. Founded in 1611 by Thomas Sutton, a Tudor merchant and civil servant, the school was originally established alongside a chapel and hospital within a former fourteenth-century Carthusian monastery near Smithfield in London. This is where the name Charterhouse derives from, and pupils who attend the school are known as Carthusians.

Following over 200 years on the original London site, the school moved to its present-day site in Godalming in June 1872. The move was greatly influenced by the Headmaster William Haig Brown, heeding the advice of the Clarendon Commission of 1861, which investigated the state of the nine leading public schools in England and recommended the move.

The school enlisted renowned architect Philip Charles Hardwick to design the new school buildings, and construction was undertaken by the Lucas Brothers, famous for also building the Royal Albert Hall and Covent Garden. In the decade that followed the move to the new site, popularity for a public-school education grew, and the school’s pupil numbers grew rapidly. Further purchases of land to the north and west increased the size of the School's grounds to around 240 acres, and an additional 8 boarding houses were built.

In 1927, the magnificent chapel, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, was consecrated as a memorial to nearly 700 Carthusians who died in the Great War. It is the largest war memorial in England. Some 350 names have been added to commemorate those who died in the Second World War and other conflicts of the twentieth century.

Great investment and development have been made into the school’s campus over the past 50 years giving us the magnificent site we have today. Our pupils are privileged to have access to some of the best school facilities in the country – find out more about the current campus facilities HERE