Latymer Upper School is a private school in Hammersmith, London, England, on King Street. It derives from a charity school, and is part of the same 1624 bequest by the English legal official Edward Latymer that founded The Latymer School. There is a preparatory school on site, but most students are admitted to the Upper School through examination and interview at the age of eleven. The school's academic results place it among the top schools nationally.

Having opened on its King Street site in 1895, the school spent a period of time in the mid-20th century as a direct grant grammar school, before becoming private with the system's abolition in the 1970s. Remaining single-sex until 1996, when Sixth Form admissions were opened to girls, the school transitioned to full mixed-sex education in the first decade of the 21st century.

Latymer's alumni include members of both Houses of Parliament, winners of Olympic medals, actors, musicians, and many figures in the arts and sciences.

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History

Foundation

Latymer Upper School has its origins in the will of Edward Latymer, who left a bequest to educate "eight poore boyes" of Hammersmith. on Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith.

In 1627<!--per the deed of conveyance--> Latymer split his Butterwick Manor estate three ways, allocating 6 acres of land to provide charity for the poor of St Dunstan-in-the-West in the City of London; 8½ acres for what became The Latymer School in Edmonton; and 28½ acres for the Latymer Foundation at Hammersmith.

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File:Edward Latymer deed of conveyance 1627.png|Edward Latymer's deed of conveyance 1627, transferring land of Butterwick Manor to the Latymer Foundation

File:Butterwick House by Robert Schnebbelie 1839.png|View of Butterwick House and its south wing, Bradmore House. Watercolour by Robert Blemmell Schnebbelie, 1839.

File:Bradmore House, Hammersmith, April 1904 by Philip Norman.jpg|Bradmore House, Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith: all that survives of Butterwick Manor. 1904 lithograph by Philip Norman.

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From Fulham to Hammersmith

In 1628, a school, partially funded by the estate of Dr. Thomas Edwards, who had died in around 1618, was built for the Latymer boys in the churchyard in Fulham. In 1648, the school moved to a new building, paid for by a Mr. Bull and a Mr. Palmer, in Hammersmith. This served until around 1657, when a charity school for the parish was founded in the churchyard of St Paul's, Hammersmith. At around the same time, and certainly before 1689, a girls' school was created, perhaps in the same building. In 1863, the boys' school moved to a new building between King Street East (now Hammersmith Road) and Great Church Lane, a little to the east of Hammersmith Broadway.

The bishop of London, Frederick Temple, opened Latymer Upper School on its new site on King Street in 1895. The old buildings were used for Latymer Lower School, an "elementary" or primary school and boys from local schools could apply for scholarships.

In 1945, Latymer became a direct grant grammar school, meaning that it took both state-funded and fee-paying pupils. Its head joined the Headmasters' Conference<!--as it was then known, so don't change this!-->.

The Direct Grant system was abolished in 1976<!--following a 1975 act of parliament-->, removing government funding,

Latymer became a public school, meaning that students normally paid fees. and the school switched to the Assisted Places Scheme, retaining a mix of partly or wholly funded places and fee-paying pupils.

Latymer Prep School is a junior school for pupils from age 7 upwards on the same site, in Rivercourt House, by the River Thames. It was founded in 1951 to prepare pupils for Latymer Upper School.

In 1996, the Sixth Form became co-educational. In 2004, the main school started on the same path, with the introduction of girls into Year 7; as those pupils moved up the school, it became fully co-educational by 2008.

In 2018, the school won three Times Educational Supplement awards, for "Independent School of the Year", "Independent-State School Partnerships", and "Senior School of the Year".

Each year, the school gathers in the nearby church of St Paul's, Hammersmith to celebrate "Founder's Day" in honour of Edward Latymer.

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Latymer Upper School 1895 Building.jpg|The 1895 building

File:Old Building Doorway, Latymer Upper School.jpg|The north doorway, with Edward Latymer's crest and ornamental stonework

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School

thumb|The school from [[King Street, Hammersmith|King Street]]

Fees

<!--DO NOT CHANGE THIS without also updating the citation, it's not difficult, thanks.-->

Tuition for 2024<!--see next note!--> was £8,633<!--if changing this, UPDATE THE CITATION, PLEASE!--> per term, plus other mandatory and optional fees.

Latymer offers a bursary programme, with assistance ranging between a quarter and the whole of the fees, according to need. One pupil in five received a bursary in 2022. The school states that it intends to increase this to one in four and make the school "needs-blind", meaning that no applicant who passed the entrance exam would be prevented from joining the school through inability to pay fees.

Activities

<!--Please do not add anything here that is not in the cited source, thanks-->

The school provides many clubs and societies, including in 2024 a variety of sports, literature, dance, singing, debating, various technologies, philosophy, and photography.

The school participates in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. The school runs day trips during the school year, and it offers all students a trip from a choice of some 30 trips run every year in 'Activities Week'. These include outdoor activities such as camping and trekking, and cultural activities and sports.

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The Latymer Upper School Boat Club taught Andy Holmes, Olympic gold medal rower (1984 Games and 1988 Games), and the cox Henry Fieldman, Olympic bronze medal rower (2020 Games). <!--and the Olympic Silver medallist Jim Clark who was a coach.--> The Boat Club has gone on to win Henley Royal Regatta, most recently with the win of the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup in 2019.

Facilities

thumb|Latymer Performing Arts Centre

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The Latymer Theatre and Arts Centre, opened in 2000, includes a 300-seat galleried box theatre named the Edward Latymer Theatre and an art gallery.

The Latymer Performing Arts Centre contains a drama studio, rehearsal rooms, and a 100-seat recital hall.

A new Science and Library building was completed in 2010.

<!-- If adding anything here, remember to cite a reliable source, thanks! -->

<!--Boat Club is described and cited above already-->

The Sports Centre was opened in March 2016; it has a six-lane swimming pool, basketball hoops, badminton markings, cricket nets, a fitness suite, and a bouldering<!--climbing without ropes, apparently--> wall, and serves as an area for pupils to take their examinations.

The school's playing fields are about a mile and a half away, on Wood Lane. The playing fields were used for training by the England Rugby Team in 2020.

Coat of arms

The armorial bearings of the founder, Edward Latymer, included his Latin motto, (). The motto puns on his surname, using an "i" in "(pau)(go)", as Latin lacks the letter "y". The crest was changed again to a form more like the original one in September 2020.

Academic performance

Latymer Upper School was rated in 2012 by the Tatler Schools Guide as one of the highest academically performing schools in the UK. Pupils sit an examination in English and mathematics to enter the school. There were 29 Oxbridge places in 2021, and several pupils went to US universities such as Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Cornell. GCSE and A-Level results over five years are summarised in the table.

{| class="wikitable"

!GCSE summary

<!--* Norman Blackwell, businessman and politician-->

  • Peter Hendy, Minister of State for Rail<!--Latymerian ref-->
  • Alan Hunt, diplomat
  • John Killick (1919–2004), ambassador
  • Ian Percival (1921–1998), Solicitor General
  • Joshua Rozenberg, legal affairs correspondent for the Daily Telegraph
  • Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith
  • Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East
  • Peter Walker (1932–2010), Cabinet Minister
  • Larry Whitty, General Secretary of the Labour Party
  • George Walden, Education Minister
  • John Crace, journalist
  • Lily Cole, actress and model
  • Martyn Green (1899–1975), actor, singer, comedian
  • Christopher Guard, actor
  • Ophelia Lovibond, actress
  • Imogen Poots, actress
  • Augustus Prew, actor<!--https://issuu.com/latymer1624/docs/latymerian_updated_may15_v3_3-->
  • Toby Regbo, actor
  • Alan Rickman (1946–2016), actor
  • Mel Smith (1952–2013), actor and film director
  • Sean Teale, actor

<!--* Will Theakston, actorgo on, you try citing this reliably-->

  • Rufus Jones, actor
  • Gordon McDougall, theatre director

<!-- Only bluelinks (existing article) with citation to prove Old Latymerian, please -->

Music

thumb|upright=0.6|[[Arlo Parks, singer ]]

thumb|upright|[[Raphael Wallfisch, cellist ]]

<!-- Alphabetical order, and only bluelinked individuals (existing article) with citation to prove Old Latymerian, please -->

  • Walter Legge (1906–1979), record producer, founder of the Philharmonia Orchestra
  • Charlie Morgan, musician

<!--* Matt Quinn, known as Optical, musician-->

  • Jamie Quinn, known as Matrix
  • Arlo Parks, singer
  • Jay Sean, singer
  • Cliff Townshend (1916-1986), jazz musician
  • Raphael Wallfisch, cellist

<!-- Alphabetical order, and only bluelinked individuals (existing article) with citation to prove Old Latymerian, please -->

Sport

  • Andy Holmes (1959–2010), Olympic gold medal rower
  • Antony Hooper, cricketer
  • Simon Hughes, cricketer
  • Hugh Jones, athlete
  • Dan Luger, rugby player
  • Dominic Waldouck, rugby player

<!-- Only bluelinks (existing article) with citation to prove Old Latymerian, please -->

Other fields

thumb|upright|[[Heston Blumenthal, chef ]]

thumb|upright|[[Jim Cuthbert Smith|Jim Smith, biologist ]]

<!--Alphabetical order-->

  • Heston Blumenthal, TV chef and owner of The Fat Duck
  • Ajahn Brahm, Buddhist monk
  • Gordon Brook-Shepherd (1918–2004), author
  • Thomas Haller Cooper (1919–1987?), member of the Waffen SS's British Free Corps
  • Peter Farquhar (1946–2015), teacher
  • Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford
  • Harold Spencer Jones (1890–1960), Astronomer Royal
  • Philip I. Murray, professor of ophthalmology
  • John D. Ray, Egyptologist
  • Jerry Roberts (1920–2014), wartime codebreaker at Bletchley Park
  • David Shoenberg (1911–2004), physicist

<!--* Eric Simms, natural history broadcaster-->

  • Jim Smith, biologist

<!--* Nicholas Stern, ex-Chief Economist of the World Bank and author of the Stern Review on climate change-->

  • Allegra Stratton, journalist
  • Terence Tiller (1916-1987), poet and radio producer<!--BBC Lord of the Rings 1955-56-->
  • David Tress, painter
  • Fred Vine (1939-2024), geologist and co-discoverer of plate tectonics
  • Arthur Earnest Watkins (1898-1967), botanist
  • Geoff Whitty (1946–2018), sociologist

<!--Alphabetical order-->

<!-- Only bluelinks (existing article) with citation to prove Old Latymerian, please -->

Former staff

<!--* Jim Clark, rowing coach-->

<!--* Alastair Heathcote, rowing coach-->

  • Peter Jacobs, piano
  • Max Kenworthy, music
  • Robert King (conductor), music

<!--* Shaun Sutton, drama-->

<!--* Jean Driant, French-->

See also

  • 1620s in England
  • Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums (twinned school)
  • Godolphin and Latymer School

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • Latymer Upper's official website
  • Latymer Prep School's official website
  • Official Old Latymerian website
  • Latymer Upper at the UK Schools Guide
  • A summary of Latymer Upper's academic performance
  • A detailed history of the Latymer schools at British History Online