90th Anniversary

'The announcement at the auction, that it had been purchased on behalf of a body of Anglican Church people for educational purposes, was received with loud cheers.' (The Cranbrook School Magazine, vol.1 No. 1, July 1920)

The jubilation at that auction where Samuel Hordern, on behalf of a group of clergy and business men, purchased the property ‘Cranbrook’ for £20,000 from the Government was palpable.

The founding of Cranbrook was a product of the corporate spirit which emerged among men returned from war. Born in the hour of victory, Cranbrook School's survival has grown out of the feelings of comradeship, generosity and determination, meeting every expectation of the School motto, 'To be, not to seem to be'.

Ninety years on, we applaud what would only have been an incredible dream for the founders at that historical auction in December 1917.