When the Reverend Percy Warrington founded Canford School in 1923, his aim was ‘to fit boys to take their place in the battle of life and develop their character in every way’. This foundation was based on Christian values focused on building a tolerant, caring and compassionate society for all. A century later as Canford celebrated its centenary in 2023, those values endure. Canford is a school community welcoming and open to all, which is committed to educating young men and women to make a real and positive difference in a challenging, diverse and often inequitable world.

Canford opened with just 148 boys and 9 masters; in 2023, the school’s roll was 660 pupils, being more balanced and reflective of society with the intake drawn from over 60 different schools in the UK and overseas with an almost 50/50 split between boys and girls, 65% boarders from a broad geographical spread and 35% day pupils from the local area.

The Reverend Warrington would have been very pleased, surely, to see the national recognition afforded to Canford in recent years against some of the most established public school names in the country.

We are proud of our history and pleased to share this with you via this online facility. This fully searchable archive is a collection of all kinds of material dating back as far as the 1700s. It includes magazines, registers, photographs, books, newsletters and other memorabilia. It is by no means complete but we hope that Old Canfordians will enjoy a trip down memory lane and may also be able to fill in some of the gaps and information that may be missing.

If you would like help on how to access the archive, please don’t hesitate to contact Jess Bichard – archive@canford.com

Thank you,

Rowena Gaston Development Director