2024 marks a hugely important milestone for the Latymer Foundation – its 400th anniversary!
Our Foundation, one of the oldest in West London, has survived seventeen monarchs over 400 years, along with various political upheavals including civil war (one battle of which took place a mere mile or so from the Foundation’s classrooms), three schoolhouse relocations – and a few financial crises along the way.
The Latymer Foundation has been responsible for offering a life-changing education to thousands of local children over the centuries. Our current pupils now hail from further afield than Hammersmith, and we have grown considerably in size from educating the original eight Latymer boys, as well as in the diversity of our pupil community; but some aspects of our history have remained the same. The spirit of independent thought prevalent at the beginning of our story, and the links that tie us so strongly to our locality, are still very much alive today.
The history of our Foundation and that of Hammersmith is deeply entwined, the two entities developing and growing together over four centuries. Much of this is due to the early Latymer charity boys who became prominent members of the Hammersmith community -some even going on to become Foundation Governors and Headmasters of the School, and many sponsoring pupils – a tradition that continues with today’s Latymerians supporting current bursary pupils.
To celebrate this remarkable landmark year, we’ll be producing a beautifully illustrated book charting the history of our Foundation, launching an illuminating online digital archive (coming soon!), and hosting an exciting year’s calendar of events for our wider community.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this special year – it’s not every day we turn 400!
