by Nick Black Dr Joe Spence: a personal view
would mark the College’s 400th anniversary. I was very proud to serve on the committee that curated the events which led up to Founder’s Week in June, marking the moment when King James I signed the letters patent allowing Edward Alleyn to found his College of God’s Gift. It was to that foundational mission that Joe often returned. Dulwich had always been a school of access, whether it be the poor scholars at the old College, or the state-supported and then bursary-funded boys of the last century.
I n the south west corner of Kingsland Churchyard in Herefordshire sits a run of seven modest gravestones, one of which marks the resting place of Arthur Herman Gilkes, the Master of Dulwich College from 1885–1914. He was by back- ground of Quaker stock, and a sense of service and duty was clearly strong in him; he certainly left a striking impression on those whom he met. His time at Dulwich has been associated with its “golden age”, when Shackleton, Wodehouse and Chandler were all pupils here. It is not, however, this side of his career that I wanted to reference, but rather three other developments which featured in his time as Master. The first was the foun- dation of the Dulwich College Mission in 1886. His aim was that boys and staff from the College should volunteer in the poverty-stricken parts of Walworth and Camberwell, help others and, by doing so, develop themselves. Secondly, in 1903, he established, with the London County Council (LCC), a scheme whereby about a dozen scholars could gain a funded place at Dulwich and thereby benefit from a College education. And thirdly, in 1908, he employed CE Barry to construct a pur- pose-build Science Block on the site of what is now the Shackleton Building. The impact of all three would be felt deep into the 20th Century. In terms of the LCC scheme, it developed further and reached its peak under his son Christopher with the establishment of the Dulwich Experiment, while, on a national scale, it could be ar- gued that there was a direct link between the scheme and the Assisted Places policy which was developed by James Cobban who
Joe believed in a “democracy of giving”
was evident. He believed in a “democracy of giving” and the donor wall marks the names not only of pupils who gave £20.19 but also those who gave in the hundreds of thousands. A restoration of the Barry Buildings followed, with relandscaped grounds around. It is hard now to recall quite how tatty the school once looked; I recall in those early days one prospective parent commenting that it was “so refreshing to come to a school that isn’t in pristine condition”. Much of the work was aimed at 2019 which
had himself taught at Dulwich when the Ex- periment was being established. In looking at these three actions there is a mirror in the career of Dr Joe Spence during his time as Master of the College from 2009–24. He came to Dulwich from Oakham, where he had been Headmaster after starting his teaching career at Eton. Joe believed passionately that Dulwich should be a school of access and service where the built-environment mattered. The latter attribute might be the feature that strikes the visitor first. The back of the post-war science block had been sinking for decades, and on Joe’s arrival the plan was to replace only the east block at a cost of some £5 million, another piecemeal development within the campus that was, by then, half-Venice, half- East Berlin. Conscious of the importance of the “spaces in-between” and the ribbon development nature of so much of the College’s post-war building, Joe, with the wholehearted support of the Governors, commissioned a masterplan out of which the entire science block was taken down and a new building went up which could be “a home for the sciences as well as a venue for the arts”. He believed that aesthetics matter, and while the building was unashamedly modern, its textures and tones sat at ease with the Barry Buildings next door. Such an ambitious plan came at a considerable cost, but here too Joe’s mark
In the days of the Dulwich Experiment local authorities had bought places at the College and at its height some 90% of the boys were on free places. Joe was determined to do all he could to make Dulwich a school of access in the 21 st Century, and much of his time was devoted to supporting the College’s bursary appeal which by 2024 meant that more than 200 boys were funded to be at Dulwich. Most were on deep bursaries, but he also
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