Steeped in history leading the way

A brief insight into the history of Dulwich College

In 1619, James I granted letters patent to the famous Shakespearean actor-manager, Edward Alleyn, authorising the establishment of a college in Dulwich “to endure and remain forever”.

Re-constituted by Parliament in the Dulwich College Act of 1857, Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift at Dulwich moved to the present site in 1866. The architect, Charles Barry, the son of Sir Charles Barry who designed the Houses of Parliament, was much criticised at the time for departing from the Gothic, but his “thirteenth-century North Italian Renaissance” architecture was revolutionary – no other building of this size had been decorated so extravagantly with terracotta.

Architectural excellence

The RIBA awarded Laboratory (2014-2016) built as ‘a home for science and a venue for the Arts’ is an expression of the College’s commitment to dismantling the artificial divide between the two disciplines. In shades of terra cotta and concrete representing order in nature and the unity of learning, the recurring pattern of the façade connects The Laboratory with the rich colours of Barry’s iconic ‘New College’ while making its own statement.

“A fair candidate for the wildest Victorian building in the whole of London, with a crazy Dostoevskian gleam in its eye.”

Lawrence Durrell, novelist and poet (1912-90)

Thoughtfully restored

In 2017-18 the exterior terracotta stonework, and the wooden lantern were extensively repaired and restored recapturing the freshness of Barry’s original and the luminescence of the terracotta in its ‘Dulwich glow’.

The College remains faithful to Barry’s masterpiece and continues to inspire the loyalty of its most famous sons. PG Wodehouse wrote from America, shortly before his death, “If I do come to England, the only place I really want to see is Dulwich”.