Donhead
 |
|
| Motto |
Latin: Semper magis (Ever More) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1933 |
| Type | Independent, preparatory, day school |
| Religion | Roman Catholic (Jesuit) |
| Headmaster | Mr Chris McGrath |
| Location |
33 Edgehill Merton London SW19 4NP United Kingdom Coordinates: 51°25′05″N 0°13′20″W / 51.4180°N 0.2223°W |
| DfE number | 315/6004 |
| Students | ~280 (2010) |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 4–11 |
| Houses | 3 |
| Affiliation | Society of Jesus |
| Archdiocese | Southwark |
| Website | Donhead |
Donhead is an independent, preparatory, day school for boys located in Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. It previously served as the main feeder prep school of Wimbledon College, a fellow Jesuit school located across the road. Both schools are under the governance of the Jesuits.
Donhead takes boys aged 4 to 11, after which they often continue their secondary education at the College or at various independent or grammar schools across London.
The name Donhead perhaps originates from the Anglo-Saxon "head" meaning top and "don" meaning hill – "the top of the hill". The building known as Donhead Lodge was built in 1867 and was first occupied by a barrister, one Freeman Oliver Haynes. Mr Haynes died in 1880 and soon after a Miss Elizabeth Arnold became the owner. In 1902 the house was taken over by Henry Smail and remained in the family's ownership until after the death of Mrs. Smail in 1932. By the early 1930s, Wimbledon College was looking for suitable premises in Wimbledon where the junior classes could migrate to form a preparatory school with its own headmaster. Fr Oscar Xavier Withnell SJ, Wimbledon College's rector at the time, was given first refusal to purchase the house immediately opposite the College gates at a purchase price of £6000. This house was "Donhead Lodge". Donhead's first pupils consisted of three classes named Elements, Preparatory, and Lower Preparatory, and numbered approximately 67 boys in total. They entered the school for the first time at 9:50 Monday morning 5 September 1933 under the guidance of Donhead's first headmaster, Fr Miller.
Although the three classes had migrated across the road, the journey to and from the College was repeated many times as Donhead relied on the College continuing to allow it to use certain facilities - chapel, gymnasium, playing fields, etc. A special cap, tie, and blazer did not come into use until the second and third terms. Mr Wiber, with Fr. Rector's final approval, negotiated with the firm Dempsey's of Tulse Hill to supply a "Royal Blue" uniform, to get away from what was described as "the rather drab, College dark-blue". The "Royal Blue" colour was a distinctly lighter shade than what one might be familiar with today – one reason being that the original colour became impossible to get during the war.
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