About this site
A gift from the History Society
This site is a student-made gift to the School in its 475th year. It is not an official publication: it is a reading of the School's history in eight chapters, with a plan of its places and a memorial list.
How it is made
Plain HTML, CSS and a little JavaScript. No frameworks, no tracking, no external services. It opens by double-clicking the front page, and it will still open in twenty years.
What we have
- 3.2 million characters of text from the community archive: 889 stories and features, 464 events, 131 pages.
- 1,797 gallery photographs and 1,683 article images, catalogued by size and use.
- 37 films saved and playable, plus the reasons the rest could not be saved.
- Ten named men from The Last Ten Fallen, with the letters that came home.
- Eight chapters, each with an object that still exists, a voice from the record, and what survives today.
What we still need
- The other 706 names. The memorial holds 716; the School's list is on its way. When it arrives the register and the constellation fill in.
- Photographs before the 1860s rebuilding — the School before the railway money.
- The chapel before 1988. The fire destroyed almost everything inside; we have no photograph of the interior as it was.
- House colours, crests and foundation years. Not cleared for use yet, so the map and the House cards stay neutral.
- The names of the students who made this, for the colophon.
These gaps are part of the work. If you can help with any of them, the History Society would like to hear from you.
Materials in progress
| Material | Status |
|---|---|
| The 716 names | Awaiting the School's list |
| Photographs before the 1860s rebuilding | Awaiting the School Archives |
| The chapel before 1988 | Awaiting the School Archives |
| House colours, crests and foundation years | Awaiting House records |
| Student credits | Awaiting the History Society |
| A surveyed plan of the School | Awaiting a facilities plan |
| The 31 restricted films | Awaiting a Vimeo account with access |
The films
Sixty-eight video embeds were carried in the community archive. Most are music videos inside one alumnus's interview; the rest are services, talks and films about the School. We have saved what could be saved and said plainly what could not.
The constellation
On the memorial page, each of the 716 names is drawn as a point of light. Ten are brighter because their records are digitised; the other 706 stay unlit until the School's list arrives. It is a way of showing the size of the list without pretending to know it.
Images
Photographs are from the School's community archive: the 2018 Remembrance service, the 145th and 146th Old Tonbridgian Dinners, the Cricketer Cup, and CCF Inspection Day. They are used here for a student project; rights remain with the School and the photographers.
What is missing
The School's older archive — team photographs, the Victorian building works, the chapel before the fire — is held by the School Archives and is not reproduced here. The next version should draw on it, with the Archivist's help.