History

Shiplake College was founded in 1959 by Alexander Everett and his wife, Eunice. In late 1958 they purchased Shiplake Court with the intention of founding a school which duly opened as Shiplake College on May 1st 1959.

The land on which the school now stands was bought by Robert Harrison in 1888 and the original buildings date from 1890. The main house, now Skipwith House, was built as a private residence in the Tudor style for the Harrison family.

The house was sold in 1925 and was at first a private home to Lord Wargrave and then briefly home to a prep school, Ladbroke Grove, before being sold to the BBC in 1941. Initially the BBC used Shiplake Court as a storage facility until in 1943 the BBC Monitoring Service moved to Caversham and the house became a hostel for BBC staff. The BBC closed the hostel in 1953 and the house remained largely unused until the arrival of the Everetts in 1958.

The College now stands in 45 acres of land on the banks of the Thames and the site and buildings have been imaginatively adapted to the needs of the 21st century.