Sir Roger Manwood's School

The school was founded in 1563 by Sir Roger Manwood, an eminent barrister, jurist and supporter of the reformation of the Church in England. Manwood's intention was to create a free grammar school to make education more accessible to the local townspeople. The original location of the school was at Ash Road in Sandwich but it was moved to its current location at Manwood Road in 1895. There are four foundations which appoint governors: Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lincoln College, Oxford, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and the Diocese of Canterbury.[1]

In 1960 there were 100 boarders. The boarders were separated into two houses; ‘The Grange’ accommodating the girls and ‘The Lodge’ the boys. After a long-running tradition of being an all-boys school, girls were first admitted in 1982. As of September 2020, the school no longer ran their boarding facilities.

In order to gain entry the prospective student must first pass the 11+ examination.

Once enrolled, new pupils are assigned a house, which will also be their form group from Years 7 to 9. From years 10 to 13 pupils from each house are mixed into new forms. Each house is identified by a different colour. The houses and colours are as follows: Atlas House is red, Carmarthen House is orange, Founders' House is green, Stour House is light blue and Ypres House is dark blue.

The houses were previously Tudor (light blue), Trappes (dark blue), Knolles (dark green) and Dorman (red).

Facilities include a full size sports hall, a gym, a half sized hockey astroturf. Sports offered include gymnastics, badminton, football, basketball, trampolining and table tennis, in addition to the main sports of rugby, hockey, netball, rounders, cricket and athletics. The astroturf was opened by Mel Clewlow, an England women's hockey captain and Old Manwoodian.

The school has a Combined Cadet Force (CCF) group with an army section. Annual events include an Inspection day, Founder's Day parade, which celebrates the founding of the school and pays homage to Sir Roger Manwood and a summer camp.

The Old Manwoodians Association is an alumni association for ex pupils of the school. They are reasonably active and play a part in the school on a day-to-day basis. The OMs help out the school sports by playing regular fixtures in many of the sports. Three of the most notable OM fixtures on the calendar are the OM v 1st team girls' hockey, OM U21s v 1st XI Cricket and OM v 1st XI Cricket which are all popular fixtures. The two cricket fixtures usually take place in "Cricket Week" which is usually after the busy A Level exam period. Old Manwoodians include:

• Christopher Newton, theatre director
• Dr Ken Riley, Physicist, Senior Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge and Emeritus Lecturer in Physics at Cambridge University.
• Gale Pedrick, Scriptwriter, author and broadcaster[3]
• Hayne Constant, a mechanical and aeronautical engineer
• Jack Scanlon, child actor and title character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas[4]
• John Hartley, an academic
• Johnny Beerling, controller of Radio 1 1985–93
• Jon Driscoll, an Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated theatre projection designer
• Keith Stock, pole-vaulter who competed at the 1984 Olympics
• Melanie Clewlow, England international hockey player
• Patrick Miles, an English writer and translator
• Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian at the Bodleian Library
• Richard Webster, a British author
• Rt Rev John Kingsmill Cavell, Bishop of Southampton from 1972–84
• Sir Robin Knowles, High Court judge
• Tammy Beaumont, England international cricketer
• William Brown, Labour MP from 1929–31 for Wolverhampton West and from 1942–50 for Rugby
• Zoe Laughlin, a British artist, materials engineer and Director of the Institute of Making at University College London

• Sir Roger Manwood's School website

• John Cavell & Brian Kennett (1963). A History of Sir Roger Manwood's School Sandwich 1563–1963. Cory, Adams & Mackay.