Monkton Combe School

History

Buildings and grounds

Houses

Achievements and artefacts

Olympic medalists

HMS ''Magpie''

Marshall Antarctic sled and flag

Head masters

• 1868–1875 Revd F. Pocock
• 1875–1895 Revd R.G. Bryan
• 1895–1900 Revd W.E. Bryan
• 1900–1900 Revd N. Bennett
• 1900–1926 Revd J.W. Kearns
• 1926–1946 Revd E. Hayward
• 1946–1968 D.R. Wigram
• 1968–1978 R.J. Knight
• 1978–1990 R.A.C. Meredith
• 1990–2005 M.J. Cuthbertson
• 2005–2015 R. Backhouse
• 2016–2025 C. Wheeler
• 2025-2025 J. Goodman
• 2025-present B. Salisbury

Notable masters

• Revd. R.W. Ryde, 1866–1909, Classics Master
• D. Vaughan-Thomas, 1873-1934, Mathematics & Music Master
• A.S. Sellick, 1878–1958, Cricket Master
• G.F. Graham Brown, 1891–1942, History Master and former pupil
• F. Vallis, 1896–1957, Association Football and Cricket Master
• T.M. Watson, 1913–1994, French Master
• N.D. Botton, 1954–, History Master
• M. Wells, 1979–, Rowing Master

Notable alumni

19th century

• George Somes Layard, 1857–1925, barrister, journalist and man of letters
• Harry Martindale Speechly, 1866–1951, Canadian doctor
• Montague Waldegrave, 5th Baron Radstock, 1867–1953, peer
• Count Vladimir Alekseyevich Bobrinsky, 1868–1927, Tsarist politician from the Second to the Fourth Duma
• Count Paul Bobrinsky, 1869–1919, Peter's twin and Russian counter-revolutionary
• Count Peter Bobrinsky, 1869–1932, Paul's twin and Russian counter-revolutionary
• Harry Colt, 1869–1951, widely regarded as the father of golf course architecture
• Ernest Crosbie Trench 1869–1960, British civil engineer
• Sir Ernest Wills, 3rd Baronet 1869–1958, part-owner of W. D. & H. O. Wills and Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
• Edwyn Bevan 1870–1943, British philosopher and Hellenistic historian
• Archibald Kennedy, 4th Marquess of Ailsa 1873–1943, British peer, barrister and soldier
• Horatio Powys-Keck, 1873–1952, first class cricketer
• Alfred Young 1873–1940, mathematician and inventor of the Young diagram and Young tableau
• Lieutenant Colonel Richard Annesley West 1878–1918, recipient of the Victoria Cross for sacrificing his life for his men
• Lieutenant Colonel Eric Marshall, 1879–1963, Antarctic explorer in Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition
• Frank Lugard Brayne 1882–1952, administrator in the Indian Civil Service
• Revd. Richard Howard, 1884–1981, Provost of Coventry Cathedral during its destruction, Archdeacon of Coventry
• Revd. William Thompson 1885–1975, Bishop of Iran
• Revd. Robert Wilmot Howard, 1887–1960, Master of St Peter's Hall, Oxford
• Hugh Norton 1890–1969, Archdeacon of Sudbury
• Revd. Francis Graham Brown 1891–1942, Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Bishop of Jerusalem
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse 1892–1970, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force and of RAF Bomber Command
• Dr. Sir Clement Chesterman 1894–1983, medical missionary at Yakusu in the Congo with the Baptist Missionary Society
• Harold Gilbee Anderson, medical missionary to China with the Church Mission Society

Early 20th century

• Michael Head, 1900–1976, composer, singer and musical educator
• Dr. W. E. Shewell-Cooper, 1900–1982, organic gardening pioneer
• Percival Spear, 1901–1982, historian and civil servant in India
• Revd. Charles Claxton, 1903–1992, Bishop of Warrington, Blackburn, Lord Spiritual
• Revd. Kenneth Mathews, 1906–1992, Dean of St Albans
• R. C. Hutchinson, 1907–1976, novelist
• David Howard Adeney, 1911–1994, missionary in China and East Asia
• Alfred James Broomhall, 1911–1994, historian and medical missionary to China with the China Inland Mission
• Charles Sergel, 1911–1980, Olympic rower and medical missionary to Uganda
• Revd. Gonville ffrench-Beytagh, 1912–1991, Dean of Johannesburg and anti-apartheid activist.
• Major-General John Frost, 1912–1993, leader of airborne forces during the Battle of Arnhem
• Colin Butler, 1913–2016, entomologist who first isolated the pheromone
• Martyn Cundy, 1913–2005, reforming mathematical educator and academic
• Thorley Walters, 1913–1991, actor
• Thomas Watson, 1913–1994, first class cricketer
• Professor John Anderson Strong, 1915–2012, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
• Dr. Ran Laurie, 1915–1998, Olympic rowing champion and physician
• J. Desmond Clark, 1916–2002, influential archaeologist and Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley
• The Right Revd. Maurice Wood, 1916–2007, Principal of Oak Hill Theological College and Bishop of Norwich
• Harold Jameson, first-class cricketer
• Lt Kevin Walton, 1918–2009, Antarctic explorer
• Squadron Leader James MacLachlan, 1919–1943, flying ace
• Revd. Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, 1920–1990, Bishop of Iran
• Revd. Graham Leonard, 1921–2010, Bishop of London
• Revd. David Brown, 1922–1982, Bishop of Guildford and missionary
• Prince Asrate Kassa, 1922–1974, Viceroy of Eritrea
• Pilot Officer Alfred Mellows, 1922–1997, Olympic rower
• Arthur Wallis, 1922–1988, itinerant Bible teacher and author
• Captain David Eyton-Jones, 1923–2012, SAS officer during Operation Tombola, businessman and chaplain
• Michael Lapage, 1923–2018, Olympic rower and missionary
• Colonel David Wood, 1923–2009, last surviving officer of the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges
• Professor David Marshall Lang, 1924–1991, Professor of Caucasian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies
• Senator Andy Thompson, 1924–2016, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
• Major General Sir Philip Ward, 1924–2003, GOC London District and Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex
• Revd. Allan Rutter, 1928-, first class cricketer and vicar
• Christopher Buxton, 1929–2017, property developer and President of The Abbeyfield Society
• Right Revd. John Bone, 1930–2014, Bishop of Reading
• Count Michel Didisheim, 1930–2020, Private Secretary and Chief of the Royal Household to Albert, Prince of Liège
• Adrian Mitchell, 1932–2008, poet, novelist and playwright
• Barclay Palmer, 1932–2020, Olympic athlete
• Professor Gerald Blake, 1936-, Professor Emeritus of Geography at Durham University and former Principal of Collingwood College, Durham
• John Barnard Bush, 1937–, land-owner and former Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
• Michael Mortimore, 1937–2017, geographer and a researcher of issues in the African drylands
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Stear, 1938–2020, Deputy Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
• Revd. Stephen Sykes, 1939–2014, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and Bishop of Ely
• Michael Barton Akehurst, 1940–1989, international lawyer
• Peter Webb, 1940-, Olympic rower
• Sir Tim Lankester, 1942–, former President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
• Professor Nick Jardine, 1943-, Emeritus Professor at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge
• Sir Richard Stilgoe, 1943–, songwriter, lyricist and musician
• Bernard Cornwell, 1944–, historical novelist
• Revd. Ian Cundy, 1945–2009, Bishop of Lewes and Bishop of Peterborough
• Sir Richard Dearlove 1945-, Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1999 until 2004 and former Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge
• Ricky Panter, 1948-, Archdeacon of Liverpool
• Nigel Sinclair 1948-, Hollywood producer
• Sir Iain Torrance 1949–, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
• Sir David Haslam 1949- Former Chair of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and President of BMA and RCGP

Late 20th century

• Professor Sir Robert Lechler, 1951–, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Professor of Immunology at King's College London
• John Reed, 1951-, former Archdeacon of Taunton
• Julian Colbeck, 1952-, musician and businessman
• Professor Mike Cowlishaw, 1953–, programmer and scientist
• Howard Milner, 1953–2011, tenor
• James Hawkins, 1954-, artist and film-maker
• Lord Nigel Biggar 1955-, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford
• Chris Anderson, 1957–, Journalist and publisher, Owner of TED and curator of TED Talks.
• Stephen Warren, 1957–, Professor of Astrophysics at Imperial College London
• John Kiddle, 1958-, Archdeacon of Wandsworth
• Sir Charles Farr, 1959–2019, Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation
• Lieutenant General Tim Evans, 1962-, former Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
• Steve Williams, 1976–, Olympic rowing champion
• Rowley Douglas, 1977-, Olympic coxswain champion
• James Frith, 1977-, Member of Parliament for Bury North
• Seyi Rhodes, 1979–, television presenter and investigative journalist
• Alex Partridge, 1981–, Olympic rower and World Rowing champion
• Ama Agbeze, 1982–, former Captain of the England national netball team
• Josh Ovens, 1989-, farmer and former player for Bath Rugby
• Professor Phil Hockey, 1959–2013, South African ornithologist, director of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town

21st century

• Ben Wells, 2000-, first class cricketer