Lancing College is a public school (English private boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. Lancing was founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard and educates c. 600 pupils between the ages of 13 and 18; the co-educational ratio is c. 60:40 boys to girls. Girls were admitted beginning in 1971. The first co-ed, Saints’ House, was established in September 2018, bringing the total number of Houses to 10. There are 5 male houses (Gibbs, School, Teme, Heads, Seconds) and 4 female houses (Fields, Sankeys, Manor, Handford).

The college is situated on a hill which is part of the South Downs, and the campus dominates the local landscape. The college overlooks the River Adur, and the Ladywell Stream, a holy well or sacred stream within the College grounds, has pre-Christian significance.^[3] Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith," and the discipline of the prefect's cane. However John Dancy was appointed headmaster in 1953 to improve academic standards, which had taken second place to prowess in sport. Lancing was the first of a family of more than 30 schools founded by Woodard. Other schools include Ardingly College, Bloxham School, The Cathedral School, Denstone College, and Ellesmere College.

Roughly 65% of pupils are either full or weekly boarders, at a cost of £14,850 per term; 35% are day pupils, at a cost of £10,150 per term. Occasional overnight stays are available to day pupils at an additional cost of £74 per night.^[4][5]

The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Girls were first admitted in 1970. The school is dominated by a Gothic revival chapel, and follows a high church Anglican tradition. The College of St Mary and St Nicolas (as it was originally known) in Shoreham-by-Sea was intended for the sons of upper middle classes and professional men; in time this became Lancing College, moving to its present site in 1857.

The school's buildings of the 1850s were designed by the architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter, with later ones by John William Simpson.

In 2003, it was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.^[6] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.

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The college Chapel is a Grade I Listed building that was finally completed in 2022. The first phase of its construction began in 1863 with the installation of the foundations of the building, completed five years later. One report states that the foundations are 60 feet (18 metres) deep. ^[7]The structure itself would not be fully completed until long after Woodard's death in 1891, although the tower at the west end that had been planned in the 1800s would not be built as of 2024;.^[8] the tower had been intended to raise the height to 100 metres. The apex of the vaulting rises to 27.4 m (90 ft).^[9] It was designed^[10] by R. H. Carpenter and William Slater, and is built of Sussex sandstone from Scaynes Hill.

By 18 July 1911, the upper chapel had been built and went into use after its consecration and dedication to St Mary and St Nicholas; this phase of the work was completed through the efforts of Woodard’s son, William. "Despite a shortage of funds, he turned all the vaults and oversaw the completion of all but two bays of the main interior ..." according to a 2024 report. The listing by Historic England provides this more specific summary of the Gothic Revival upper chapel at that time:^[11]

The main portion of the Chapel was finished in 1911. It consists of an apse and 10 bays. Central portion with aisles. Great buttresses flank the windows of the aisles. Over the roof of the aisles double flying buttresses connect the buttresses below to the walls of the main building. Balustrade of pointed arcading. Slate roof.

Prior to July 1911, the college had worshipped in the finished crypt since that was consecrated in 1875.^[12]

Before the final completion of the chapel in the 21st century, additional work was completed over the decades. As of May 1978, the structure contained among other things, the tomb of the founder, three organs, and a rose window designed by Stephen Dykes Bower, completed in 1977,and the largest rose window built since the Middle Ages, being 32 ft in diameter. It was added by James Longley Construction, a building company which operated from 1863 to 2020, and was also involved in the building of Christ’s Hospital near Horsham. Some reports state that the structure is the largest school chapel in the world.^[13]

The eastern organ is a two-manual mechanical organ built by the Danish firm Frobenius and was installed and voiced in situ in 1986. That year also marked the completion of the rebuild of the four-manual Walker organ at the west end of the chapel^[14] – both of which were showcased in the opening concert by the American organ virtuoso, Carlo Curley.

A stained-glass window was commissioned in memory of Trevor Huddleston OL, and consecrated by Desmond Tutu on 22 May 2007. The west wall of the chapel was built between 1960 and 2017. that area had remained bricked up since 1978 when bricks replaced the previous corrugated iron facade.^[15]

In 2019, permission was obtained for building the western three-arched porch that had been designed by Michael Drury. During this phase, the brickwork in the facade was also completed as were the chapel's buttresses.^[16]

Lancing College Chapel was closed to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic and, subsequently, during the construction of the west end porch and refurbishment work on the school kitchens opposite, reopening to the public on 25 April 2022.

During World War II, students were evacuated to Downton Castle in Herefordshire.^[17] Both the main college and the prep school buildings were requisitioned by the Admiralty and became part of the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS King Alfred.

In 1856 Lancing created its own code of football which (unlike other school codes) was regarded as a means of fostering teamwork.^[18]

• Richard Budworth (1867–1937), former Master and an English rugby union forward
• Sir William Gladstone, 7th Baronet (born 1925), former Head Master and Chief Scout of the United Kingdom
• Harry Guest, former Master and poet
• G.O. Smith, sportsman and footballer of the nineteenth century
• John Inge, former chemistry teacher and Assistant Chaplain and current Bishop of Worcester
• Edward Clarke Lowe (1823–1912), former Second Master, Provost of St Nicholas College Lancing and key participant in the foundation and development of the Woodard Schools, and first Headmaster of Hurstpierpoint College
• Arthur Temple Lyttelton, Provost of St Nicholas College Lancing, third Bishop of Southampton (1898–1903)
• Sheppard Frere, former House Master, Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Provinces at the University of London (1961–1966), Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire at Oxford University
• J. F. Roxburgh (1888–1954), former Housemaster, first Headmaster of Stowe School
• Haldane Campbell Stewart (1868—1942), former Director of Music. Musician and composer. Organist and choirmaster at Magdalen College, Oxford (1919–1938, 1941–1942). Cricketer for Kent County Cricket Club (1892–1903). Father of concert viola performer, Jean Stewart, and of Lorn Alastair Stewart (Johnnie Stewart), who was creator of Top of the Pops.^[23][24]

• Henry Jacobs (Aug–Dec 1848)
• Charles Edward Moberly (1849–1851)
• John Branthwaite (1851–1859)
• Henry Walford (1859–1861)
• Robert Edward Sanderson (1862–1889)
• Harry Ward McKenzie (1889–1894)
• Ambrose John Wilson (1895–1901)
• Bernard Henry Tower (1901–1909)
• Canon Henry Thomas Bowlby (1909–1925)
• Cuthbert Harold Blakiston (1925–1934)
• Frank Cecil Doherty (1935–1953)
• John Christopher Dancy (1953–1961)
• Sir Erskine William Gladstone KG Bt (1961–1969)
• Ian David Stafford Beer (1969–1981)
• James Stephen Woodhouse (1981–1993)
• Christopher John Saunders (1993–1998)
• Peter M. Tinniswood (1998–2005)
• Richard R. Biggs (acting, 2005–2006)
• Jonathan William James Gillespie FRSA (Sept 2006–2014)
• Dominic Oliver (2014–present)^[25]

• List of works by R. C. Carpenter